Recipe: Slice some cleaned small squid into bite size pieces. Dredge the sqid in flour seasoned with sea salt and black pepper. Fry the squid in 360 degree oil. (It only takes 20-30 seconds to cook squid, so, be ready to remove the squid from the fryer. Fresh fry oil will give the squid a "white" color instead of the usual tan color that you see in restaurants.) Drain the fried calamari on a dry towel, then place them on a plate.
Ginger Chili Mayonnaise Recipe: Mix a little bit of minced ginger, a dab of Korean Red Serrano Chile Pepper Sauce, sea salt and white pepper with some mayonnaise. Place the dipping sauce in a small ramekin and set it on the plate.
You can serve this fried calamari appetizer plain or with a little bit of salad. I made a simple cucumber salad because it is refreshing. The ginger chili mayonnaise is so nice! I get tired of those tired chipotle and lime mayonnaise dips that come straight out of a jar that are so common in second rate restaurants. Even if you use store bough mayonnaise instead of making the mayonnaise, the home made sauce will have a better flavor. If the squid that you use does not have much of its own juices, then you can dip the squid in milk so the flour will cling to it when dredged. Frying with fresh oil gives the calamari a crispy white coating. If you over cook squid, then it will be like eating tough chewy rubber. Flash frying for just a minute or so, keeps the squid tender. Yum! ... Shawna
