Fried Calamari Ring with Lemon

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Servings: 10

I like hosting friends at home, especially if it’s my old college buddies.  Though such gatherings are not as frequent as we would want them to happen, hanging out with people you have known for decades is always a welcome break from the politics of daily life.

Back when we were younger, a few pounds lighter, and with less money, our staple beer match was fried calamari rings. And now that we are more mature and have more money in our pockets, we still prefer the same dish. That is unless were really lazy and just order pizza.

But anyway, let me share with you our favorite beer match dish.

Your Ingredients:

2 quarts of vegetable oil
2 pounds of fresh squid, cut into rings of 1/2 each
1/2 cup of basil and parsley
1 lemon thinly sliced into rings
Cornstarch Mix:
2 cups of corn starch
1 tbsp of salt
Freshly grounded peppers

 For the aioli:

1 cup of olive oil
2 egg yolks
2 cloves of minced garlic
1 tbsp of chopped parsley
2 to 3 tbsp of lemon juice
Salt
Water

How To Make Your Fried Calamari Ring with Lemon?

For the cornstarch:

Just mix all the ingredients together and set aside.

For the Aioli:

Mix your lemon juice, minced garlic, egg yolks in a mixing bowl. Add a pinch of sugar to taste.

Take your olive oil and drizzle the mixture lightly, while mixing the mixture until it emulsifies.

Add in your parsley.

If you think the aioli is too thick, add a bit of water to lighten it.

Cooking the calamari:

Heat your oil in medium heat until to the point of smoking. The temperature of the oil must be not less than 360°F.

Get half of your lemon rings and calamari and put it into a large bowl. Add in your pepper, salt and a cup of cornstarch.

Using your hands, toss the mixture. Make sure that the cornstarch gets to coat everything.

Drop the now coated calamari, and herbs, into the hot oil and cook until it turns brown. This will take around 3 and half minutes.

Remove calamari and herbs from the pan and put it into a plate lined with a paper towel to get rid of excess oil.

Repeat the process with the remaining calamari and herbs.

Once everything is done, sprinkle.