Salt and Pepper Squid
Crispy Chinese-style salt and pepper squid with toasted Sichuan pepper, chilli and garlic — light, punchy and ready in under 40 minutes.
This salt and pepper squid is the cheeky takeaway favourite you can nail at home — light, crisp coating with a hit of Sichuan pepper, chilli and garlic. It’s fast, punchy and perfect as a starter or shared plate.
Use very cold sparkling water and make sure the squid is properly dried; those two small steps are what turn floppy, greasy squid into gloriously crisp rings. Serve immediately with lime wedges to lift the flavours.
Ingredients
- 800 g squid — cleaned, tubes cut into 2cm rings, tentacles left whole
- 120 g plain flour
- 60 g cornflour
- 10 g fine sea salt — total for salting and seasoning
- 10 ml ground white pepper — total amount; adjust to taste
- 10 ml Sichuan peppercorns — to toast and crush
- 6 dried red chillies — seeds removed and sliced thin
- 4 clove garlic — minced
- 3 spring onions — sliced on the diagonal
- 1 egg white — large
- 120 ml ice-cold sparkling water
- 1.2 l vegetable oil — for deep-frying; use enough to submerge squid
- 1 lime — cut into wedges for serving
Equipment
- deep saucepan or deep fryer
- digital thermometer
- spider or slotted spoon
- pestle and mortar
Instructions
Put the prepared squid in a bowl, sprinkle with half the fine sea salt and half the ground white pepper, toss to coat and leave to sit for 15 minutes to draw out excess moisture.
Pat the squid thoroughly dry with kitchen paper — press and turn each ring/tentacle until surface feels dry.
Whisk the egg white with the ice-cold sparkling water in a medium bowl until foamy.
In a separate bowl combine the plain flour, cornflour, remaining fine sea salt and remaining ground white pepper.
Working in batches, drop squid into the egg-white mix then into the dry mix to coat evenly; shake off excess and set on a tray. Keep the coated squid chilled if you need to wait a few minutes before frying.
Heat the vegetable oil in a deep saucepan or fryer to 180°C (use a thermometer).
Fry the squid in small batches so the oil temperature recovers quickly, 2–3 minutes per batch until pale golden and crisp. Remove with a spider and drain on kitchen paper. Repeat until all squid is fried.
Pour about 2 tbsp of the hot oil into a frying pan, add the Sichuan peppercorns and dried red chillies and fry briefly until aromatic (about 20–30 seconds). Add the garlic and spring onions and fry a further 20–30 seconds — watch they don't burn.
Toss the drained fried squid quickly into the pan with the chilli mixture for 20–30 seconds to coat, then transfer to a platter, scatter any remaining crushed peppercorns and a little extra fine sea salt if needed. Serve with lime wedges to squeeze over.
Tips
- Dry the squid thoroughly after salting — this is the single biggest factor in getting a crisp coating.
- Keep the sparkling water and egg-white mix ice-cold; the temperature contrast helps the coating puff and crispen.
- Fry in small batches and monitor oil temperature with a thermometer — if it drops below 170°C, the squid will absorb oil and go soggy.
- Toast and crush the Sichuan peppercorns just before use for the best floral-citrus aroma.
- Leftovers can be reheated briefly in a hot oven at 200°C fan/220°C conventional for 6–8 minutes to recover some crispness, but best eaten fresh.
Substitutions
squid → pre-cut calamari rings (ready-prepared), same weight
Stays closeice-cold sparkling water → ice-cold beer, 120 ml
Stays closeplain flour → rice flour, 120 g
Noticeably differentSichuan peppercorns → coarsely ground black pepper, 1 tsp
Noticeably different
Nutrition
Per serving · estimated
- 476
- Calories
- 34 g
- Protein
- 40 g
- Carbs
- 20 g
- Fat
- 2 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
- Sugar
- 1000 mg
- Sodium
FAQ
How do I tell when squid is cooked?
Cooked squid turns opaque and firms slightly. For the small rings/tentacles in this recipe, 2–3 minutes in hot oil is perfect — longer makes it rubbery.
Can I make this gluten-free?
Yes — swap plain flour for rice flour and keep the cornflour. The texture will be slightly lighter and crispier.
How long can I keep leftovers?
Store cooled squid in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Reheat in a hot oven to try to restore crispness; it won’t be as good as freshly fried.
Can I shallow-fry instead of deep-frying?
You can shallow-fry small batches in 1–2 cm oil, but you’ll need to turn the squid and it won’t be quite as evenly crisp as deep-frying.
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