Tag: fried

Salt and Pepper Squid

This is a truly spectacular dish and is one of my top 5 favorite Chinese dishes.  Yes its preparation shares much with that of Salt and Pepper Shrimp.  But there are a few differences and the flavor profile – at least in my humble opinion – is superior with the squid.  I made this last weekend for my family and some close friends and there were no leftovers to be had.  I will share a lot of minute details with you on making this dish to minimize errors and really get this restaurant quality.  If you ever go into any remotely ethnic Chinese restaurant you will see this dish on the menu.  And as I mentioned in the shrimp recipe, you will need very high heat (in excess of 600 degrees F) to properly cook it.  I’ll go into more detail below.

The first thing we want is to start our rice.

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I am cooking for 6 people here so I am steaming 4 cups (uncooked) of Japanese Koshihikari rice.  I am using the umami setting which, with this particular model of rice cooker, will mean most of the cooking time will be under pressure.  As you can see, I have 81 minutes before the rice is ready so we have plenty of time here.

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Our dredge will be the first thing I make.  Since I have two lbs of fresh squid here (you can use previously frozen squid and thaw it – it won’t affect the flavor profile) I want to be sure I make enough dredge.  Above I have white, green and schichuan peppercorns.  White are in the spice grinder I have at the top, the green in the lower right and Schichuan peppercorns in the lower left.  Not seen are black peppercorns which I also include.  The schichuan peppercorns in the lower left there are an interesting spice so I will go into some detail here.

Schichuan peppercorns or ash berries as they are sometimes called are the husk of a seed of a plant referred to as Chinese coriander.  Oddly enough the seed is normally discarded and it is the husk that is desired for Schichuan cuisine.  If you ever eat one of these husks raw (as I had my guests do) you will notice it tends to numb the taste buds and even make them tingle after a while.  But mixed with other spices, this seasoning is amazing.  I realize it can be hard to find but it is worth the effort.  While it won’t ruin your dish if you don’t have it, you will notice a difference.

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So here I have mixed my spices including salt, msg, rice flour, corn starch and the peppercorns well ground.  You will want to mix these dry spices well.  I only put a little dredge in my dredge bowl at a time as unlike egg wash based frying you will not use up lots of your spice dredge as you coat your meats with it.  In fact you will have leftovers that you can save for use later if you want.  So I’ll add about 2/3 cup of powder at a time to my bowl and mix with the meat.  If you have not done so you will want to clean your squid.  With that I bought, most of that work was done and all I had to do was cut the tubes into rings.

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And here I have tossed in a bunch of paper towel dried rings and will stir and shake this around some.  The rings are a little tacky and will make only as much dredge as we actually need stick to their surface.  Be sure and shake off excess or you will end up with a bunch of sediment in your oil after cooking which will need to be filtered out if you want to re-use the oil.

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And here we see some rings covered with our spice mixture.  Notice that even with the peppercorns, the dredge is still mostly white.

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And here we have 2 lbs coated and separated and ready to fry.  Note that I have the tentacles nicely coated in here too.  I love them not only for their texture and flavor but their appearance adds an exotic element to the presentation of the dish as well.

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Before cooking we want to get the oil as hot as possible.  I have about 2-2.5 cups of peanut oil here so I will heat this for about two and a half minutes on full blast from my wok burner.  You want the oil extremely hot.  If you look at the flames above, they are going almost up to the top on all sides.  The oil will heat fast.

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I will say this now – this dish is impossible to cook on an indoor stove.  You will not get the oil hot enough on a stove with a 50,000 BTU or less burner.  The coating will be soggy and the squid will be like rubber.  Because even if you do get the oil to 600 degrees, the squid will cool the oil too fast and it will take a weaker stove too long to get the oil back up to temp preventing the seasoned dredge from crisping up.

I was watching Andrew Zimmern yesterday on a rerun of Bizarre Foods and he was doing a special on cuisine in Mississippi, focusing on Delta foods.  He ate with a Chinese American family in Mississippi that were making some Chinese, Mississippi Delta fusion dishes on a burner like mine with their wok outside.  And Andrew said “If this doesn’t make you want to get an outdoor wok burner, I don’t know what will!”  I could not agree more!  One thing that was very striking to me was watching a very Chinese looking woman talk about her heritage cuisine with a very Southern Mississippi drawl.  To see it yourself, look on this Travel Channel episode recap.  This has a special place in my heart because my older son is a student at Mississippi State University.  Again, for less than $100 you can have a wok burner like this and make the same kinds of cuisine.

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When you drop the squid into the oil it should bubble furiously as mine is above.  It took me about three batches fried separately to cook all the squid.

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And here I let it cook for about 75 seconds.  You want the outside to be a light golden color (not brown) when you remove the squid.  Have a bowl lined with paper towels standing by for this.

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You will want to have a large slitted spoon or screen scoop with which to quickly remove the squid from the hot oil.  Let the oil sit for about ten seconds each time before adding subsequent batches.  Special thanks goes to my friend Lesley Litt for taking the pictures while I fried these.  Your help was much appreciated and I am glad you enjoyed the squid with us!

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What the extreme heat does is makes a slightly crispy, seasoned crust on the outside of the squid pieces that makes them absolutely delectable.

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After all the squid has been cooked, I empty almost all the oil out of the wok (except for maybe 2 tablespoons) and get that oil smoking hot.  Then I put the squid back in and toss in the aromatics.

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You want to mix the aromatics and squid well, tossing them around for maximum flavor.

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Note how high my burner heat is.  This is essential to this dish.

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And at the table it is ready for serving with rice.  I normally like to serve a soup before the squid but did not here.  Note the bowl of hot chili paste above.  Since I did not cook this with hot peppers (I had guests here that could not abide the heat) I used that paste spooned over my squid.

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I love taking a piece of squid with some garlic and green onions and eat that and follow it with a clump of plain steamed white rice.  The alternating savory and bland flavors play very well together.

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With the chili paste, the dish becomes very spicy-hot.  You will see people eating it this way in Chinese restaurants as well.  The hair on the back of my head will get soaked with sweat as I eat this.  But this dish is truly divine and I consider myself blessed that I can cook it at home as well as it is in a restaurant.

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And the inevitable result is above.  You will not have any leftovers of the squid.  In fact, you will probably get (as I did) people asking you if there is any more in the kitchen.  I suppose you could cook a lot and have leftovers.  But if you do, do NOT reheat them in a microwave.  You will want to toast them in the oven at 375 degrees for about 10-12 minutes.  I find that reheating the squid in this way will get it pretty close to the way it was when you scooped it out of the wok.

Without any more pomp and ceremony, here is the recipe.

Salt and Pepper Squid (serves 5-6)

Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs squid tubes (or rings) and tentacles (fresh or thawed).
  • 4 cups uncooked white rice.
  • 2-2.5 cups peanut oil.
  • 1 cup rice flour.
  • 3/4 cup corn starch.
  • 4 Tbs finely ground white peppercorns.
  • 1 Tbs finely ground black peppercorns.
  • 1 Tbs finely ground green peppercorns (optional – I added this because I happened to have them but they are not really necessary).
  • 2 tsp finely ground Schichuan peppercorns.
  • 3-4 Tbs fine grained sea salt (to taste – I like using 4 Tbs).
  • 2 tsp monosodium glutamate (gourmet powder) (optional but if you omit it, it will noticeably change the flavor of the dish).
  • 1.5 cups chopped green onions.
  • 1/4 cup minced fresh garlic.
  • 1/4 cup sliced Thai chili peppers (optional).

Preparation:

  • Begin to cook the rice in a rice cooker or in a pot.
  • Cut the squid tubes into rings if necessary.
  • Mix the ground peppercorns, salt and msg into the starch and rice flour mix.
  • Mix the squid pieces into the dredge and toss well to coat each piece.
  • Set dredged squid pieces aside.
  • Preheat your oil in the wok and get it extremely hot.
  • Fry the squid in batches.  I find that 2/3 lb of squid at a time works best.
  • Put each batch into a paper towel lined bowl to drain.
  • When all squid is cooked, dump out most of the oil into a container to save the oil to use again later.
  • Put the cooked squid back into the wok with about 2 Tbs oil.
  • Toss in the green onions, garlic and sliced chilis.
  • Toss the squid with the aromatics and mix well.
  • Place in a paper towel lined bowl and serve with steamed white rice.
  • Provide chili paste as desired.
  • Save leftover dredge in a sealed container and refrigerate for use later.

Thank you!

Suburbanwok

Salt and Pepper Shrimp

The dish I am about to share with you is one of my personal favorites.  I love it cooked using squid or shrimp (I will provide a separate article with it cooked using squid with more pictures of all the steps).  Though I will say the meal looks more exotic with the rings and tentacles of small squid than the familiar grub-like form of cleaned shrimp tails.  Salt and Pepper Shrimp is a Cantonese dish (Cantonese food tries to highlight the actual flavor of the food rather than sauces).  It is often ordered in a restaurant by a group of people in addition to a few other meals and shared.  My own love for this comes from eating very savory pieces of shrimp between mouthfuls of hot, steamed, white rice.  That extra savory vs bland rice trade-off is hard to explain to most people.  To me it can be compared to eating the crust in a chicken pot pie.  You love the chicken and gravy – but that bland tasting crust with the gravy on it is irresistible.  When I pick up a shrimp with a piece of green onion and maybe a section of hot chili pepper with chopsticks, my first instinct after I start chewing it is to take a clump of steamed rice from my rice bowl and follow that shrimp with it.  This is even a tradition with Japanese cuisine.  They enjoy food that plays well with plain rice.  That means sometimes overly salty or savory food is presented that will be eaten with or alongside rice.

Salt and Pepper Shrimp needs to be cooked in a wok over extremely high heat.  This is another one of those dishes you can’t cook on Momma’s stove.  Oh you can do it I am sure, but the outside will be somewhat soggy unless you further toast it which, to my thinking, will dry it out too much. As I have said before in my Tools of an Asian Cook article, the low cost of these high heat burners (under $100) makes one worth investing in.

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Above, starting from the left we have minced garlic with sliced red and green Thai chilis (fresh from my garden I might add), about 1 lb of cleaned, shelled and deveined shrimp, my dredge (whose ingredients I will share with you at the bottom of this article) and sliced green onions/scallions.  A quick word on the dredge, by the way.  My recipe uses monosodium glutamate (MSG) which is called “gourmet powder” in Chinese circles.  It markedly affects the flavor of the food, making it more pronounced.  While the authentic recipe does call for it, I do realize that some people may have a reaction or aversion to it.  If you decide to make it like I do and include the MSG, please make sure your guests know there will be MSG in the dish.  This will save some possible embarrassment later.

Now I want to cover some differences in how the shrimp get fried when making this the Chinese way as opposed to American frying.  First of all – we use no egg.  There will be no egg or buttermilk (it won’t need it).  And the shrimp has to be rinsed and then pat dry with paper towels so that it is tacky and not wet.  Note that in China this dish is often cooked with the shells left on.  The high heat of the oil breaks down the cuticle of the shell and makes it easier to chew and digest.  But in this article we will make ours sans shells. (though I encourage you to try it the other way if you get adventurous).

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Once the shrimp are tacky/sticky to the fingers, it is time to dredge them.  I like to do this a few at a time so that they all get well covered.  You will notice in my picture that I have left the tail shells on.  This gives people that can’t or won’t use chopsticks the ability to eat the shrimp as a finger food.  In addition it looks nicer but you can make yours any way you want in your kitchen.

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After you’ve dredged them all, gently shake off any excess dredge (you want them to just have a dusting on them and not look like those baby powdered Donettes we all ate as kids).  Now for frying we want to do them in batches.  Do not try and fry them all at once.  I will use a 14″ Mandarin wok which is smaller and will use less oil than my Cantonese wok.

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This particular wok is one I no longer have.  If you look at my Tools of an Asian Cook article, you will see my new wok which is constructed entirely of metal.  But for what I am demonstrating here right now, that is irrelevant.  The first thing we want to do here is light the wok burner and turn the heat all the way up.  We will need it at full power for this.  After it sits on that heat for about 20 seconds, put about 1.5-2″ of peanut oil in it and wait about 30-40 seconds.  You want the oil very hot.  When you see it start to smoke, you can test the heat with one shrimp.  Be very careful here as with the high temperatures you will be cooking with, the oil can catch fire.  Have something nearby to cover the wok to choke off the fire if that happens.  Do NOT put ANY water into the hot wok with oil!

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As you can see, mine is now hot enough.  So I add enough shrimp so that all the pieces are in the hot oil.  Do not add more than that.  If it takes 5-6 batches, the effort will be well worth it.

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The oil above is VERY hot.  These shrimp will be done in under 45 seconds.  When they start to turn a golden color, it is time to take them out.  Do not let them get brown,

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A nice light golden color is what we are looking for.  As you take each batch out, drain them on paper towels and put the next batch in.  Repeat until all your shrimp are cooked this way.

When the shrimp are all done, pour out most of the oil (all but about 1 tablespoon) into a container for use later (I often use a clean coffee can here) and lower the heat to about 50%.  Then dump all the aromatics in the wok and stir fry them until the garlic starts to get crispy.  Then remove all of that and drain on paper towels.  I like to then toss the aromatics in with the Shrimp as seen below.

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At this point the shrimp are ready for serving.  I like to give each diner a bowl of freshly steamed white rice to accompany this meal.

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This is such an inviting dish and once you know what this tastes like – your mouth will water looking at the above image just like mine does.  The smells are outrageous as well.

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Now leave me to my repast, if you please…

Recipe is below:

Salt and Pepper Shrimp Recipe (serves 2-4 depending on if it is a side or a main dish).

  • Steamed Japanese or Jasmine rice – enough for everyone to have at least one bowl full.
  • 1 lb of peeled, deveined medium sized shrimp.
  • 6 cloves of garlic minced.
  • 3 scallions cut into 1/4″ slices.
  • Sliced chili peppers to taste.  Note you can use any chili peppers for this.  I prefer my Thai chilis.
  • About 2-2.5 cups peanut oil.

Ingredients for the Dredge

  • 1/2 cup corn starch
  • 1/2 cup rice flour
  • 1-1.5 Tbs finely ground sea salt
  • 2 Tbs fresh ground white Chinese peppercorns
  • 1 Tbs fresh ground black peppercorns
  • About 12 fresh ground Sichuan Peppercorns
  • 1 tsp Monosodium Glutamate (optional but needed if you want optimal flavor.  I do understand some people cannot abide it which is why it is optional).

Preparation:

  • Put rice on to steam in whatever you plan to cook it in.  A rice cooker is preferred.
  • Put all the peppercorns (white, black and Sichuan) into a spice grinder or a mortar and pestle.
  • Grind them all to a fine powder.
  • Mix all ingredients for the dredge completely.
  • Clean and devein shrimp (if necessary).  Note that I prefer to buy the shrimp with shells on and freeze the shells after I remove them for making shrimp stock after I get about 2 lbs worth saved up.
  • Rinse and pat all shrimp dry with paper towels.  We want the shrimp dry enough so that the surface is tacky.
  • Dredge the shrimp in the spiced flour mix.
  • Ignite your wok burner and turn up to full power.
  • Preheat a 14″ wok for 30 seconds before adding the peanut oil.
  • Heat the oil up another 30-40 seconds until it starts to smoke.
  • Fry the shrimp in batches – at this high heat it should take less than 45 seconds to fully cook each batch.  They should be golden (not brown) on the surface.
  • Remove each batch and drain on paper towels.
  • When all shrimp are done, pour out all but about 1 Tbs of oil into a container to save for later.
  • Cut the heat on the burner by 50%.
  • Fry all aromatics until the garlic is golden and crispy.  For best results I have found that cooking the garlic first works best.  Then cook the remaining ingredients for maybe 10 seconds in whatever oil is left over from cooking the garlic.
  • Drain the aromatics on paper towels.
  • Toss the shrimp with the aromatics and serve immediately.
  • To serve this as it is done traditionally, you will want to present the shrimp on a large plate with a substrate of large fresh lettuce leaves (lettuce absorbs oil) and serve with spicy-hot chili paste in oil.
  • Provide steamed white rice to all diners to accompany the shrimp.

Thank you for your patronage!

Suburbanwok