Got lemon? Make Fried Calamari with cheat aioli!
When I shopped for my roast chicken, I bought an additional lemon for reasons I cannot explain. Oh wait, I think I wanted to make lots of honey lemon drink. But as days went by, I didn’t feel like drinking honey lemon and the sole lemon sat in the fridge feeling very unwanted.
Fear not lemon, I thought of a better use for you! You will be thoroughly squashed for my Fried Calamari with Cheat Aioli! It’s a noble cause, your sacrifice was well worth it. There’s really no better reason to die than to contribute to a great seafood dinner.
Off I went to Jaya Grocer to buy fresh squid. You know, Jaya Grocer should pay me for advertising already. But your lemon very expensive, RM1.30 for a single lemon so maybe not.
First, buy squid! I cannot emphasize this enough, you must have squid to make fried calamari. You can buy as much squid as your wallet and cholesterol level allows, though I don’t think it’s wise to keep squid in the fridge/ freezer so only get as much as you’re going to eat.
Next, clean squid! Remove the purple-ish skin and thoroughly clean the insides. This part actually took the longest time but you must have clean squid, else you’re silly for eating dirty squid. Then cut them into rings like this:
If you’re wondering why there were no tentacles in the photo, that’s because I threw them out. Firstly I don’t know how to clean them. Secondly, I don’t really eat the tentacles.
Next: flour seasoning mix! Don’t cheat and buy those pre-mix stuff because it’s cheaper and nicer to make your own. Also don’t be stupid like me and pour it all on a flat dish. I only did this so I could take a photo of the stuff. You should mix everything in a bowl.
You can use anything that you have, really. I saw a recipe that uses corn flour + 5 spice powder. Another recipe I saw calls for dried oregano. I think I may have used some of that, I don’t remember. Anything lah, use your imagination! Though I doubt rosemary would be a good fit. Hmmm, okay let me rephrase that. Anything lah, use your imagination and common sense.
Make sure that your squid is as dry as [insert euphemism here] then dredge them through your flour mix. Make sure they’re well coated. As you can see in the photo below, I used some dory fish as well because I have a fillet in the freezer.
In a pan or wok, heat up some vegetable oil, enough to half-drown your squid. Make sure it’s hot then put in the squid. Cook them in batches if you have to, I don’t like overcrowding stuff. Cook each side for about 2 minutes. It’s quite easy but a bit painful as I had some oil splattering. A bit only but still ouch.
After they’re done (only 2 minutes a side!), remove them to a kitchen towel-laden plate. Steal a bite and risk burning your tongue, you’ve been warned.
Now it’s time to make cheat aoili! Why cheat leh? ‘Cos the real one takes too many steps whereas the cheat one only takes 4.
First step: chop garlic. Garlic is great, garlic is yummy, garlic is good for you, finely chopped garlic is edible. If you could blend the garlic, even better but I don’t have a blender nor food processor *ahem ahem* so I make do with finely chopped garlic.
Next: add mayonnaise and a squeeze of lemon to your chopped garlic.
Final step: Mix well.
Ta-dah, cheat aioli! Thank you thank you. You can call it garlic mayonnaise with lemon if you like.
Serve your yummy seafood with the cheat aioli and salad with balsamic dressing. You don’t have to, but it’s very nice one. Really one. Also remember to squeeze some lemon (lots for me!) to your calamari, deliciousness increase +100.
There you go, fried calamari with cheat aioli. So easy right? Right.
Related Posts
- Noteworthy
- Quick Chinese lemon chicken
- obc: s05e02
- scrumptious thai food @ coca restaurant
- banana fritters
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
did u have some of sotong’s beer with this?
YUM!
this post inspired me to make my own aioli tonight. thumbsup!
KY: no ar. i have my own
izad: oooo what are you cooking tonight????
dunno yet.. i still have that ginormous burger patty from las vacas in the fridge though..
Now that looks awesome, Dory will taste real good cooked this way too.
izad: ooo do it! i’ve heard of las vacas a few times. good ar their stuff?
ST: hehe I fried up a dory also. Everything is awesome with garlic mayonnaise
yummy!!! makes me wanna run out and buy some sotong now!!!
Suanie the Chef… Suanie the Great….Suanie the Great
Chef
kim: haha makes ME want to run out and buy sotong!!
mom: heheh thanks
Yum, fried sotong with dip….can never go wrong!
yum yum!
Tien: Well one could overcook the sotong and it would suck big time! Heheheh
Benjamin: Indeed