Super Squid - Squid Recipes

The secret is to catch it yourself or buy it from a reputable fish shop. Ask among your friends - it shouldn't be too difficult to find someone who loves squid and can recommend a good fishing spot or shop!

Plain Gorgeous Squid Rings

(serves 4)

This is great as a snack or an entree.

1 squid, cut into rings
½ cup of plain flour
2 eggs
1 cup dried breadcrumbs
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

Method

Place the flour in a plastic bag, add the squid rings and, holding the top of the bag tightly closed, shake the contents. Break the eggs into a small mixing bowl, add pepper and beat.

Dust off the excess flour from the rings, dip them in the beaten egg and roll in breadcrumbs. Place them on a plate and refrigerate for 15 minutes (to set the breadcrumbs).

Heat the olive oil in a frypan and cook the rings for 15-20 seconds on each side, or until golden brown. Don't overcook!

Drop the rings onto a couple of layers of absorbent kitchen towel, to remove excess oil. Serve quickly, piping hot, with quarters of lemon to squeeze on top.

Stir Fried Squid with Herbs and Spinach

(serves 4)

This little beauty comes courtesy of the Victorian Fishing Industry Federation and is excellent with rice or noodles. The combination of sesame and olive oil used for cooking would probably suit the previous recipe as well.

400g squid, cleaned and cut into rings
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon of mustard seeds
4 spring onions, sliced
½-1 teaspoon of chopped garlic
1 teaspoon of fresh ginger, finely chopped
½ red capsicum, seeded and sliced
6-8 snow peas, trimmed
150g baby spinach
2 tablespoons of parsley, finely chopped
1 teaspoon of fresh basil, finely chopped
2 teaspoons of lemon juice

Method

In a deep frying pan or, preferably, a wok, heat the olive and sesame oil. Add the mustard seeds and cook until they start popping. Add garlic and ginger and continue cooking for 30 seconds.

Toss in the squid rings and stir fry for 2 minutes on medium to high heat. Stir in the capsicum and spring onions and cook for one minute. Add the snow peas and washed spinach and cook for a further minute, or until the snow peas soften slightly.

Sprinkle lemon juice over the stir fry, add basil and parsley and mix well. Serve immediately.

Spicy Cajun Delight

(serves 4)

This is one to do on the barbecue in the summer months, served with rice or potato salad and coleslaw.

500g squid, cut into tubes or rings
500g uncooked prawns (king prawns are nice!)
500g large flaked white fish fillets, boned (eg snapper, mulloway or trevally)
Large pinch of garlic salt
1 teaspoon of celery salt (optional)
1 teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon of mustard powder
1½ teaspoons of ground cumin
½ teaspoon of dried thyme
2 tablespoons of olive oil

Method

There are a number of ways the seafood in this recipe, based on one from the Fishermans Basket shop, can be prepared. The squid can be cut into thin rings, or into ‘slabs' (say, about 3cm x 5cm) by first cutting its tubes in half. If preparing as slabs, score the inside surface of the squid with shallow diagonal slashes.

The prawns can be peeled and de-veined and left with their heads and tails on, or fully prepared - kids often prefer the latter.

Prepare the prawns and squid as above and cut the fish fillets into small slabs, say, 5cm long. Place the three into a large bowl along with the olive oil and mix well.

While you are heating up the barbecue, place the seafood in a single layer in a large meat tray, or similar. Mix the garlic salt, celery salt, paprika, mustard powder, cumin and thyme together in a large wide-holed salt or herb shaker, or in a small bowl.

Sprinkle half the seasoning mix over the seafood and turn the latter over. Sprinkle the remainder over the seafood.

Simply barbecue the seafood until tender and serve.