It's been a while since I have gotten around to posting anything up, I think it's been a mix of life getting busy and me getting lazy but I think it's time for me to dust off my cob webs and get back to getting stuff done.
A while back I posted up a recipe for fried calamari, that is more of a crunchy coating and although I do still like it, it wasn't what you would typically get at a restaurant and I was really craving that sort of puffy coating on the calamari that still had the inside a little chewy and soft. I had used this tempura recipe before when replicating an appetizer I ordered from Blue Wasabi called angry chicken which was amazing and came with this delicious Sriracha dipping sauce. So I figured maybe it would work for the calamari but I wanted to add some seasoning to the batter so it would have flavor on its own without the dipping sauce. I decided to combine the original calamari recipe seasoning with the tempura recipe to get the best of both worlds and the result was absolutely delicious. Now although I don't like eating a lot of fried foods I wanted calamari sooo badly so I figured one night eating something fried wouldn't kill me. I absolutely love the puffy and flavorful coating on the outside and the nice soft yet chewy calamari on the inside. It was everything I was craving and more. Let's just say I was a very happy woman and my husband's belly was equally as happy.
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 egg
2/3 cup ice water
Oil for frying
Calamari, chicken breast, veggies, or fish cut into bite size pieces or strips.
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 egg
2/3 cup ice water
Oil for frying
Calamari, chicken breast, veggies, or fish cut into bite size pieces or strips.
Our choice was calamari and red bell peppers because it has been a long time since we have had anything fried we didn't want to fry anything too heavy.
In a medium pot heat the frying oil on medium high heat. When the oil is hot enough you should see slight rippling in the oil.
In a small bowl mix all of the dry ingredients together and set aside.
In a medium sized bowl mix the egg and the ice water together, make sure the water is extremely cold, I like to place a couple of ice cubes in the cup then right before I mix it into the egg I remove the ice cubes and remeasure the 2/3 cup of water.
Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet until it is smooth and there are no big lumps. The mix will be thin so what ever you are using the batter for make sure it does not have alot of water on it.
Place the calamari into the tempura batter (or what ever food you are using) and using chopsticks or a fork mix into the batter making sure it is fully coated. Now one by one remove the calamari from the batter and gently shake off any excess.
Now carefully place it into the hot oil, watch out for popping oil. Make sure that the oil is hot enough, this will make sure that the food gets fried quickly and makes the batter crunchy. If the oil isn't hot enough the coating will end up absorbing too much oil making it soggy which is yucky.
Fry the calamari in small batches to keep the temperature of the oil from dropping too much and wait a minute or two between batches to let the temperature of the oil heat up again. Let cook 3-4 minutes making sure to turn the calamari over half way through to brown the other side. When they are done remove the calamari using using a slotted spoon and place on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb any excess oils.
Serve while warm, you can squeeze some lemon over it and use ranch, marinara sauce or any dip of your liking.
In a medium sized bowl mix the egg and the ice water together, make sure the water is extremely cold, I like to place a couple of ice cubes in the cup then right before I mix it into the egg I remove the ice cubes and remeasure the 2/3 cup of water.
Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet until it is smooth and there are no big lumps. The mix will be thin so what ever you are using the batter for make sure it does not have alot of water on it.
Place the calamari into the tempura batter (or what ever food you are using) and using chopsticks or a fork mix into the batter making sure it is fully coated. Now one by one remove the calamari from the batter and gently shake off any excess.
Fry the calamari in small batches to keep the temperature of the oil from dropping too much and wait a minute or two between batches to let the temperature of the oil heat up again. Let cook 3-4 minutes making sure to turn the calamari over half way through to brown the other side. When they are done remove the calamari using using a slotted spoon and place on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb any excess oils.
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