Oil For Quick Calamari

Our answer

Nigella's Quick Calamari With Garlic Mayonnaise (from NIGELLA EXPRESS) uses peanut oil for frying as the oil has a high smoke point, which means that it can be heated without scorching. Olive oil is not a great alternative as it does burn at lower temperature, but also as it has quite a strong flavour that can affect the dish. There are several flavourless oils that can be used as an alternative, such as sunflower oil, corn oil and canola oil.

Rice bran oil can be used as it has a neutral taste and a very high smoke point. From the description of the finished dish we wonder if the crunchy semolina coating didn't stick on to the squid as the temperature in the oil may not have been quite high enough. If the oil is not hot then the squid will start to steam inside the coating and the moisture can cause the coating to slide off. Also if the squid has been sitting in liquid and is very wet then pat some (but not all) of the moisture away with kitchen paper (paper towels) before tossing it in the cornflour (cornstarch) and semolina mixture. The oil should be heated until some grains of semolina sizzle furiously when dropped into the oil, this will be around 180-190C (350-375F). Don't fry too many pieces at a time and let the oil come back to the correct temperature in between each batch of calamari. Also different sized pieces of squid will cook at different rates so try to choose similar sized pieces to cook in each batch.