Salt and pepper squid

Description

85g cornflour
85g plain flour
2 tsp black pepper, cracked
2 tbsp ground Szechuan peppercorns, roughly crushed
sunflower or vegetable oil, for frying
400g squid, cleaned and cut into strips (see tips, below)
finely sliced spring onion and green chilli,

to serve

1 red chilli, finely chopped
half cucumber, finely diced
1 small red onion, finely chopped
100ml rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp caster sugar
2 tsp fish sauce

• STEP 1

  To make the dipping sauce, mix all the ingredients in a small bowl until the sugar has dissolved, then set aside. Mix the cornflour and plain flour with both peppers and 2 tsp sea salt in a large bowl, then set aside. Line a tray with kitchen paper and make sure you have more salt to sprinkle with.

• STEP 2

  Heat about 7cm of oil to 180C in a deep fryer, wok or deep pan. If you don’t have a thermometer, you can test it with a cube of bread – it should brown in 20 secs. Coat the squid well with the flour mix and fry in batches for about 2 mins each or until crisp. Use a slotted spoon to lift out the squid, then drain on the kitchen paper and sprinkle with a little more salt. Serve the squid scattered with the spring onion and chilli, with the dipping sauce on the side.