A fried piece of Haddock

Deep Fry

HOW TO: A small deep-fat fryer is ideal for cooking small seafood such as squid, prawns, red mullet fillets, mussels, sprats, anchovies, whitebait and goujons.  As the temperature of the oil can drop when fish is added, it’s safer to leave frying of the bigger, battered fish to your local chippy!

Follow this method for perfectly crisp squid. You can use the same method for other fish of the type above:

Heat vegetable oil in your fryer to 175˚C/350˚F – using an oil thermometer makes this both safer and easier.   Keep an eye on the temperature as you prepare your fish.  Clean the squid and cut it into rings about ½ cm thick.  Get a couple of bowls and put some cold water in one, and some plain flour (ideally 00 or semolina) in the other. Put the squid rings in the water, use a sieve to drain them, then put them into the bowl with the flour, massaging so that the flour sticks to the squid.   

Carefully drop the coated squid rings into the hot oil and fry till crispy – this should take between 4 and 5 minutes. Drain the squid on some kitchen towel, season with salt and just a squeeze of lemon.