Hot Butter Cuttlefish (Spicy Garlic Squid)
Servings: 4 portions
Calories: 322kcal
Crispy, deep fried cuttlefish (or squid) tossed in a spicy, buttery garlic sauce! A super popular Sri Lankan dish dripping in flavor and some heat! INTERMEDIATE - This recipe has several components. Deep frying and then a quick stir-frying. Some cooking experience will make the recipe easier. Preparation takes a little time, but stir-frying section moves very fast.
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Ingredients
For the cuttlefish / squid
- 500 g cleaned cuttlefish or squid tubes, about 1 lb (see recipe notes)
- 1 egg
- ½ cup cornstarch
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- Vegetable oil for deep frying
For the stir-fry
- 6 - 8 cloves garlic finely minced
- ½ large onion large dice
- 2 ½ tbsp Sri Lankan chili paste or any chili crisp / oil (do not use the oil - just the chili crisp)
- 4 dried red chili
- 1 ½ tbsp oyster sauce optional but recommended if you’re not using Sri Lankan chili paste
- 2 ½ tbsp tomato ketchup or alternative
- 2 cups sliced banana peppers or hungarian peppers (seeds removed) or about 1 cup sliced jalapenos (seeds removed)
- 45 g butter or margarine (about 3 tbsp)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- ½ - 1 tsp sugar add ½ tsp first, and only add more if needed
- 3 - 4 green onions / spring onions sliced
- Salt or soy sauce to taste
- Water as needed
Instructions
For the cuttlefish / squid
- Cut each cuttlefish or squid tube lengthwise to open up the tube. Clean the tubes under running water.500 g cleaned cuttlefish
- Place each piece on your cutting board with the inside facing up. If there's a film (membrane) on the inside of the cuttlefish / squid tube, use the blunt side of your knife to gently scrape it off.
- Next, make diagonal shallow cuts on the whole surface of the squid along parallel lines. Repeat the process in the opposite direction to create a diamond patterns on the surface of the squid / cuttlefish. Make sure the cuts are shallow and not all the way through the tube (I explain the purpose of these cuts in the post).
- Cut the squid into 2 inch wide bands and place them in a bowl or on a plate.
- Mix in salt and pepper and let it marinate for a minimum of 15 minutes, or up to 1 hour.½ tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper
- While the cuttlefish is marinating, prepare the rest of the ingredients and place them in separate bowls.
- Mix the cornstarch and flour together to form the dry coating for the cuttlefish.½ cup cornstarch, ½ cup all purpose flour
- Crack an egg into the marinating cuttlefish and mix to combine.1 egg
- Heat a pot with vegetable oil for deep frying. When the oil reaches 350°F / 180°C, the cuttlefish / squid can be dredged and fried.Vegetable oil for deep frying
- Take a small handful of the marinated, egg coated cuttlefish and place it in the dry mixture. Toss to coat all the pieces well.
- Transfer the coated pieces of cuttlefish into the heated oil and fry until the cuttlefish is cooked through and is golden and crispy. This can take about 1 minute for baby squid, and up to 2 minutes for thicker pieces of squid / cuttlefish.
- Remove the fried pieces from the oil and place them on paper towels to drain excess oil.
- Once all the cuttlefish / squid is fried, you can make the hot butter cuttlefish.
Hot butter cuttlefish
- While the cuttlefish is marinating, prepare all the ingredients (mise en place).
- Finely mince the garlic (or slice it if you prefer), dice the onion, chop the dried chili, slice the banana peppers and the green onions. Measure out the butter, oil, chili paste (or alternative), sugar, ketchup and oyster sauce. Keep salt or soy sauce close by, along with some water.6 - 8 cloves garlic, ½ large onion, 2 ½ tbsp Sri Lankan chili paste, 1 ½ tbsp oyster sauce, 2 ½ tbsp tomato ketchup, 2 cups sliced banana peppers, 45 g butter, 1 tbsp vegetable oil, ½ - 1 tsp sugar, 3 - 4 green onions / spring onions
- Place a large skillet or wok on the stove. Wipe to make sure there’s no water, and heat the pan over medium high - high heat. If at any point the pan is too hot, you can remove it from the heat, or add a little water to lower the heat. Just ensure there isn’t a lot of liquid in the pan at the end.
- While the pan is heating, add the butter and oil. When the butter is almost melted, add the onion and stir fry for about 1 minute, or until the pan heats up well. Then add the garlic. Stir fry quickly for about 30 - 60 seconds, but do not let the garlic or onion burn.6 - 8 cloves garlic, ½ large onion, 45 g butter, 1 tbsp vegetable oil, 4 dried red chili
- Then add the chili paste, dried chili, tomato ketchup, sugar, and oyster sauce, and stir fry to mix thoroughly for about 1 minute. Add 1 - 2 tbsp of water if the mixture is getting too dry.2 ½ tbsp Sri Lankan chili paste, 4 dried red chili, 1 ½ tbsp oyster sauce, 2 ½ tbsp tomato ketchup, ½ - 1 tsp sugar, Water
- Add the sliced banana peppers and stir fry for about 1 - 2 minutes. If the mixture is too dry, add about 2 tbsp of water to create a little bit of sauce with the chili and garlic.2 cups sliced banana peppers, Water
- When the banana pepper is starting to soften, add the fried cuttlefish and immediately toss to coat in the sauce well.
- When the cuttlefish is heated through, and coated in the chili garlic butter sauce, remove the pan from the heat. Taste and mix in some salt or soy sauce if needed.Salt
- Add the sliced green onion while the mixture is hot and toss to combine. Transfer the cuttlefish / squid into a serving dish, and serve immediately with rice and vegetables. Enjoy!3 - 4 green onions / spring onions
Notes
- You can use cuttlefish or squid / calamari for this recipe.
- While you could pre-cut calamari rings, this recipe will work better with tubes that you can prepare yourself. The shallow cuts help the dry mix adhere to the calamari / cuttlefish well.
- Sri Lankan chili paste is like Chinese chili oil / chili crisp, but contains dried shrimp paste for extra umami flavor. You can use the chili flake in chili oil or chili crisp (do not use the oil).
- This is meant to be a fairly spicy dish, but you can adjust the spice level by doing the following.
- Reduce the amount of chili paste used (do not remove entirely).
- Remove the dried red chili in the recipe.
- Use sweet bell peppers, if you cannot find banana peppers, OR use hungarian wax peppers / jalapeno peppers, but remove the seeds first to reduce the heat.
Nutrition
Calories: 322kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 356mg | Sodium: 1958mg | Potassium: 452mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 482IU | Vitamin C: 34mg | Calcium: 70mg | Iron: 4mg