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Christine Gallary
Christine GallaryFood Editor-at-Large
Christine graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France, and she has worked at Cook's Illustrated and CHOW.com. She lives in San Francisco and loves teaching cooking classes. Follow her latest culinary escapades on Instagram.
published Apr 23, 2022
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This is how you turn squid or calamari in delicate crunchy bites of goodness.
Serves4Prep10 minutesCook20 minutesJump to Recipe
Jump to Recipe
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When cooked properly, fried calamari is the perfect appetizer: crisp and tender, perfect for popping into your mouth all on its own, with a spritz of lemon, or dipped into marinara sauce. On the other hand, fried calamari can easily become sad and soggy, chewy to the point of being rubbery, or — worst-case scenario — both of the above.
Luckily, there are two key steps that guarantee crispy-tender fried calamari to rival anything you’ll find at your favorite fried seafood joint. First, make sure to give the calamari a quick marinade in buttermilk; this helps tenderize it and also adds flavor. Next, after you drain off the buttermilk, toss the calamari pieces in a mixture of all-purpose and rice flour. The rice flour (regular not sweet!) helps creates a delicate coating that shatters when you bite into it.
What’s the Best Oil to Fry Calamari In?
Any high-smoke-point oil — like vegetable, canola, or peanut oil — will work for frying calamari. I recommend an oil with a very mild flavor so that the delicate calamari flavor shines through.
How Do You Make Fried Calamari Not Chewy?
In addition to soaking the calamari in buttermilk before frying, avoid frying the calamari for too long. Pull the calamari out of the oil when it’s light golden-brown.
More Tips for Frying Calamari
- Keep the oil temperature steady. Calamari fries up super quick, so keep the oil at a steady 375ºF and make sure it comes back up to that temperature for each batch.
- Don’t overcrowd. It might not seem like a lot, but just batter and fry a small handful at a time. You want to be able to easily separate the pieces in the flour mixture, and more than a handful clumps up the flour and makes it gummy and difficult to work with. Fry in a Dutch oven, which gives the calamari plenty of room to spread out.
- Recruit a friend! If you can find someone to help you during frying, the whole process is much more pleasant, as each batch fries up so quickly. Designate one person to do the dredging and the second person fries.
- Don’t reuse the oil. While a lot of oil left over from deep frying can be saved and reused, this leftover oil is too fishy, so I recommend dumping it.
Fried Calamari Recipe
This is how you turn squid or calamari in delicate crunchy bites of goodness.
Prep time 10 minutes
Cook time 20 minutes
Serves 4
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
- 1 pound
cleaned squid or calamari (see Recipe Notes if buying whole squid)
- 1 cup
buttermilk
- 6 cups
vegetable or canola oil, for deep frying
- 1 cup
all-purpose flour
- 1 cup
white rice flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons
Diamond Crystal kosher salt or 3/4 teaspoon fine salt, plus more for seasoning
- 1 teaspoon
garlic powder or granules
- 1/2 teaspoon
ground white pepper
Lemon wedges and tartar sauce, for serving
Instructions
Thaw 1 pound cleaned squid or calamari if frozen. Cut the bodies crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces but leave the tentacles whole. Place the rings and tentacles in a medium bowl, add 1 cup buttermilk, and stir to combine. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Heat 6 cups vegetable oil in a Dutch oven or large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat until 375ºF. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 200ºF. Fit a wire rack onto a baking sheet. Place 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup white rice flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt or 3/4 teaspoon fine salt, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, and 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Drain the calamari in a colander and agitate the calamari with your hands to remove as much liquid as possible.
Bread and fry the calamari in 4 to 5 batches: Drop a handful of calamari (about 1/2 cup) into the flour mixture and toss until well coated, separating the pieces with your hands. Transfer to a fine-mesh strainer and shake over the bowl to remove the excess flour.
Transfer to the hot oil, stir immediately to separate the pieces, and fry until just cooked through and light golden brown, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Transfer to the rack with a slotted spoon or spider and season lightly with salt. Place the baking sheet in the oven to keep warm. Bread the next batch while the oil is coming back up to 375ºF. Serve with lemon wedges and tartar sauce.
Recipe Notes
Whole calamari: If you purchase whole, uncleaned calamari, you’ll need 2 pounds.
Storage: Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Reheat in a 325ºF oven until warmed through.
Filed in:
Ingredient
seafood
appetizer
Main Dish
Frying
dinner
