Chinese Salt and Pepper Squid
Chinese restaurants and takeout favourite salt and pepper squids recipe made with succulent squids/calamari with crispy coating and flavourful salt and chilli seasonings.
Servings: 2 3
Calories: 203kcal
Equipment
- 1 Large wok/pan to toss everything
- 1 Medium-sized pot for deep frying with oil
Ingredients
Squid and marinade
- 250 gram Squids Or calamari, cleaned and cut into ½ inch rings ( About 8.8oz ) see details in note
- ½ tsp Salt fine salt
- ½ tsp Pepper
- 1 tsp Shao Xing wine Chinese cooking rice wine or Japanese mirin ( Optional )
- 1 tbsp Egg white About half egg white
- 2-3 tbsp Corn starch Or potato starch
Flour Coating Mix
- 6 tbsp Corn starch or potato starch
- 3 tbsp Plain flour all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp Baking powder
For Stir Fry
- 1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns Medium or fine coarse ( Optional )
- 2-3 Cloves Garlic Finely chopped
- 2-3 Spring onions Cut thin slices
- 1 tbsp Oil for stir fry Vegetable or neutral flavour oil
- 1-2 Chilli peppers Red & green hot/mild, minced
- ¼ tsp Salt Or salt to taste
- ¼ tsp Black pepper Freshly ground black or white pepper
- ¼ tsp Chicken powder Or Msg ( Optional ) see details in note
- Oil for deep fry Vegetable or neutral flavour oil
Instructions
Marinade and Coating
- First, pat-dry the cleaned squids with a paper towel to remove excess moisture. Then slice it into half-inch rings or small bite-size pieces.
- Place the squids in the large mixing bowl and add salt, pepper, and Shao Xing wine. Mix it well for a few seconds then add egg white and cornstarch. Combine everything well until it become thick and sticky.
- In a bowl combine cornstarch, plain flour, and baking powder. Dredge each squid ring in the flour mix and toss the excess flour out. Then set them aside in a plate or tray.
Deep Frying Squids
- Heat the oil to high heat at about 350°F ( 180° C ). Fry the coated squids in the hot oil for 2-3 minutes or until crispy golden brown. Remove from oil and place them over the paper towel or wire rack. Fry with small batches and repeat the frying process until all the coated squids runs out.
Sir Frying
- Heat the large wok/pan to medium heat, drizzle 1 tbsp of oil and stir fry the garlic for a few seconds then add the minced chillies and crushed Sichuan peppercorns. Stir it well for 8-10 seconds or until fragrant.
- Next, add the fried squids and sprinkle salt, pepper, and chicken powder. Toss it well for a few seconds until all the ingredients combine evenly.
- Finish with chopped spring onions and transfer to a serving plate. Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- Squid/Calamari - Fresh squids taste best to make this dish but it is completely fine to use frozen squids. Frozen squids should be defrosted before cooking. You can also add tentacles in whole or cut them into half.
- Can I use pre-cooked squids? Do not recommend boiled or pre-cooked squids for this recipe.
- Shao Xing wine - Adding rice cooking wine to the marinade can eliminate the fishy smell of seafood and brings more flavour to the dish. If you want to make it non-alcohol or halal salt and pepper squids, you can omit Shao Xing wine or use halal Mirin or cooking wine.
- Sichuan peppercorn - Adding crushed Sichuan peppercorns bring more flavour to the dish. It has numbing hot sensations and if you don't have it, you can omit it.
- What type of oil to use? Use vegetable, sunflower, canola, peanut or high smoke point or neutral flavour oil for both stir fry and stir fry.
- Chicken powder - is a chicken bouillon powder and has a rich, salty, umami flavour. Instead of chicken powder, you can add msg. Adding chicken powder is optional. You can omit it if you don't have it.
- Deep frying tips - Do not overcrowd the frying oil and fry with small batches. The oil temperature should be hot enough to achieve a crispy non-greasy coating.
- Make sure not to overcook the squids because overcooked squids are hard, chewy, and unpleasant to eat.
- Can you bake or air-fry squids? Place the coated squids over the rack and spray a generous amount of cooking oil and air-fry/bake in preheated oven/air-fryer 400°F ( 200°C ) for 4-5 minutes or until crispy golden.
- Spices Add-ons - Chinese five spices powder and crushed dried chillies can be also added if you love extra spices.
Nutrition
Calories: 203kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 0.5g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 0.03mg | Sodium: 1349mg | Potassium: 211mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 361IU | Vitamin C: 36mg | Calcium: 104mg | Iron: 2mg
