How to Make Soft and Tender Squid Rings or Calamari

For the longest time, I've been wondering how some restaurants manage to serve calamari that is really soft and tender to bite.  Nowadays, google is the best source of information and it led me panlasangpinoy.com for their easy calamari recipe and tweaked it a little bit.

Here's the secret:  To make the squid soft and tender, soak the squid rings in fresh milk for at least 3 hours.  Marinating it overnight is best.  It is believed that the lactic acid found in fresh milk makes it less tough.  Another technique is never over cook it.  A cheaper alternative would be to soak it in water with baking soda.

Calamari Recipe

Ingredients

1 kg squid

2 c fresh milk

3/4 c all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

3 tsp garlic powder

3 tsp dried parsley flakes

4 c vegetable oil

Procedure:

1. Clean the fresh squid thoroughly and remove the skin leaving it all white.  Slice the squid crosswise into squid rings about 1/2 inch thick or your desired thickness.

2. Soak the squid rings in fresh milk for at least 3 hrs or overnight, keep it cold in the refrigerator to avoid spoiling.

3. When ready to cook, prepare the batter.  Whisk together the flour, salt, garlic powser and parsley flakes.

4. Heat the cooking oil in a deep wok.

5. Strain the squid out of the milk.  

6. Dredge the squid rings one at a time on the flour mixture, make sure its completely coated lightly.

7. When oil is hot enough, deep fry the squid rings for about a minute until it turns very light brown.  Do not overcook the squid.

8.  Remove from fire and drain the excess oil.  I normally place it over kitchen table napkin (tissue paper).

9. Serve with lemon wedges.