Pepper Squid (Pla Meuk Tod Gratiem Prik Thai)

ปลาหมึกทอดกระเทียมพริกไทย

Every Thai restaurant in the UK lists pepper squid near the top of the starters. It is one of those dishes that looks British — deep-fried rings, a peppery kick — but is unmistakably Bangkok underneath: the squid is tossed with pounded garlic and black pepper, not dusted with five-spice and salt like its Cantonese cousin.

Thai sources split the dish two ways. The classic home version stir-fries the squid with a garlic-coriander-pepper paste and no batter; the restaurant and street-stall version coats it in seasoned flour, deep-fries it, then tosses it through crisp fried garlic and cracked pepper. This recipe is the second one — the one UK menus actually mean.

The Recipe (serves 2 · ~30 min)

Allergens: shellfish, gluten, soy · Suitable for: dairy-free

For the squid

For the garlic pepper toss

The Method

1. Fry the squid. Cut squid into rings or bite-size pieces and pat completely dry. Toss the squid in the crispy flour until evenly coated, then shake off the excess. Deep-fry in hot oil until just golden — squid turns rubbery if it stays in too long, so work in small batches and pull it the moment it colours.
2. Crisp the garlic. Fry the crushed garlic in the same oil until golden and crisp. Drain on kitchen paper.
3. Toss and serve. Heat a little of the frying oil in a wok. Stir-fry the black pepper until fragrant. Add the fried squid, season with oyster sauce, seasoning sauce and sugar, and toss hard for 30 seconds. Pile over steamed rice or onto a plate, scatter with the crisp garlic and garnish with spring onion and coriander.

Where the crispness comes from

Two separate fryings. The squid is fried until it barely colours, and the garlic is fried on its own until deep gold. They only meet at the end, in a screaming-hot wok, for a thirty-second toss with the seasoning. Keep them apart and the garlic stays shatteringly crisp on the plate.

Buying and cleaning

Any fresh squid works — whole small squid or cleaned tubes and tentacles. If you buy whole, pull the head free, cut the tentacles below the eyes, remove the quill and the purplish skin, and rinse the tubes. Dry thoroughly before flouring: wet squid steams instead of fries.

Serving

• Rice: Steamed jasmine rice, or as a starter on its own with a lime wedge
• Drink: Cold lager or a dry riesling

Cook's Tips

• Squid overcooks in seconds. Frying hot and fast is the whole trick — 90 seconds maximum in the oil.
• The crisp garlic can be made ahead and stored in an airtight jar; it is the best part of the dish.
• For a lighter version, skip the flour and stir-fry the squid straight in the wok — this is the pla meuk pad kratiem prik thai form, and it is equally good.

Variations

• Stir-fried squid (ไม่ชุบแป้ง). Wongnai's version blanches the squid first, then stir-fries it with the pounded garlic, coriander root and pepper paste — no flour, wetter finish.
• Prawns instead of squid. The identical treatment works for shell-on prawns (goong tod kratiem prik thai).

Sources

This recipe is translated from the following Thai-language sources. Where they disagree, we've said so.