Salt & Pepper Squid – Hakkasan

From The Guardian, Seasonal Eating, July 2008

The salt and pepper squid is full of bold flavour and texture, and very moreish.

Ingredients

• 880g baby squid

• 2 egg whites, very lightly whisked

• 300g potato starch (or 600g cornflour)

• Vegetable oil, for deep-frying

• 1 tsp finely chopped garlic

• 1 tsp finely sliced dried red chilli

• 40g finely sliced spring onion

• 1 tsp five spice seasoning salt

• 60g deep-fried chopped garlic

• 1 small red cabbage, cored and shredded

Clean and open up the squid, scrape clean the insides and score the squid diagonally in both directions. Cut each squid in half or thirds (depending on size) into bite-sized pieces. Rinse the squid, then leave to dry in a colander. Once dry, coat the squid in egg white and lightly dust with the potato starch.

Heat a wok over a very high heat, pour in enough oil to fill by a third and, once the oil is hot, deep-fry the squid in four batches for about a minute, until crispy. Tip the oil and squid into a metal sieve placed over a pan - that way, you can save the oil for cooking the next portion.

Add a teaspoon of oil to a clean wok and sweat the fresh garlic, dried chilli and spring onions. Once the aromas are released, remove the wok from the heat, add the cooked squid and sprinkle with five spice seasoning salt and the fried garlic. Return the wok to the heat and stir-fry for 10 seconds.

To serve, take a handful of shredded cabbage, place in an oval in the centre of each plate and pile the squid neatly in the centre.

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