--- See Stefan and Yash make Silvia Colloca's fried calamari in episode 7 of Dishing It Up, 7.30 pm Thursday 10 November on SBS and SBS Food. All episodes streaming free on SBS On Demand. For recipes and more head to . ---
When it's done right, a bowl of golden, crunchy, salty-spicy fried calamari is a mighty fine thing. It's become a pub menu classic for good reason, and if you're a fan, making it at home means you can do it just the way you like it - up the heat factor with chilli, give it a bush food twist, experiment with different batters and coatings, and serve it up with the sauce, dip or mayo that you think is the perfect pairing.
We've got a brace of good recipes for you, from favourite chefs including Adam Liaw, Mark Olive, Silvia Colloca and Luke Nguyen, but before we dive into those, there's one more thing we'll touch on. Have you ever wondered if calamari, squid and cuttlefish are the same thing? They aren't, exactly - there are s - but they are closley related, and can mostly be used interchangeably in recipes.
Let's kick things off with a pub-style classic. In this recipe, Adam Liaw uses a mix of self-raising flour and rice flour (or potato starch or cornstarch) to coat the squid pieces, creating a light but crunchy result. Garlic, chilli and spring onion are joining the flavour party here, along with plenty of salt and pepper, in a double-fried recipe that still only takes about 20 minutes to do. Serve it up with Japanese mayo and lemon wedges.
Pub-style salt and pepper squid Source: Adam Liaw
Of course, it's not just a pub favourite: salt and pepper squid is a Chinese restaurant classic too, and often the 'pepper' comes with company, as part of a five-spice blend. That's the case in this version, shared by chef Ying Tam in Food Safari, where the spice mix includes five-spice powder plus ground ginger, celery powder, chicken stock powder and salt. The recipe makes more spice mix than you need, but you can store it for later use, making it even quicker next time you want to whip this up.
Chinese salt and pepper squid Source: Salt and pepper squid so good your local Chinese takeaway will feel worried. (SBS Food)
This version mixes five-spice powder and chilli flakes with flour and salt. The squid pieces are coated in the flour mix and quickly fried until golden, then served with chilli sesame mayonnaise.
Chilli and five-spice squid
"This is my spin on the classic Chinese salt and pepper squid. I've used native Australian ingredients dried saltbush flakes for their herbaceous saltiness, mountain pepper for its punch and dried lemon myrtle for its zing," says Mark Olive of this delicious version.
Saltbush mountain pepper squid Source: Adam Liaw
We're visiting Vietnam now with this recipe from Luke Nguyen. A mix of salt, white pepper, ginger, chilli, garlic, sugar and five-spice bring the flavour, an egg white and potato starch coating contributes the crunch, and a salt, pepper and lemon dipping sauce finishes it off. This one is made with small pieces, so it's great served as a starter. (And if you like it spicy, Luke has also shared ; it's very similar, but with more chilli involved, and served with garlic aioli.)
Chilli salted squid (muc rang muoi) Source: Feast / Alan Benson
Crispy, crunchy, golden, delicious, this is an Italian classic, and so easy to make at home with Silvia Colloca's recipe. Along wth the calamari, parsley leaves, chopped chilli and lemon slices are dipped in flour and then cooked in garlic-flavoured oil.
Silvia's 'ultimate fried calamari' Source: Wok Vs Pot with Marion and Silvia
If calamari in batter is how you like it, try this. 'Rabas' are a popular seaside snack in Argentina, served with salsa golf - a combination of mayonnaise and tomato sauce.
Fried calamari rings with golf sauce Source: Rachel Tolosa Paz
