Calamari with chilli sauce, mint and basil salad with sprouts and radish.
Ingredients
- Tomato chilli dressing
- 2 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
- 2 coriander roots, washed and coarsely chopped
- 1 each of long red and green chillies, seeds removed, coarsely chopped
- 6 ripe cherry tomatoes, coarsely chopped
- 1-2 small green chillies, thinly sliced
- 2 small red shallots, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp light palm sugar, finely crushed
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 60 ml (¼ cup) lime juice, or to taste
- Sichuan flour mix
- 10 gm (1 tbsp) Sichuan peppercorns
- 100 gm (2/3 cup) cornflour
- Dipping Mixture
- 2 tsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp cornflour, to bind
- For deep-frying:
- vegetable oil
- 500 gm (about 6) baby or bottle squid tubes, scored in a 5cm-crisscross pattern
- To serve:
- fried golden shallots and garlic, fresh basil, mint, sprouts and a lime cheek
Cooking Method
- Tomato chilli dressing
For tomato dressing, combine garlic and coriander root in a mortar and, using a pestle, pound to a coarse paste. Add long chillies and pound to a fine paste. Add tomatoes and pound until just pulped, then add green chilli, shallot, palm sugar, fish sauce and lime juice and stir to dissolve. - Sichuan flour mix
For Sichuan flour mix, toast peppercorns in a frying pan over medium heat for 2 minutes or until aromatic, then finely grind using a mortar and pestle. Sift through a fine sieve, discarding husks. Combine pepper, cornflour and 3 tsp fine sea salt in a bowl. Check seasoning and adjust as necessary. - Dipping Mixture
Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large wok to 190. Whisk fish sauce, cornflour and 1/3 cup cold water in a bowl to combine, add squid and mix to coat thoroughly, then drain well. Set aside 2 tbsp flour mix and toss squid lightly in remaining flour, shaking off excess, then deep-fry, in batches, for 2 minutes or until golden. - To serve,
dust squid with reserved flour mix and arrange on a plate. Serve, scattered with fried shallot and garlic with tomato dressing and lime cheeks, sprouts, mint, basil to the side.