Fried calamari, done really well, is superb!

I wanted to make fried calamari for a long time but I lacked a good recipe. What I show below is a hybrid recipe I created from the best ones I found on the Internet. It is excellent.

My experiences eating fried calamari in restaurants varied from fabulous to awful. Typically, the awful ones were fried too long, the coating was dark and the calamari rings tough to chew, and the provided dipping sauce was some strongly flavored red pasta sauce instead of a simple marinara sauce. That set of mistakes was an easily avoided disgrace. When I had fabulous fried calamari, they were crisp and light in color and tender inside, and sometimes tossed with moist, diced pickled hot peppers, along with a mild dipping sauce.

If you like fried calamari be sure to try this recipe. It is easy to find nice cleaned calamari tubes in the seafood section of the better supermarkets. But do make sure they are fresh, light in color and firm to the touch. There should be no fishy odor at all. If you want you can include the tentacles when you purchase the tubes, but that is not necessary.

One recipe hint is very important ... Make sure the calamari rings are not wet after they have been dredged in the flour mixture, because that will not allow for rapid frying, which is essential to have crisp yet tender calamari. Note that the frying time is only one minute per batch, and the batches are kept small to maintain the high temperature of the frying oil. I recommend using a watch with either a second hand or digital seconds counter so you can be very accurate regarding frying time, until you learn by sight alone when they are done.

About the frying ... When you first introduce a batch of raw, coated calamari into the hot oil there will quickly be a lot of bubbling and release of steam. The bubbles of oil will rise in the frying pot by a good two inches or more. For that reason, never have the heated oil surface closer than three inches from the top of the frying pot or Dutch oven. Unless, of course, you want to set your kitchen on fire! Also, when the majority of the bubbling subsides increase the heat temporarily to maintain the oil temperature during frying.

Here is an additional hint for after the frying ... The frying oil, once used, will be somewhat darkened and "cruddy" due to the flour coating on the calamari. You can reuse the cooled, room temperature oil once or twice later if you first pour it off slowly, using a fine sieve in a funnel, into a clean sealable container, leaving the "crud" behind. Do not, however, reuse the oil for frying anything other than seafood.

Fried calamari can be enjoyed served hot "as is" or sprinkled with lemon juice or tossed with diced hot banana peppers or dipped in a variety of different condiments as shown below in the last item in ingredients. You might also try the Food Nirvana recipe for Fried Calamari II, which uses a sweet and spicy sauce for tossing or dipping. Whatever you choose I am sure you will really enjoy them.

Ingredients: (Makes two to four servings)

1/2 to 1 lb. of cleaned calamari tubes cut into rings 1/2" wide

1 tbsp. of fresh lemon juice

3/4 cup of all purpose flour

1/2 cup of corn flour

1/2 cup of cornmeal

1/2 tsp. of garlic powder

1/2 tsp. of cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp. of paprika

1 tsp. of sea salt

1/2 tsp. of pepper

1 or 2 cups of buttermilk (buy the real thing, "cultured" buttermilk)

2 quarts of Canola oil or peanut oil for frying

Marinara sauce, lemon wedges, diced hot banana peppers, garlic mayonnaise or an aioli (all optional)

Directions:

Cut the calamari tubes into rings about 1/2" wide and place the rings in a bowl. When all rings have been cut then rinse them in cold water twice and drain off the water.

Mix the buttermilk, cayenne pepper and lemon juice in a two quart stainless steel bowl, then mix in the calamari rings, making sure they are covered with the seasoned buttermilk. Marinate the rings in the refrigerator for 1 hour or more. The marinating in the acidic medium will help keep the calimari tender during later frying.

Heat the oven to 200°F and arrange an oven shelf in the middle. Cover a large dinner plate or a small casserole with a paper towel and place it in the oven on the middle oven shelf.

Combine the flour, cornmeal, corn flour, paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a shallow pan or a large bowl, and whisk until those ingredients are well combined.

Remove the calamari rings from the buttermilk mixture one or two at a time, then place them well spaced from each other on paper towels. Let the paper towels soak up excess liquid for a few minutes.

Toss/dredge the rings in the flour mixture four at a time to coat them completely, inside and out. Remove them from the flour mixture, shaking off any excess flour and put them on a dinner plate.

Pour the canola or peanut oil 2 inches deep in a Dutch oven or in a large, heavy-bottomed pot.

Heat the oil over high heat until the oil temperature reaches 350°F. Use an instant read thermometer to assure accuracy. Adjust the heat as necessary to maintain a temperature of 350°F before and during frying.

Fry the calamari in separate batches, six at a time, for exactly 1 minute for each batch, agitating the rings gently with a wire mesh strainer or a spider or a large slotted spoon during frying to assure even frying.

Due to the short frying time the color of the calamari rings will be a light or very light tan. That is normal. Avoid frying the calamari for a longer time or it will become tough instead of being tender.

Remove the fried calamari pieces quickly and drain off excess oil from them briefly in a paper towel-lined shallow bowl, then lightly season the fried calamari immediately with sea salt.

Transfer the fried calamari to the paper towel covered plate or casserole in the oven to keep it warm while you fry the remaining batches.

Fry the remaining batches of calamari, making sure to have the oil temperature at 350°F before frying.

When all batches are done be sure to shut off the heat under the oil. You can process the oil after it has cooled to room temperature, and use it once or twice later to fry seafood, before discarding it.

Serve the calamari hot with plain marinara sauce and/or lemon wedges and/or garlic mayonnaise and/or an aioli, or tossed with diced pickled hot banana peppers, or with no condiments at all.

Here is an easy recipe for making Lemon Aioli to serve with the fried calamari.

Aioli Ingredients:

1/2 cup of mayonnaise

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tbsp. of finely chopped fresh chives

2 to 3 tbsp. of fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp. of lemon zest

A pinch of Kosher salt

A pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Aioli Directions: Simply mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and put the aioli into a small condiments serving bowl for dipping. Start with only 2 tbsp. of lemon juice, mix the ingredients and taste the aioli. Add the third tbsp. of lemon juice and mix again only if needed.

Enjoy!