Salt and Pepper Squid

I'm away this weekend with my Mum and sisters in Bonnie Scotland but here's a post I prepared before leaving.......... 

There's something quite satisfying for me about preparing squid.  I just love getting stuck in, especially if there's some ink.  Perhaps it's just me.  Anyway, it's a fun dish, best eaten in the sunshine with friends and a chilled glass of white or rose. 

Ingredients

85g cornflour

85g plain flour

2 tsp black pepper, cracked

2 tbsp ground Szechuan peppercorns, roughly crushed

sunflower or vegetable oil, for frying

400g squid, cleaned and cut into strips

finely sliced spring onion and red chilli, to serve

For the dipping sauce

1 red chilli, finely chopped

half cucumber, finely diced

1 small red onion, finely chopped

100ml rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp caster sugar

2 tsp fish sauce

Method

To make the dipping sauce, mix all the ingredients in a small bowl until the sugar has dissolved, then set aside. Mix the cornflour and plain flour with both peppers and 2 tsp sea salt in a large bowl, then set aside. Line a tray with kitchen paper and make sure you have more salt to sprinkle with.

Heat about 7cm of oil in a deep fryer, wok or deep pan. I test it with a cube of bread – it should brown in 20 secs. Coat the squid well with the flour mix and fry in batches for about 2 mins each or until crisp. Use a slotted spoon to lift out the squid, then drain on the kitchen paper and sprinkle with a little more salt. Serve the squid scattered with the spring onion and chilli, with the dipping sauce on the side.