When I lived in Hong Kong, I would frequent one of the many Chinese restaurants in Lantau Island’s Mui Wo, which was a healthy hike from my house. This restaurant was my finish line at the end of a busy day, and I would always order fried calamari as a ‘well done’ snack for myself. I’ve tried to replicate that dish because it makes the perfect treat
Ingredients
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1 squid, about 200g (7oz), cleaned and slit open lengthways
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3 coriander roots, roughly chopped
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1 lemongrass stalk, trimmed and roughly chopped
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1 pandan leaf, roughly chopped
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2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
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1 tablespoon oyster sauce
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1⁄2 tablespoon granulated sugar
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5 tablespoons cornflour
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1 egg, beaten
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2 tablespoons water
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475ml (16fl oz) vegetable oil, for deep-frying
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Sweet chilli sauce (see separate recipe) or steamed rice, to serve
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For the topping:
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2 tablespoons vegetable oil
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1⁄2 green pepper, cored, deseeded and sliced
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1⁄2 onion, roughly chopped
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1 red chilli, deseeded and roughly chopped
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2 lime leaves, roughly torn
Method
- Open the body tube of the squid out flat and score the inside of the flesh in a diamond pattern.
- Cut into diagonal slices, then pat the squid pieces dry with kitchen paper and set aside.
- Coarsely pound together the coriander roots, lemongrass and pandan leaf using a pestle and mortar. Set aside.
- Mix the soy sauce, oyster sauce and sugar in a bowl.
- In another bowl, mix the cornflour and beaten egg, then add this to the soy sauce mixture.
- Stir in the coriander root paste and mix in the water to make a batter. Add the squid pieces, mix to coat well and set aside.
- To make the topping, heat the oil in a frying pan set over a medium heat, add the pepper, onion, chilli and lime leaves and cook for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables have softened.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a wok.
- When the oil is hot, add the squid pieces one by one and deep-fry for 2–3 minutes until golden and crispy (you may need to fry the squid in batches).
- Drain on kitchen paper, top with the vegetable mixture and serve hot with sweet chilli sauce or rice.
