Fennel Dusted Baby Squid with Aioli paired with Chalk Hill Vermentino
Into the Sauce brings you a salty hit
Ingredients
For the aioli
- ½ clove garlic finely grated or chopped
- ½ lemon juiced
- 1 tsp salt flakes
- 1 large egg yolk
- 300 ml vegetable oil
- 50 ml olive oil
For the squid
- 1 kg baby squid (usually sold frozen. Regular squid or squid tubes also work)
- 2 cups plain flour
- vegetable oil for frying
- lemon wedges to serve
For the fennel seasoning
- 1 ½ tsp fennel seeds toasted and ground in a mortar and pestle
- 1 tbsp salt flakes
Instructions
For the aioli
- Combine garlic, lemon, salt flakes, and egg in a bowl and whisk to combine.
- Combine vegetable oil and olive oil.
- Slowly drizzle in oil, whilst whisking mixture continuously to create an emulsion.
- Season to taste with salt and extra lemon juice. If the aioli is too thick, whisk in a dash of water or lemon juice to thin.
For the fennel seasoning
- Toast your fennel seeds over medium heat in a fry pan until aromatic (around 3 minutes).
- Grind until fine, using a mortar and pestle.
- Lightly grind in sea salt flakes to combine, then set aside.
For the baby squid
- Run a knife through squid to open.
- Score squid with a criss cross pattern*, then slice into 3-4 small pieces.
- Trim tentacles at the top.
- Fill a large pot halfway full of vegetable oil and heat over a high heat to 180°c.
- Immediately before frying, dust squid in flour until the squid is well coated and feels dry.
- Shake off the excess flour, then use tongs to add the squid pieces to the hot
- Cook for 2-3 minutes, or until light golden, then use a slotted spoon to remove the squid into a bowl lined with a paper towel
- Toss in fennel salt to season.
- Serve with aioli and fresh lemon juice.
Notes
Note* this recipe can also be done using any squid - if you don’t want to prepare the squid yourself, you can purchase squid tubes which have already been scored from most seafood stores.