Nouranyeh's Recipe

Fried Calamari at Home with Homemade Garlic Aioli

Category: Recipes

INGREDIENTS:

FOR THE FRIED CALAMARI
2 or 3 cleaned tubes of squid
1/2 cup all-purpose flour 60 grams
2 cage-free organic eggs
1 tbsp milk 15 ml
1 cup breadcrumbs 110 grams
1/2 cup sunflower oil 130 ml
1/2 tsp fine sea salt 3 grams
1/2 tsp black pepper 1.15 grams

FOR THE GARLIC AIOLI
2 cloves garlic roughly minced or mashed with salt in a mortar
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp lemon juice 2.5 ml
1/4 cup of Spanish extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt

MAKE THE GARLIC AIOLI FIRST & REFRIGERATE

To make the garlic aioli, finely mince 2 cloves of garlic and add them to a mortar, using a pestle pound down on the garlic until your form a paste, then add 1 egg yolk, 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice and a pinch of sea salt, start SLOWLY pouring in about a 1/4 cup of extra virgin Spanish olive oil while you mix everything together (without stopping), once you reach a mayonnaise like consistency, the garlic aioli is done, cover with seran wrap and add to the fridge

INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE THE FRIED CALAMARI

To make the flour batter for the calamari, add a generous 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour to a bowl, 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt, 1 teaspoon of dried parsley and 1 teaspoon of dried thyme, mix all the dry ingredients together and set aside

Grab 2 or 3 frozen tubes of squid that are about 1 1/2 pounds each (or whatever is equivalent), remove them from the plastic wrap, rinse them under cold water, pat each one dry with paper towels and cut into rings that are about a 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick rings.

To coat the squid rings, add the flour mixture and the squid rings into a large Ziplock plastic bag and mix everything together until all the squid rings are well coated.

Crack 2 eggs into a separate bowl, pour in 1 tbsp milk and whisk together until well combined

Add 1 cup breadcrumbs into a 3rd separate bowl, season with 1/4 tsp sea salt and 1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper, mix until well combined. (or just use seasoned breadcrumbs)

To coat the squid rings with breadcrumbs, first dust off in the flour, then one by one into the egg wash and finally into the breadcrumbs, as you finish each one transfer to a dish, continue until they´re all coated and set aside on plate.

Heat a large pan with a medium heat and add in a generous 1/2 cup sunflower oil

Once the oil is hot (about 5 to 6 minutes), start adding the coated squid rings, make sure they´re all in a single layer, so cook in batches, after 90 seconds flip to fry the other side, after another 90 seconds remove from the pan and transfer to a dish with paper towels, heat the oil for 1 minute and then cook your next batch as the oil temperature might have dropped between batches. You want the oil to be about 375 F.

Transfer the garlic aioli to a small bowl, place it on a plate and decorate the fried calamari on the plate, garnish with fresh parsley.