Calamari Special

William (Uncle Bill) Anatooskin's Note:

This is one of the nicest and best tasting calamari recipes that I have eaten. I find that the calamari is not tough as I have experienced in many restaurants. A friend Chef and I developed this marvelous recipe that is so easy to prepare.

• Total Time: 25 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• ½ lb frozencalamari or ½ lb fresh calamari
• ½ cup whole milk , homogenized
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup japanese panko or ¼ cup regular fine dry breadcrumb
• ½ cup vegetable oil (for frying)
• 2 garlic cloves , minced
• 1 tablespoon sambal oelek (red hot pepper flakes sauce)

Directions:

1. Firstly, prepare a deep-fryer with a good vegetable oil and heat to 375 degrees F, or use a medium size deep frying pan on high heat.
2. Defrost calamari and rinse under cold running water.
3. Cut calamari into 1/4 inch strips. If using fresh calamari, just cut into 1/4 inch strips. Pat dry calamari with paper towels.
4. In a medium size mixing bowl, mix together flour and Panko bread crumbs.
5. Add milk to a bowl and dip calamari in the milk.
6. Toss calamari strips in flour/crumb mixture just to coat. You do not want to have a heavy coating as it could drop off when frying.
7. Flash fry coated calamari in prepared deep-fryer or frying pan for about 15 seconds, deep frying in small amounts.
8. In a frying pan, heat 1/2 cup of vegetable oil to medium-high heat.
9. Add garlic and Sambal Oelek and stir well, cover with a screen to prevent oil from spattering or splashing.
10. Sauté flash-fried calamari for about 1 minute or until nicely light brown. Do not over fry as it could get chewy.
11. Serve calamari with your favorite dip.

Reviews

[bitch'n kitchen]

I was pleasantly surprised. Made this as written except for hot sauce didn't have any. It was so quick and easy and delicious. I used frozen calamari and had no problems. Now my hubbie can stop ordering it in restaurants and paying a lot for it.

[Chef Remy #186273]

Awesome recipe. Alot of the breadcrumbs fell off though - I would try the egg substitution next time, or a combination of the two. I used regular breadcrumbs and red pepper flakes. Came out really good and completely disappeard!

[Toni002]

Tried this recipe but substituted egg for the milk only because I had a similar experience with chicken wings where the breading stuck to the pan. After reading highplainsdrifter review made this adjustment and it came out fine. Everyone loved it . . . will make this again in the future.