I wanted to share this recipe, not only because I was previously assigned to make something inspired by a “childhood memory” for my second semester “Food in Literature” class, but because this memory and this food is SO special to me. I know I don’t usually do this, but here’s a short story about what inspired me to develop this recipe.
The Story Behind this Recipe:
Every summer of my childhood, my family would travel to Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard. We would spend two-ish weeks together (my Mom, Dad, Nana and Papa) and stay on their boat: The Different Drummer. Although I was young when I experienced my first few summers in Edgartown, just recalling the memories fills me with nostalgic joy. I remember learning to swim in the local hotel pool, begging my parents for morsels of melt-in-your-mouth Murdick’s vanilla fudge, walking along the pond to build hermit crab farms, and –even at the age of three– ordering HUGE rice and bean burritos from Sharky’s Mexican Grill before I was diagnosed with Celiac.
All of these memories blend together across multiple summers, but the memories I have of the food on the Vineyard shine through all of the other days spent in the pool, on the boat, and on the beach.
I remember the chicken tenders I would eat at the Harbor View hotel, the whole lobsters I learned to break down and eat, dipped in lemony butter with Nana, the buckets of steamers, slices of Cranberry, Rocky Road, Chocolate, and Vanilla fudge, the coconut ice cream from Mad Martha’s, and most of all, my firsts. I tried my first oyster, first raw clam, first cherrystone, sitting on the beach in Oak Bluffs. I got my first Dairy Queen sundae on the Vineyard too, and at the time was unaware of the other multiple worldwide locations. I clearly remember my first bite of a banana split and of course, my first bite of a gobbler sandwich. But, above all, I remember my first bite of fried calamari from an Italian restaurant down in Oak Bluffs, because it doesn’t only remind me of the food itself and a time where it was so easy to find whatever I was craving (no matter how gluten-filled it is) but I remember my family, and I remember my emerging love of food.
I sat on the front of The Different Drummer with Papa, one afternoon, my dad was there too, sitting beside my mom, who was reading.
Papa and I, on the other hand, were fishing. We tried for a few minutes with the rubber bait, and fresh worms from the fishing shop downtown, but with no luck and the patience of a toddler, quickly switched to thawing the frozen squid from the freezer.
“THIS is squid” Papa explained to me, as he used his pocket knife to slice it into chunks. “Hopefully, it will get the fish more interested and we can catch one before dinner at Sharkey’s”
I remember thinking that the squid, although slightly frozen, looked a little bit like pasta? And I remember, very clearly, wanting to take a bite of it. Looking back on it now, as a young foodie literal adult, and person with common sense, I cringe at the thought of wanting to eat low grade, probably expired, frozen-for-who-knows-long squid. Three year old me, however, DESPERATELY wanted a taste of the bait.
“Can I eat this? Can humans eat squid” I asked, wide eyed and keeping my hands away from the knife.
“Yes,” Papa explained, “BUT this isn’t the kind of squid people usually eat. We eat something called calamari. It’s Italian.”
“I want to try it!”
Our fishing time was cut short by my interest in trying this new food, and my trip inside the boat to explain to Nana (the first foodie I ever met) that I had a new mission: trying calamari.
A short few phone calls later, our dinner reservations for a party of 5 (my sister hadn’t been born yet) had been changed from our regular favorite, Sharkey’s, to a new Italian place, that Nana assured had fried calamari on the menu. Hours later, the two of us, her 63, me only 3, sat at the end of the table, sharing a large plate of fried calamari with marinara sauce. We ordered seconds, too.
When I think back to this specific memory, I remember not only the calamari (which was bland, overcooked, and far too oily I’m sure) that I thought was amazing at the time, but I remember my family’s awe at my already adventurous eating habits, and ability to find inspiration in expired, frozen, fish bait squid.
My nostalgic calamari was inedible once I was diagnosed with Celiac, and now I can only really find good gluten free fried calamari in two places: Walt Disney World, at one of my favorite restaurants Trattoria Del Forna, and in London. I never tried making calamari, which is surprising considering how much time I spend in the kitchen, until now. This memory just seemed like such a key part of my foodie journey that I wanted to recreate and share.
About this Recipe:
Why I LOVE this recipe-
I LOVE this recipe because, really, it is way easier than it seems. Fried calamari has the impression of being a very fancy dish, but this recipe takes no longer than 45 minutes, and in the end, you have a terrific fried seafood dish that could easily cost you more at a restaurant.
Types of Gluten Free Flour-
Because I used a mixture of rice and corn, this recipe gets VERY crispy, and almost exactly mimics the coating of all-purpose flour on “normal” fried calamari. Usually, in recipes like these, I would use a mixture of tapioca flour, potato starch, and rice flour, and NO cornstarch (like in my Gluten Free Korean Fried Chicken recipe) however, I remember the fried calamari I had in the Vineyard having a thinner, more crisp coating. WIthout potato and tapioca, it gets less gummy and more purely crisp.
How to tell the Calamari is Cooked-
Calamari cooks pretty quickly, so don’t worry about it being raw, unless your oil is really hot. Use a meat thermometer to measure the temperature of your oil, at around 350-375 degrees, when the calamari is golden brown, it’ll be cooked inside.
The Recipe for Gluten Free Fried Calamari:
First, cut your calamari into rings, and cut the tentacles in half, vertically, so they are a bit smaller and will cook more quickly.
Crack two eggs into a small mixing bowl onto the squid, add 1 tsp of the salt, and mix until all combined. Let sit for a few minutes (around 5 will do).
While the squid is sitting in the egg, add the rice flour, cornstarch, dried parsley, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne to a large mixing bowl.
Whisk together the dry ingredients, and add the calamari to the wet ingredients. Don’t just dump the contents of the calamari bowl into the bowl with the dry ingredients, just fish out the pieces of squid with a fork and add them to the flour mixture. Mix together until all pieces of squid are coated.
Fit a colander or strainer on top of a large mixing bowl (possibly the largest you have, so it can surround the colander) and dump everything from the calamari into that bowl– the coated squid. Shake the colander and the bowl until the extra flour falls through, and you are left with a thin coating on the squid. This extra step makes the calamari SUPER crispy, instead of just gummy, which can happen with rice flour.
To cook the calamari, you can either pan fry it in canola oil, deep fry it, OR use an air fryer! I don’t have a deep fryer at home, but I pan fried half on medium high heat for a few minutes on each side, and air fried the other half on “crisp”. As you can tell from the photo, the two cooking methods end in VERY similar results!
Here is the printable recipe card for anyone who wants it!!
Classic Gluten Free Fried Calamari
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh calamari (cleaned, and cut into rings (use the tentacles and the tubes for a real authentic gf recreation of what I had in Martha’s Vineyard))
- 2 eggs beaten
- 3/4 cup rice flour (without xanthan gum)
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp granulated garlic
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- Oil, to shallow pan fry (OR you can use an air fryer!)
Instructions
- Cut your calamari into rings, and cut the tentacles in half, vertically, so they are a bit smaller and will cook more quickly.
- Crack two eggs into a small mixing bowl onto the squid, add 1 tsp of the salt, and mix until all combined. Let sit for a few minutes (around 5 will do).
- While the squid is sitting in the egg, add the rice flour, cornstarch, dried parsley, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne to a large mixing bowl.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients and add the calamari. Don't just dump the egg and calamari contents into the bowl with the dry ingredients, just fish out the pieces of the squid with a fork and add them to the flour mixture. Mix together until all squid is evenly coated in flour.
- Fit a colander or a strainer on top of a large mixing bowl (possibly the largest you have so it can surround the colander) and dump everything from the calamari into that bowl- the coated squid. Shake the colander and the bowl so that the extra flour falls through, and you are left with a thin crispy coating on the squid.
- To cook, you can either shallow pan fry in canola oil, deep fry it, or use an air fryer. I don't have a deep fryer, but I pan fried half and air fried half, and was happy with both results.
Dad
The only thing that would have made the calamari better was finishing it off with a Mad Martha’s sundae or Murdick’s fudge.
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