• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Umami Days

Umami Days

Cooking in a house on a hill

  • Pick a meal
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch / Dinner
      • Appetizers
      • Salads
      • Soups
      • Main Courses
      • Side Dishes
      • Sweets
    • Snacks
  • Pick your protein
    • Chicken
    • Meat
    • Seafood
    • Eggs
    • Mushrooms
    • Tofu
    • Vegetables
  • Pick your carb
    • Rice & Grains
    • Noodles
    • Bread
  • Notes
    • Kitchen
    • Dining
    • Edible Garden
    • Food Tales
    • Sidebar
  • All recipes
    • By Meal
      • Breakfast
      • Lunch / Dinner
        • Appetizers
        • Salads
        • Soups
        • Main Courses
        • Side Dishes
        • Sweets
      • Snacks
    • By Main Protein
      • Chicken
      • Meat
      • Seafood
      • Eggs
      • Mushrooms
      • Tofu
      • Vegetables
    • By Carb
      • Rice & Grains
      • Noodles
      • Bread
  • Notes
    • Kitchen
    • Dining
    • Edible Garden
    • Food Tales
    • Sidebar
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Seafood / Crispy calamari

Crispy calamari

Subtly spicy and citrusy with light-as-a-cloud coating. Squid rings are tossed in lemon pepper seasoning, dipped in batter made with beer and vodka, and deep fried until golden.

Crispy calamari with dipping sauce

Of course, there are other ways to prepare the batter, and there are formulas that do not include any alcohol. Some cooks like to dredge the squid rings in flour, dip them in beaten eggs and coat them in bread crumbs before frying. Others dip the squid rings in a thickish batter made with iced water and flour before they go into the hot oil.

Here at home, we do it differently. My daughter, Alex, who cooked the calamari, made the batter with cold beer and vodka. Why beer and vodka? Beer is naturally bubbly and those little bubbles help lighten the batter. And by “lighten”, I do not mean the color but, rather, the texture. Vodka adds to the lightness even more.

The squid rings were tossed lightly in seasoned flour before dipping them in the batter to help prevent the batter from sliding off the slippery squid rings. The seasoning came in three stages. The squid rings were seasoned with salt and pepper before they were tossed in flour to which lemon pepper seasoning had been whisked in. The batter contained the third layer of seasonings.

Fresh whole squids on chopping board

How to clean fresh whole squid (calamari)

If you like squid (or if you’re just a fan of crispy calamari), knowing how to clean fresh whole squids is an indispensable skill. See our illustrated guide.

Read moreHow to clean fresh whole squid (calamari)

Crispy calamari

Connie Veneracion
Squid requires a short cooking time to ensure that it is tender and moist when it lands on the dining table. When overcooked, squid turns tough and rubbery. The trick here is to do the frying at the correct temperature so that the coating turns brown and crisp without overcooking the squid.
Crispy calamari with dipping sauce
Print Pin
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 10 mins
Total Time 25 mins
Course Appetizer
Cuisine International
Servings 6 people

Ingredients
  

  • 500 grams squid rings
  • 3 teaspoons salt - divided
  • 2 teaspoons pepper - divided
  • ½ cup all-purpose flour - divided
  • 1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning - available in the spice section of the grocery
  • ¼ cup corn starch
  • ½ cup cold beer
  • 2 tablespoons cold vodka
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne
  • cooking oil - for deep frying

For the dipping sauce

  • ½ cup ketchup
  • ¼ cup mayonnaise

Instructions
 

  • Rinse the squid rings, drain well and wipe with paper towels.
  • Toss the squids with two teaspoons salt and and a quarter teaspoon pepper.
  • In a bowl, whisk two tablespoons flour with the lemon and pepper seasoning.
  • Add the seasoned squids and toss to lightly coat each piece with the flour mixture.
  • Make the batter by stirring together the starch, remaining flour, beer, vodka, cayenne and the remaining salt and pepper.
  • Pour enough cooking oil in a frying pan to reach a depth of at least two inches. Bring the temperature of the oil to 350F. If you don’t use a thermometer, watch out for fine wisps of smoke to float on the surface of the oil.
  • Cook the squid rings in batches. Dip each piece of squid in the batter and drop into the hot oil. Repeat until you have six to eight pieces frying in the oil. Cook the squid for one to one and a half minutes per side. DO NOT overcook.
  • When the squid pieces are done, scoop out and move to a strainer. Repeat until all the squids are battered and deep fried.
  • Pile the deep fried squid on a platter.
  • Stir together the ketchup and mayo in a small bowl and serve on the side as a dipping sauce.
Print Pin
Keyword Squid

More to enjoy!

Bacon-wrapped kani (imitation crab sticks) with Japanese mayo

Bacon-wrapped kani

Mussels on the half shell topped with tomato sauce and cheese

Baked mussels with mozzarella and Parmesan

Tinapang bangus sinangag (smoked milkfish fried rice)

Tinapang bangus sinangag (smoked milkfish fried rice)

Fried whole tilapia with sweetened calamansi sauce garnished with chili slices and scallions

Fried whole tilapia with sweetened calamansi sauce

Salmon belly sinigang

Salmon belly sinigang

Pan-grilled Salmon With Lemon-butter-garlic Sauce in White Plate

Pan-grilled salmon with lemon-butter-garlic sauce

Last updated on June 22, 2022 ♥ Seafood, Appetizers, Lunch / Dinner

Sidebar

A cook’s diary

How to cook gyoza with wings

The process is pretty much the same as pan frying gyoza except for the addition of starch dissolved in water to make a light crust at the bottom. Here’s a fully illustrated guide.

How to use a cocktail muddler

A serious cocktail enthusiast should own a muddler. Not as a bar ornament but as a tool for crushing fruit, herbs and spices. Pulverizing them in a blender just won’t do. Trust me, I learned that the sad way.

Sambal is Indonesian chili paste with countless variants

Chili, or a combination chilies, is the ingredient for sambal, the Indonesian chili paste or sauce which is either cooked or raw. Secondary ingredients vary. Garlic, ginger, shallot, scallions, shrimp paste, lime juice and palm sugar may be added to modify the flavor of sambal.

umamidays.com
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Privacy
  • Contact

Umami Days is powered by Apple, Canon, coffee & crispy pork belly · Copyright © 2022 Connie Veneracion · All Rights Reserved