I’ve taken the Chinese restaurant classic and made it super light and simple to prepare – and it really is incredible! Dry-roasting the mix of peppercorns is absolutely worth the extra step, while seasoning the squid, rather than the flour, means you get even more flavour in every bite.
2 large whole squid, cleaned and cut into pieces (see my video on how to clean and prepare squid here) or 400g (14 oz) pre-cleaned calamari tubes sliced into rings
1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp sea salt
¼ cup plain flour (all-purpose flour)
¼ cup rice flour
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
4 spring onions (scallions), finely sliced
1 large red chilli, finely sliced
vegetable oil for deep frying and stir-frying
lime wedges to serve
Dry roast the peppercorns in a frying pan over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes or until fragrant. Use a mortar and pestle to grind the peppercorns and the salt to a fine powder. Transfer to a small bowl.
Pour enough oil to deep fry into a wok or saucepan over high heat.
Combine the plain flour and rice flour in a large bowl. Pat the squid pieces with paper towel to remove excess moisture. Generously season the squid pieces with the salt mixture. Coat pieces of squid in the flour. When the oil is hot, fry the squid in batches for 2-3 minutes or until light golden in colour. Drain on paper towel.
Heat 1 tsp of vegetable oil in a clean wok or frying pan. Add the garlic, spring onion and chillies and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the squid pieces and a little more of the salt mixture and stir-fry until well combined. Transfer to a serving plate. Serve with lime wedges.
