Herb battered squid with chilli & salt

Serves: 4 as a starter

I’ve had lots of variations of this classic chilli squid dish, from during my training at Leiths, to main stream Wagamamas, to the top of the crop to be found at the wonderful Drunken Monkey. I think this recipe gets close to their perfection, using a herbed salt & pepper batter and a scattering of raw ingredients to build up the layers of flavours. Ingredients Core ingredients

• 2 medium squid, prepared, scored and cut into bite-sized pieces

• Oil for deep fat frying

Batter

• 30g cornflour

• ½ teaspoon salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

• 1 tablespoon oil

• 2 egg whites

• 2 tablespoons chopped coriander

To serve

• 1 tablespoon sesame oil

• 1 red chilli, finely chopped

• 1 clove of garlic, sliced

• 2.5cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

• 4 spring onions, thinly sliced

To garnish

• Lime wedges

Method Making the Squid and Chilli Salt

1. Make the batter: sift cornflour into a small bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the oil and egg white. Whisk gradually into the flour into smooth batter is formed. Stir in the coriander.

2. Heat the oil until a piece of bread turns golden in around 25 seconds.

3. Heat the sesame oil in a frying pan and ass the chilli, garlic, ginger and spring onion and fry for a few seconds. Keep warm.

4. Coat the squid in the batter and deep fry a few pieces at a time until lightly browned. Lift out and drain on kitchen paper. Sprinkle each batch generously with salt and pepper.

5. To serve, pile the squid into a serving dish and sprinkle the chilli mixture over the top. Garnish with lime wedges. Serve while still piping hot.