Fried Salt and Pepper Squid
600g young squid, each about 4 to 5 cm long, cleaned
6 cups vegetable oil, for deep frying
2 tablespoons sea salt
2 tablespoons black peppercorns
150g cornflour
2 red chilli, very thinly sliced, seeds and all
4 green onions, cut into 1 cm pieces
Slit each squid body open along one side with a sharp knife then score the inside of each in a criss-cross pattern.
Set aside with the tentacles.
Heat 5 cm of Vegetable oil in the base of a deep frying pan.
Place the sea salt and the peppercorns in a pestle and mortar and crush coarsely together.
Stir into the cornflour, and then toss with the squid to coat.
Cook the chillies and salad onions in the hot oil for 30 seconds then scoop them out with a mesh spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
Cook the squid body and tentacles in the pan for 2 minutes until it rolls up and turns crisp and lightly golden.
Transfer the squid to a plate, scatter over the crispy chilli and salad onions and serve with soy sauce for drizzling and lemon wedges for squeezing over.
Serves 8