This recipe is a twist on my Thai Seafood Green Curry one as it only uses Calamari rings. If you are anything like me you have a love hate relationship with calamari – sometimes you get it just right and it is tender and tasty and other times you use the rings to hold your rugby socks up and for a long time!
I have done this version of my Thai Seafood Green Curry with two Calamari ‘versions’ – steaks and rings. Calamari steaks are relatively easy to cook and keep tender – score in a diamond pattern, sprinkle some meat tenderiser over and cook quickly. This method belong that I use for Calamari rings consistently produces good tasting tender calamari.
Ingredients:
- 850 grams Calamari
- One Onion
- 1 Carrot
- 4 Spring Onions
- 4 Courgettes
- Salt to taste
- One can Coconut Milk
- 2 tablespoons Thai Green Curry Paste
- Fish Sauce
- Lime Juice
- Handful fresh Coriander
- Olive Oil
- Thumb Size piece Fresh Ginger and Thumb Size amount of Fresh Garlic choppoed finely together
- Cooked Jasmine Rice
Method:
- We do this dish in a wok and in four stages – vegetables, calamari, sauce and then all combined
Vegetables:
- Chop the onion and spring onion and toss into the wok with a little olive oil.
- Chop Courgettes into bigger than matchstick sizes and sprinkle with salt.
- Chop Carrot into matchsticks
- Let onions sweat in the wok (at around 145 degree setting – yellow zone on my wok).
- Once onions are beginning to go translucent toss finely chopped ginger and garlic in.
- Toss courgettes and carrot in and crank the heat up a bit (you want the courgettes cooked but crispy).
- Watch that the garlic and ginger does NOT turn into little blackened bits.
Remove vegetables from wok to another dish.
Calamari:
- Wash and drain calamari thoroughly – place in a flattish glass dish and sprinkle with meat tenderiser (30 minutes does the trick).
- Heat up a pan of water (If your name is Auntie, be careful you don’t burn it!)
- When the water is boiling rapidly toss the Calamari rings in – bring back to the boil and remove and drain after a minute or so.
- Heat some Olive Oil in the wok – I like to make it very hot so that the calamari edges get a brown black tinge – toss and stir fry the rings quickly, remove to one side
Sauce:
- This is where Peanut Oil really comes in handy as I like to stir fry the Thai Green Curry Paste in that.
- Quickly Stir Fry the Thai Green Curry Paste in some Olive (Peanut) Oil.
- Add a quarter of the can of coconut milk and blend until the mixture bubbles then add the rest of the can and blend.
- At this point I like to add a teaspoon of peanut butter if I have not been using peanut oil.
- Add a glug of fish sauce and a couple of squirts of lime juice to the sauce.
Combined:
- Toss the vegetables and calamari into the sauce.
- Blend gently until you see bubbles.
- Turn heat down low, toss in chopped fresh coriander, cover the wok, pour yourself a cold one and go and talk to the Longhair, OR, if your name is Auntie, phone Mr D. because you have probably burnt everything.
Serve over Jasmine Rice.
Feeds: Four, generously
Time: 40 minutes
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Article source: http://mype.co.za/new/2012/02/a-tough-day-demands-soft-calamari/
