A Delicious Calamari Recipe



You are here:  > > A Delicious Calamari Recipe

This is an easy calamari recipe, apart from cleaning the squid which must be done regardless the recipe. The biggest challenge is cooking calamari. It may take a couple of tries so be patient and stick with it, after all Rome wasn't built in a day.

Historically, recipes for squid, cuttlefish, and octopus go all the way back to Ancient Greece and Rome. They continue to appear throughout historical cookbooks all the way up to the present day.

Fried calamari stacked in a bowl.Beautiful Fried Calamari

Cleaning And Cooking Calamari

Calamari in a bowl.

Put your calamari in a bowl and rinse it and drain it through a colander.

Calamari in a bowl.

The calamari is ready to be cleaned. Notice the shrimp in the bowl, there were about three shrimp mixed in, it happens.

Separating calamari bodies and tentacles.

The first thing I do is separate the bodies from the tentacles.

Cleaning the calamari tentacles.

Remove the beak. You'll find this by turning the tentacle section upside down and separating the tentacles. Set aside in a separate bowl.

Cutting out the eyes from the tentacle section.

To clean the tentacles start by cutting off everything above the eyes. Next cut out the eyes. 

Removing the "plastic like" cartilage from the body.

Removing the "plastic like" cartilage from the body. Using your fingertips rub the outside of the body until the speckled membrane begins to break loose. Finish removing the membrane and set the clean body aside.

Marinating the calamari in coconut milk.

Next rinse the calamari under cold running water. Allow to drain off and cut the bodies into ringlets. Combine the body pieces and the tentacles in a large bowl and pour the coconut milk over them.

Fried calamari with green onion aioli.

This is how to cook calamari.

Fried calamari with green onion aioli.Fried Calamari With Green Onion Aioli

A Twist On My Calamari Recipe Just For Fun

Fried calamari dredged in coconut flour.

See how much darker this batch is. I had some coconut flour so I dredged this batch in flour, then egg, then coconut flour. Nothing else was different.

A Delicious And Tender Calamari Recipe That Is Simple And Easy

As far as calamari recipes go it doesn't get much simpler than this. It is six simple ingredients.

  • Yield: 4 to 8 servings
  • Prep Time: 45 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes

Equipment

  • Deep Fryer

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds / 1.3 kilogarms whole calamari
  • 1 can coconut milk, 13.5 ounce can / 400 milliliter can
  • 1 gallon / 3.7 liters peanut oil, for deep frying
  • 6 to 8 eggs
  • flour to coat, twice
  • Kosher salt to taste

Method

  1. To clean the calamari start by separating the tentacles from the body. Next remove the "plastic like" cartilage from the body. Using your fingertips rub the outside of the body until the speckled membrane begins to break loose. Finish removing the membrane and set the clean body aside.
  2. To clean the tentacles start by cutting off everything above the eyes. Next cut out the eyes. Last remove the beak. You'll find this by turning the tentacle section upside down and separating the tentacles. Set aside in a separate bowl. Repeat these steps until all of the squid is clean, separating the tentacles from the bodies as you go.
  3. Next rinse the calamari under cold running water. Allow to drain off and cut the bodies into ringlets.
  4. Combine the body pieces and the tentacles in a large bowl and pour the coconut milk over them. Let macerate in the coconut milk for at least an hour and up to 24 hours.
  5. When you're ready to cook the calamari, drain it through a colander. Start with a handful of calamari at a time. Drop it into a bowl of flour and work it so that the pieces are thoroughly coated without touching one another.
  6. Next, sift out the pieces with your fingers, knocking off any excess flour. Dredge the pieces in egg and then back into the flour.
  7. Fry in a deep fryer set to 360 degrees, until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Drain in a bowl lined with paper towels and season with salt while still hot. Transfer to a clean bowl and hold in a warm oven.
  8. Continue until all of the calamari is cooked.

Notes

  1. When you are learning how to cook calamari the best way to determine the length of time to cook calamari is to bread one piece and fry it off. Start by frying for 1-1/2 minutes and then tasting it to determine if it is under cooked and adjust it accordingly. It took 2 minutes and 20 seconds in my fryer set at 360. I have a lot of experience cooking calamari and I can tell you not every batch will cook at the same rate. It varies so I always test 2 or 3 pieces before I start cooking them off.
  2. At 1-1/2 minutes, in all likelihood it will not be overcooked. However, if you prefer you could start testing at 1 minute, and add time from there.
  3. Calamari or squid, cuttlefish, and octopus all share the same cooking technique. You either cook it very hot and fast or you cook it low and very long. That's it, there is no middle ground. The reason is that cephalopods get tough as rubber if you vary from these methods, in other words if you cook between these guidelines.
  4. Interestingly, fried calamari may take anywhere from 1-1/2 to 3 minutes to cook. You're looking for that place where it is just tender enough to eat pleasantly without being chewy.

Tags: calamari recipe, squid recipe, cooking calamari, how to cook calamari, cook calamari