Gluten-Free Calamari Fritti – using Rice Puffs!
If you love calamari fritti, but find that no one sells it gluten-free, then give this recipe a try for an authentic restaurant-worthy version.
Four Tips for Crunchy Calamari
1. RICE PUFFS
What makes this calamari fritti stand out, is the crunchiness with the help of adding rice puffs to the crumbing mixture.
Rice puffs can be found in health stores or alternatively, gluten-free Rice Krispies cereal sold by Kellogg’s can be used.
2. DON’T OVERCOOK
Try not to overcook the calamari otherwise, you’ll be chewing elastic-like calamari!
3. DON’T OVERCROWD THE PAN
Frying a small batch at a time is a good tip to avoid the frying pan from over-crowding which in turn, reduces the oil temperature, resulting in soggy calamari.
4. MARINATE IN BUTTERMILK
I also use buttermilk which softens the calamari and acts as a glue for the dry ingredients to stick to.
How to serve Calamari Fritti
Once the calamari fritti are fried, serve them with a few lemon wedges and a bowl of aioli mayonnaise.
Or serve calamari fritti as a salad for a filling main to enjoy.
Gluten-Free Calamari Fritti
Equipment
- Deep-frying pan
- Wire sieve to remove calamari from hot oil
Ingredients
- 10 fresh or frozen calamari hoods, gutted, cleaned and sliced in rings
- 250 ml buttermilk
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp white pepper
- 15 g rice puffs
- 70 g cornflour Known as cornflour in the UK and corn or maize starch in the USA
- 70 g glutinous rice flour/ sweet rice flour
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tbsp freshly cracked black pepper
- sunflower oil, for deep-frying
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges, to squeeze over fried calamari
- salt & freshly cracked pepper, to season
QUICK AIOLI MAYONNAISE
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ½ tsp lemon juice
- 5 tbsp store-bought mayonnaise
Instructions
QUICK AIOLI MAYONNAISE
- In a small bowl, combine the minced garlic, lemon juice and mayonnaise together. Cover, chill and set aside until serving the fried calamari.
GLUTEN-FREE CALAMARI FRITTI
Marinating the Calamari
- Cut the calamari hoods in 1 ½ cm rings. Pat dry.
- In a medium bowl, mix the buttermilk with cayenne pepper, onion powder and white pepper.
- Soak the calamari rings in the buttermilk mixture for 15 minutes at room temperature. If you have time to spare, place them in the fridge and soak them for up to four hours.
Preparing the Crumbing Mixture
- Measure and add the rice puffs to the food processor bowl.
- Slightly crush the rice puffs using the pulse button.
- Add the crushed rice puff into a medium bowl together with the flours, salt and black pepper, mixing well. Set aside.
Deep-frying the Calamari
- Heat the oil up until it reaches 170°C/325°F or until a piece of bread browns within 30 seconds.
- Drain the buttermilk mixture from the calamari rings by lifting it over the bowl and shaking any excess off.
- Drop the rings in the flour mixture.
- Shake the bowl well to cover the rings thoroughly with the flour mixture.
- Fry the calamari in small batches in the hot oil for 1.5 to 2 minutes until golden.
- Remove the fried calamari with a wire sieve and drain on paper towels before serving.
Serving
- Serve with lemon wedges and aioli mayonnaise as a snack or with a garden salad as a main.
Notes
- Best eaten on the day of frying
- Not suitable to freeze
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