Fried Calamari
- 3 to 4 cups peanut or other neutrally flavored oil, for frying
- 1 pound clean calamari, tubes and legs, tubes cut into 1/2-inch rings
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- Kosher salt
- Lemon wedges, for garnish
- Add the oil to a wide pan and heat to about 325 degrees F. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Pat the calamari dry with paper towels.
- Combine the flour and cayenne pepper.
- Working in batches, toss 1/3 of the calamari in the seasoned flour.
- Transfer the calamari to a mesh strainer and shake off the excess flour.
- Carefully drop the calamari into the hot oil; the oil should bubble gently and the calamari should have plenty of room to swim around and fry gently.
- Do not crowd the pan or the oil won't come back up to temperature quickly.
- When done, the calamari should be very pale golden and tender.
- It should not look like little brown rubber bands.
- Remove the calamari from the hot oil and drain it on paper towels.
- Salt it immediately and keep it warm in the oven until all the calamari is done.
- Repeat in 2 more batches with the remaining calamari.
- Serve with lemon wedges.
peanut, clean calamari, flour, cayenne pepper, kosher salt, lemon wedges
Taken from www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/fried-calamari-recipe.html (may not work)