Healthy Squid Recipes

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Calamari squid is something I first began buying and using perhaps fifteen years ago as...wait for it...bait for sea fishing! It is not something I had ever even heard of until I started reading about it as being considered prime bait for various species - but particularly the prized large cod.

I purchased it in frozen form from tackle/bait shops. The boxes were clearly endorsed, "Not fit for human consumption," so all we did was skin it (just like a banana,) cut it up and attach it to our hooks, more often than not as part of a cocktail with lugworm or ragworm. This continued as my only usage of it until purely by chance I encountered it on a restaurant menu one evening, some years later.

It was in ring form that I first tasted calamari. It was deep fried in a very light batter and came with a hot and spicy dip. I loved it! At the first opportunity thereafter, I began exploring as to where I could purchase calamari with which to cook.

At that time, I found it generally only available in my particular area of the UK in large, oriental hypermarkets, in frozen form. I am glad to say, however, that it is now generally much more readily available, even in fresh form, in ordinary supermarkets and I do purchase it and cook with it on a fairly regular basis.

The dip for this recipe - which should ideally be prepared an hour or two in advance and refrigerated, so that the flavours may infuse - is simply two tablespoons of low-fat natural yoghurt, one crushed garlic clove, one teaspoon of freshly chopped coriander (cilantro in USA) and a pinch of red chilli pepper. Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly.

The calamari should be cleaned as per the method outlined in the video further up this page and the main body cut into rings. We then toss the rings and the tentacles well in seasoned plain flour.

A wok should be heated to a very high temperature and sunflower oil added that it may subsequently heat. We require just enough that the squid pieces will be submerged. (Please do not use olive oil when cooking at these temperatures - you may burn it and cause your food to take on a most unpleasant, bitter flavour.) Add the calamari and fry for approximately thirty seconds until it begins to take on a golden hue. Remove and drain on some kitchen paper.

Serve the calamari with your dip and some fresh baby gem lettuce leaves and tomato.

I have deliberately photographed the calamari only for this recipe before I added anything else to the plate. I wanted the focus to be on how I get the squid to appear as "whole" as possible when anything could be further from the truth...

The calamari are cleaned as in the video further up the page but we stop before the stage of cutting the body into rings. Instead, with a sharp knife or even a pair of scissors, we make one slit from the open end of the body right up to the tail end. We can then open it out into an approximately triangular shape.

Again with a very sharp knife, gently score the inside diagonally, first one way and then the other - you can see the markings in the picture above. Take great care not to cut all the way through - the flesh is very tender and barely requires to be touched with the knife.

Heat a little sunflower oil in a pan and pass the squid body and tentacles through some seasoned flour. Add the tentacles to the pan first and the body about twenty seconds later. When the body curls into a cylindrical shape, both are done.

Try serving with a fresh salad and some herb vinaigarette.