RECIPE: Deep Fried Calamari With Jalapeños

July 23, 2013 at 8:06 am · Filed under Fish-Seafood-Caviar, Recipes

Crispy, deep-fried calamari and jalapeños? Yes, please—and don’t forget the beer.

How can you make fried calamari even better?

Use cornmeal instead of regular flour. We use Bob’s Red Mill Blue Cornmeal Flour, which also comes in a gluten-free version.

Batter and fry some fresh jalapeños with it.

The idea to add jalapeños comes from Five Napkin Burger, a wildly popular burger chain in New York City (and deservedly so). The restaurant serves the calamari with a spicy marinara sauce. Nice, but we can be even happier with fresh parsley and a squeeze of lemon.

The restaurant uses wheat flour, but we beseech you to try cornmeal. The flavor and texture are truly exciting. Pick up a sack of fine cornmeal flour and use it for everything you fry.

Fried calamari with jalapeños. Photo courtesy
Five Napkin Burger.

FRIED CALAMARI WITH JALAPEÑOS

Ingredients

Vegetable oil for frying

1 pound cleaned squid with tentacles; bodies cut into 1/2-inch-thick rings

4 large jalapeño chiles (about 3″ long), sliced*

2 cups all-purpose flour or cornmeal

2 tablespoons dried parsley

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 lemons, cut into wedges

Optional: 1 cup marinara sauce, spicy arrabiata sauce, tartar sauce or other condiment

*If you want less heat, remove the seeds and white spine from the jalapeños.

Sliced jalapeños. You can use red or green
chiles. Photo by Brybs | SXC.

Preparation

1. ADD three inches of oil to a large, heavy saucepan. Heat over medium to 350°F.

2. COMBINE the flour, parsley, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Working in small batches, toss the squid and jalapeños in the seasoned flour to coat.

3. ADD the squid and jalapeños to the oil and fry until crisp and very pale golden, about 1 minute. Transfer to a paper-towel lined plate or tray to drain.

4. SERVE with lemon wedges and optional sauce.

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