Salt & Pepper Squid

These cooking times assume that you will make one portion at a time in the wok.

880g baby squid
2 egg whites, very lightly whisked
300g potato starch (or 600g cornflour)
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying1 tsp finely chopped garlic
1 tsp finely sliced dried red chilli
40g finely sliced spring onion
1 tsp five spice seasoning salt
60g deep-fried chopped garlic
1 small red cabbage, cored and shredded

Clean and open up the squid, scrape clean the insides and score the squid diagonally in both directions. Cut each squid in half or thirds (depending on size) into bite-sized pieces. Rinse the squid, then leave to dry in a colander. Once dry, coat the squid in egg white and lightly dust with the potato starch.

Heat a wok over a very high heat, pour in enough oil to fill by a third and, once the oil is hot, deep-fry the squid in four batches for about a minute, until crispy. Tip the oil and squid into a metal sieve placed over a pan - that way, you can save the oil for cooking the next portion.

Add a teaspoon of oil to a clean wok and sweat the fresh garlic, dried chilli and spring onions. Once the aromas are released, remove the wok from the heat, add the cooked squid and sprinkle with five spice seasoning salt and the fried garlic. Return the wok to the heat and stir-fry for 10 seconds.

To serve, take a handful of shredded cabbage, place in an oval in the centre of each plate and pile the squid neatly in the centre.

Calamari fritti with cucumber salad

Ingredients (Makes four starter portions)

80g self-raising flour
80g cornflour, plus a little extra
210ml soda water
2 tsp rapeseed oil
½ tsp dried chilli flakes
Coarse sea salt350g cleaned squid rings
Vegetable oil, for frying (grape-seed or sunflower are good)
For the cucumber salad
4 mini cucumbers (200g in total)
¼ medium red onion, peeled and very thinly sliced
2 tbsp groundnut oil
2½ tbsp lime juice
¾ tsp palm sugar
Coarse sea salt
½ fresh chilli, finely chopped
2 tbsp roughly chopped mint
2 tbsp roughly chopped coriander

Start with the salad, because the flavours will intensify if it's left to sit for a little while. Use a vegetable peeler or mandolin to shave the unpeeled cucumbers into long, thin strips, and place these in a mixing bowl. Add the sliced onion. Whisk together the oil, lime juice, palm sugar and salt. Pour over the cucumber and onion, then add the chilli and herbs. Toss gently with your hands, taste and adjust the seasoning - this salad needs quite a lot of salt. Pile up in a nice serving bowl, ready for the hot squid.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cornflour, soda water, rapeseed oil, chilli and a pinch of salt - the batter should be smooth and thinner than a pancake mix, but not watery.

Scatter some more cornflour over a plate, to 'dry' the squid. In a medium saucepan, heat up enough frying oil to come at least 4cm up the pan. When the oil is piping hot, take a few pieces of squid, toss them lightly in the cornflour plate, and shake off any excess. Dip them in the batter, shake off any excess and carefully drop them into the hot oil. Take care not to fill the pan too much, or the squid pieces will stick to each other and stew rather than deep-fry, and turn them over in the bubbling oil with a slotted spoon. Once they have taken on a little bit of colour - after around one to two minutes' cooking - carefully lift the calamari on to a colander and sprinkle with salt. Remove any loose bits of batter from the oil, then repeat with another batch of squid.

Assuming you haven't eaten all of the cooked squid while you've been cooking the rest, pile the warm calamari on a serving plate or bowl, and serve with the cucumber salad.

Squid and beans on toast

Bake your own haricot beans in a rich, savoury, tomatoey sauce for a couple of hours, and you may never fancy the tinned version again. Add some squid, which will cook to delicate tenderness, and you have a dish that's both earthy and exciting.

Ingredients (Serves four to six)

200g dried haricot beans
2 medium squid, cleaned
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely sliced
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp hot smoked paprika
A pinch of cayenne pepper
400g tin chopped tomatoes
The finely pared zest of ½ lemon
2-3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
Up to 750ml fish stock (or water)
½ glass sherry
Salt and freshly ground pepper
4-6 slices sourdough or ciabatta
Green salad, to serve
Extra-virgin olive oil, to serve

Cover the beans in plenty of cold water and soak overnight. The cleaned squid should come to you in three parts: the tubular bodies, the tentacles and the wings - all can go into the stew. Cut the body into 5-10mm thick rings, the wings into similar-sized strips and the tentacles into three or four pieces.

Heat a heavy-based saucepan, add the oil and, when hot, throw in all the squid. Fry for three to four minutes until just starting to brown, then add the onion, celery, garlic, fennel seeds, paprika and cayenne, and fry for five minutes, until the onion starts to soften.

Drain the beans and add to the pot along with the tomatoes, lemon zest, thyme, bay leaves, 500ml stock and the sherry. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook, uncovered, for one to two hours, or until the squid and the beans are both really tender. Add more stock or water as required. Just before serving, season to taste.

Toast the bread and spoon the stew on top. Add a few salad leaves, trickle over some good olive oil, scatter with a little salt and take to the table.