I don’t know about you guys but when it comes to seafood, I could feed on it all day long, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year.
Yes, you guessed it! I love sea food. It could be because I’m a Piscean? Or it could be just because seafood rocks!? A bit of both but I would go more with the latter ?
This spicy calamari dish is light and pretty healthy too, rich in vitamins, minerals and healthy omega 3 oils which help us stay away from the cardiologist. I have chosen to make them slightly different by adding no batter or breadcrumbs to those since I wanted the dish to remain a low carbs and gluten free onebut see below other ideas on how these could be made.
Is there a difference between calamari and squid ?
Well, yes and no, but yes, it really depends what and how we are looking at this! It can be a little confusing.
One thing that we may all agree on it’s that both are super popular sea food around the world, then the opinions and the light we see these is begining to vary.
Some say squid is exactly the same as calamari, some say they are completely different. Who do we believe? Let’s see if I can bring some light into this debate.
I think I do know where the confusion originates from and what is creating all this debate around these two ‘famous’ sea food ingredients.
Well, there are over 500 species of squids which vary in shape, size and overall weight.
The similarities are that both Squids and Calamaris do not have external shells making them look fairly similar.
The difference is that Calamari is the actual name that represents the squid species and these are smaller in size, they have those side fins/flaps that run on the full length of their body squids are larger in size, have fins too but only running for only a little bit on the sides making them look more like an arrow. Also texture wise, the calamaris are more tender which also makes them more expensive.
When it comes to cooking squid, the method is quite different from how we cook the other regular seafood
Cooking methods
Since calamari is more tender as well as tastier, it is best to grill, stir fries or simply fry whereas the squid is best to stuff and stew. There is also a difference in price, squid being the cheaper option being the tougher one.
Conclusion
It is common especially in some areas that squid is referred to as the actual creature and the calamari as the cooked outcome. Some even say that calamari the actual Italian word used for squid.
Scientifically therefore, the differences are certainly there between the two. When it comes to reality, restaurants and the whole concept around this topic squid vs calamari, they are presented as the same thing, no difference is made cooked squid meaning calamari.
Ways to cook calamari:
- in a curry
- deep fried with a light dusting in Panko breadcrumbs *
- paella
- shallow fried in a salad
- grilled
* Panko breadcrumbs – The word panko is made of the Portuguese word for bread “pao” and the Japanese word for flour “ko”. Panko is ground-up bread or breadcrumbs that give a light and crunchy texture to fried food, nice and crispy. The Portuguese not only influenced the Japanese cuisine with the wheat yeasted breads but also with the batter used in Japanese cuisine for tempuras.
I will get on with revealing this gluten and carbs free, super light and delightfully simple spicy calamari recipe??
Spicy calamari
Ingredients
- 4 large calamari
- 1 pinch salt I have used pink Himalayan
- pepper freshly ground
- cajun powder * homemade recipe (see recipe notes)
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper or red chilli flakes to sprinkle over at the end (optional)
- 1 large garlic clove
- 1 lemon (or lemon juice) to serve
- 2-3 tbsp Olive oil
Instructions
- Wash the calamari thoroughly, cut into rings about 1 cm thick sprinkle some salt and put aside in a sieve to drain properly.
- Peel the garlic, crush and chop finely.
- Place a nonstick frying pan on a medium- high heat and cook the the calamari rings. There will be some water released but if it's not too much leave it. It will evaporate as you cook the rings. If it is quite a lot of water just dispose of some and as an indication, there should be roughly about 4 spoonfuls of liquid which is enough to cook them, anything extra, dispose of. Keep stirring or tossing pretty much continuously until all the juices have run out. The whole thing shouldn't take longer than 12-13 min.
- When the calamari is left with no juice at all, add the oil, garlic and the Cajun powder* (see recipe notes for details) .
- Toss in the frying pan for 1 minute or so and take off the heat.
- Place on a serving plate and enjoy with an extra pinch of freshly ground pepper or even some red chilli flakes if you want them extra hot and a good squeeze of lemon juice.
Notes
- paprika, 3 tbsp
- garlic powder, 1 tsp
- fennel seeds 2/3 tbsp
- black pepper, 1 tsp
- cayenne pepper 1/2 tsp
- onion powder, 1 tbsp
- dry thyme 1 tbsp ( or dry basil leaves)
- dry oregano, 2 tbsp
- cumin seeds 2 tbsp
- red chilli flakes - 1 tsp (or more if you wish this to be fairly hot) I place all the above ingredients into a spice blender and give it a good few pulses until it blends evenly. I store it in an airtight container which is generally a glass container with a screw lid/top. Fot this cajun powder, if you are making it at home use the quantities that you like and blend the ingredients in the quantities you may like by adding more of the ingredients you like most and decreasing the ones you are not so keen on or even take it out completely. This is the beauty of making own spices at home. It will never be the same which to me it is the exciting thing about home cooking. Getting creative and adventurous is ultimately what matters the most. It can’t get any better, and this calamari dish is truly scrumptious! Oh, in fact, yes, a glass of white will be just what is missing but okay if you decide to give the wine a miss. Enjoy this heavenly divine dish as a fabulous starter. Did you make this delicious spicy calamari dish? Please do let me know how you liked it, did you give it any twist and used different spices, how did it turn out for you? If you liked it, made it or just got inspired by this dish, please leave a comment below or even share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #ramonascuisine. I would really want to see! Please do like us on Facebook too! Thank you for stopping by and I do hope you’ll check my blog again to see what’s new, all amazing cooking ideas, super easy and delightful family recipes. Have a magnificent day! Enjoy!
Just made this recipe and it's absolutely delicious! my new favourite starter
Thank you Mel, ??
I'm so glad you liked it!
Ramona xx
There’s no oil measurement just to let you know! Making this recipe now 🙂
Hi Katie
Thank you for your comment. Oil quantity is down to everyone’s liking but anything between 1-3tbsp will work well. I will add the oil quantity info now so it will be mentioned.
Do let me know how you liked the dish
Ramona 😉
I love calamari, but often won’t eat it fried. This sauteed version is excellent! Thank you! I might add some fresh parsley at the end also.
Hi Lesli, fresh parsley is a gread addition – definitely! Enjoy!;-)
Calamari is one of my favourites and I always order it when we go out. This version looks so good that I will be trying it at home very soon!
Thank yu I love calamari a lot but when we go out and order them it’s always a lotery, either too much batter or far too oily. I just love these batter and almost oil free version as I can eat buckets of them 😉
We’re big seafood fans as well, and often get calamari out, but I rarely make it at home. This looks delicious!
Thank you Caroline, same here but out I find the calamari are not always good and they are full with batter sometimes hard to find the real stuff which is why I prefer making it at home every time I get a chance 😉
Oh my that looks wonderful… Seafood is such a rarity in these parts, now I have to go hunting for squid 😀
Hi Brian, oops, I have put you in a seafood hunt mode now but it is all worth it. 😉 I hope you will be able to find some nice squid 😉
I’m with you Ramona. I love seafood! But I live in a landlocked country ?But every now and then I buy them frozen.
I’ve never made calamari before, but I’ve seen them at the store. I want to buy them and try your recipe. Looks so delicious!
Thank you Lizet, definitely worth a try if you get hol of some squid. I love calamari so much – this is definitely a great guilt-free recipe 😉