Tempura squid is a dish that speaks of holidays in the Far East and cruises. It’s also great to share. You can prepare the squid in advance where it is kept in the refrigerator until needed.
Coating fish or any other food for that matter in a batter or crumb always seems to improve not only its flavour but the texture as well. It’s an idea that comes from Spain and Portugal and that approach hasn’t been lost on the Japanese either who adopted the method from the Portuguese. This is how tempura developed and the Japanese have taken this cooking method into a slightly different direction. Tempura is a name that comes from Latin for Quatuor Tempora which refers to the famous four festivals of fasting in the year of the church calendar.
The preparation of the batter and the technique of doing enough of a coating is a matter of practice so try a few times to find the approach that suits best. A thermometer to monitor the frying oil is a very good idea.
Preparation time:
Equipment:
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Ingredients:
- 3 medium squid (1½ lbs or 750g) with tentacles cleaned
- 1/2 cup plain flour
- 1/2 cup corn flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup cold water
- vegetable oil, for frying
- olive oil
- soy sauce
- fresh ginger – sliced finely
- 1 lime , to serve
Preparation Of The Squid
- To prepare the squid, reach inside the body and gently release the inners. Carefully pull the tentacles, trying to bring all of the inners away from the body, with the ink sac intact. Don’t worry if it doesn’t stay intact, it just makes for cleaner preparation if you can manage it.
- To prepare the tentacles, cut just above the eyes and halve any long tentacles – keep them whole if they aren’t too long. Discard the inners and head.
- Remove the quill from inside the body. Reach inside and it should come away easily – it looks like a piece of plastic. Get rid of.
- With your fingers, remove the wings from either side of the squid’s body. Pull off and discard the skin from the wings and body, setting these aside.
- Prepare the body. You will see a line where the quill was sitting – just run a sharp knife along that line to open up the body. Score the inside part of the body and slice into bite-sized pieces. Rinse the tentacles, wings and body well, then transfer to a bowl of ice-cold water, ready for cooking.
Creating The Tempura Squid
- Cut the squid tentacles into 1/2 cm rings and place on absorbent kitchen towel or paper. Dry well!
- Take the squid body and cut as previously instructed. Dry on adsorbent paper too.
- Mix the two flours with baking powder in a small mixing bowl and sift.
- Slowly add cold water and mix but lightly. Not all the flour needs to dissolve.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or skillet until is is almost smoking.
- Dip the squid pieces into the flour batter, drain off the excess.
- Place each piece carefully in the frying oil for 3 minutes or until it is golden brown. The colour is the key here.
- Prepare a dipping sauce of soy with fresh chopped ginger and may be some chili.
- Serve the tempura squid with lime wedges
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