8 Reviews of Chinese Crisp - Fried Salt and Pepper Squid

From: Leggy Peggy

On Sep 12, 2006

This wonderful recipe is from Ainsley Harriott's Gourmet Express 2 cookbook. I love it as a great way to have this dish at home (instead of only at a restaurant). Because I usually feed a crowd, I often double or treble this recipe. If you need to do the same, you can usually get by with less than the full amount of cornflour. But don't cut back on the salt or pepper. I did the first time I 'upped' the recipe, and I was sorry. Also, you don't have to use young squid to have a tender meal. The already-cleaned squid I can buy usually has five 'hoods' to a kilo, or about 200 grams (or 6-7 ounces) each. They cook just fine. I do find, though, that it takes about three minutes cooking to achieve the right crispness. And a quick comment about defrosting squid hoods — you have to let them defrost in their own time (any encouragement such as the microwave or boiling water will just spoil them and make the end result tough). I learned the hard way that it takes more than eight hours to defrost one kilo (2.2 pounds) of whole squid hoods. So it's probably worth cutting and scoring unfrozen squid hoods before freezing them, so you can reduce the defrost time. If not — defrost them overnight.

From: Japanese Delight

On Jul 3, 2006

This was really delicious! I only made the fried squid portion of the recipe, and then made my own dipping sauce. The squid came out light,crispy, and flavorful; absolutly perfect! I will be using this recipe often to satisfy my fried calamari craving, and now I don't have to go to a restaurant for it anymore! Thanks!!

From: Luschka

On Mar 15, 2008

This was absolutely delicious. I didn't have chillies, which was unfortunate, but the rest I had and it swas simply stunning. The only difference was that I'd never fry the squid for two minutes. I think it would become quite tough. I fried it for closer to 30 or 40 seconds, and it was melt in the mouth soft. Delicious! Thanks for sharing!

From: Kasha

On Apr 18, 2005

Couldn't get this to get crispy--don't know why--but it was tasty. I thought the fried green onions were a nice touch. DH commented he preferred it with lemon more than with soy sauce.

From: djmastermum

On Oct 1, 2005

Very nice. I eat this at resaurants, but I have only found one restuarant that I enjoy it, the other ar too salty, but this recipe isn't, it was really nice not as nice as the rewtaurant, but I will make this again!

From: Shasha

On Aug 26, 2007

Not the breading recipe I was looking for; and the squid came out pretty tough

From: Taste The Lightning

On Feb 1, 2009

From: Davepc

On May 24, 2008

Excellent, you can't go wrong (well maybe shasha can) with this recipe...it's a winner. It's a regular for us and always tender..cheers and thanks