On Sat, 12 Mar 2005 22:25:58 GMT, "Kilikini"
FWIW, here's how I do it.
Clean the squid well, inside and out. The cleaning it gets prior to sale often misses part-all of the backbone (like a large plastic collar stay) and some of the internal goosh that doesn't taste very good even after cooking.
Slice into .25 to .5 inch rings. You say your squid is large, however the rings shrink quite a lot during frying, say an inch down to .5 inch in diameter so it may not be too large.
Prepare an egg wash (one or two eggs and a little milk depending on how much squid you have). Mix some flour and corn meal (I like almost half-to-half) with just a little salt and pepper (see below). My butcher, who is also the chef at the local annual Ben Lomond Calamari Fry sez the corn meal is the secret to good calamari.
Season the squid rings theselves, not the flour-corn meal mix because the spices will be more even and will be less like to burn if they are under the coating and not in direct contact with the hot oil (esp. paprika if you use it). I use salt, pepper, paprika, garlic and onion powder.
Coat rings in egg wash, drop into corn meal-flower mix to coat. Let sit for 5 - 10 minutes before frying to let the coating set.
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I don't deep fry the squid, I use a high sided pot filled high enough with oil to allow the squid to float without touching the bottom. Drop squid into ~340 degree oil an fry until just about golden (it will reach golden while you try to fish out all the pieces) and drain on newspaper or paper towels. Note that the tentacles, if you got any, cook faster than the rings.
Put into a basket and serve. I like mine with a nice aoli for dipping.
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