Fried Calamari is one of my favorite Pinoy street foods next to kwekkwek (deep-fried quail eggs). Here in the Philippines, we just call it Calamares. You can buy these flour-coated deep-fried squids for 5Php or 0.092USD per piece at street vendors.
You can find them almost anywhere in the Metro but it's difficult to find perfectly cooked ones. Some can be overcooked, under or overseasoned, easily stale, doughy, too crispy, too wet, and/or just has this weird aftertaste of being too fishy(?). So if ever you're going to try them out just buy 1 pc first for taste testing haha.
Whenever I crave Calamares, I just buy them from my favorite kuya street vendor which is just a few blocks away from my house. I usually eat there 2-3x a week (High blood pressure is waving lel).
Calamares is definitely my go-to merienda but I never really attempted to make them myself because squid is hard to clean and if I mess it up I won't be able to eat them. Not until yesterday.
I was just lazying around my room waiting for lunch when my mother told me to google how to cook calamari. Unfortunately, I didn't find any recipes to my liking. Of course, I look at the photos first because I want Calamares that look like the ones sold on the streets but to no avail, they were all fancy bread crumbs coated or plain sad looking just like the ones where the coating is too thin so it seems so dried up.
So I just went to the kitchen and decided to wing it. I believe in my power of pickiness. I mean I've probably eaten more than 300pcs of calamares and observed how the vendor cooks it in the last 5 months so it's about time I instinctively pick up what the ingredients are.
My mother hands me this bowl of cleaned squid (it was a bit over a kilo)
The squid was already cut in half -- butterfly style so I wasn't able to make the signature round calamares but hey at least I know it was thoroughly cleaned. So instead, I cut them into strips.
The head was big so I had to remove the eyeballs. I tried my best to remove the eyes fully intact cus I don't want squid ink all over me but noooo some still exploded. I also removed the bones from its neck(?)
Put all of your cut up squid into a bowl and mix in some fish sauce - I used about 1.5 tbsp.
For the coating, I used a wet batter. First, prepare your 3/4 cup flour, add 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, and 1 tsp EEEM ESSS GEEE. Mix with a whisk.
I wasn't sure whether to use cornstarch or baking powder to make our calamari crispy so I did a test run. A wet batter with the flour mixture and cornstarch, and another with baking powder.
The pink bowl has cornstarch and the blue bowl has baking powder. Just added a bit of water to these bowls to make a trial wet batter.
Take a piece of squid and thinly coat it with flour, dip it into the wet batter then put it directly into the oil on medium heat. (Sorry I forgot to take photos so it seems like I missed a step teehee)
So it turned out the one with baking powder was crispy but super light you where can also taste the oil in it. The other one with cornstarch was crispy and with a bite but it lacked lightness. (So in the end I decided to use both cornstarch and baking powder.)
Divide the flour mixture in half. In one bowl whisk in 1/2 tbsp cornstarch and 1/4 tsp baking powder then add water until its consistency is like a runny pancake mix.
Let's cook everything else. Again, we coat the squid with flour and then dip it in the wet batter. Deep fry the squid till golden brown. I could've used more oil but we ran out lel. It's better if the squid is fully submerged. Also, once you're done with the batch make sure to remove the floating pcs of crumbs before you cook another batch.
By the end, I realized that I needed more flour and batter welp. So the flour and batter was good enough for about 3/4 of the squid I had. Hehe impromptu thingz but still it turned out great!
Just look at that! Crispy outside, moist inside, good bite, well seasoned, perfectly cooked Calamares. Pair it with some vinegar with onion, garlic, and a little bit of ketchup. Mmm mmm MMMMMM yep definitely hits the spot ~
Now you won't have to pay 300-400Php in a restaurant just to get 8-10 pcs of sad-looking Calamari. Even though I know it won't be as good I still keep ordering this at restaurants. I never learn.
If you're in an area without perfectly cooked Calamares then this is your chance to try it for yourself~
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