This is one of my favourite recipes, although it didn’t quite make the cut in my book. Fried calamari is one of those things that I really miss having at restaurants. There are a few great places that serve gluten-free versions of this appetizer, like Chatterpaul’s in Whitby (a great restaurant, by the way) – but this has the added bonus of also being corn-free too!
Ingredients:
1 cup Brown rice flour
1/2 cup Tapioca starch
1 tbsp each Dried spices of your choice
1 tsp each Salt and papper
1 Egg
1/2 cup Milk substitute (soy, rice, almond or other)
1 lb Calamari rings
Grapeseed oil for frying
Instructions:
1. Combine brown rice flour with tapioca starch in a shallow dish.
Step 1: Mix flours
2. Add dried spices to flour. Here, I’ve used oregano, basil, garlic, paprika and chili. I also added pink sea salt and pepper.
Step 2: Add spices
3. In a second shallow dish, beat egg with milk substitute until well mixed.
Step 3: Beat egg with milk substitute
Step 4: Moisten calamari in egg mixture
5. Transfer moistened calamari into flour and spice mixture to coat.
Step 5: Transfer to flour/spice mix
6. Heat a generous amount of grapeseed oil over medium heat in a large frying pan. I use grapeseed oil instead of olive oil because it has a higher smoking point and is better for frying.
Step 6: Fry in grapeseed oil
7. Fry for 2-3 minutes until browned, then flip to cook other side. While calamari is cooking, you can start soaking and dusting your next batch of rings so they’re ready to go.
Step 7: Flip calamari
8. Once both sides are brown, remove and set aside. You can place the cooked calamari over a paper towel to drain off excess oil.
Step 8: Remove from frying pan
9. I served this with red quinoa (a great source of protein with a complete amino acid profile) and steamed nappa cabbage. ENJOY!
Step 9: Serve and enjoy!
