Recipe: Waffled squid salad

Will this leave your waffle iron a mess? Probably. Probably an unholy mess. When I finished, the grids were coated in a thin film of squid — my waffle iron's very own marine layer. I did what I always do: patiently scraped up the biggest offending chunks with a silicone spatula, and then made a batch of waffles (out of waffle batter — and you have to love that I need to specify that) to lift out the rest of the nasty bits. The waffles were nothing you'd want to eat, but by the time they were done cooking they had absorbed every bit of squid that was clinging to my waffle iron.

And that is a hell of an introduction to this recipe.

The recipe comes from David Thompson's tremendous cookbook, Thai Food. The inspiration comes from a reader who wrote in after the waffled quesadillas. (Thanks, Elena.) "Why not try cephalopods — maybe squid?" she asked.

Why not? Because it's utterly impractical even by the standards of a blog dedicated to the ridiculous. Because my idea for the blog — most aspects of which are overthought to an almost paralyzing degree — was to offer people a mix of dishes that would be practical to make in their kitchens and dishes that would be impractical to make in their kitchens but fun to see made, and I wasn't sure if squid was either of those things. 

No question it was a good idea. And I would like it, yes. But it didn't seem like the kind of thing that people would go for.

Then I thought about it for a couple of weeks. I realized I really had no grasp of what people go for, despite being 90% of the way through this blog.

And I realized that if I was going to worry about playing to the Internet, I could just post pictures of kittens and call it a day.

Which is how I found myself in Chicago's main library, thumbing through the Thai cookbooks to find a squid recipe suitable for waffling.

When I lived in Argentina, people would sometimes ask me what I missed most about the States. Some of them were probably a little taken aback when I answered Thai food. Thai cuisine does one thing better than any that I've ever come across, and that is striking a balance among sweet, sour, spicy and salty notes. This recipe — with its lime juice, sugar, fish sauce and hot peppers — is an excellent example of that.

Squid don't take long to cook, and the high heat of the waffle iron is pretty much perfect for the task. Squid are ranked as a "good alternative" in the Monterey Bay Aquarium's sustainable seafood listings. They're also relatively inexpensive, especially when sold frozen. (The squid that's not sold frozen is usually previously frozen, so if you're able to plan ahead, you can save money by buying from the freezer case.)

The barest and yet still delicious version of this recipe makes use of ingredients you're likely to have on hand — with the possible exception of fish sauce — or at the very least can find substitutes for.

It comes together quickly, looks impressive on the plate and, in a mark of a great recipe, tastes much better than even the sum of its delicious parts. Thompson's version of the recipe does not make note of optional ingredients or include substitutions, but I've written a few notes below. 

Waffled squid salad

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Salad:

• 6 oz. squid [200 grams]
• 3 shallots, finely sliced
• optional: Thai lime leaves, shredded
• optional: lemongrass, finely sliced
• optional: handful of mint or cilantro leaves
• optional: roasted peanuts, crushed

Dressing:

• 2 bird's eye chilies, sliced thin (substitution: red pepper flakes to taste)
• pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• large pinch sugar

Directions:

1. Combine dressing ingredients and set aside.

2. Waffle the squid until opaque. This should only take about two minutes. When finished, cut into strips. 

3. Allow squid to cool slightly, dress and serve immediately.

Comments

[Kathy/stresscake]

Oh my god! This is genius! Genius I say. Love it love it love it. Next time I feel like wafflin' up some squid, I'm all over this.

[me.yahoo.com/a/YG7e57Vmq_aHXoeV3uomVkzvvjw-]

"blog dedicated to the ridiculous?" I beg to differ with you!

--Kathi

[Susan]

Squid! Your blog is marvelous and not ridiculous at all. I'm sorry to hear that it's 90% complete and hope you keep going even when you reach 100%.

[Robin (Hippo Flambe)]

Perhaps we all need to have a squid waffle iron and a regular waffle iron in our kitchens. I wonder if there is a way to alter the basic waffle batter you are using so it would taste good when it was a sponge for waffled squid residue.

-Robin

[baobabs]

stunning photos!!! and what a brilliant idea with waffle iron!

[Daniel]

Robin - I thought about suggesting that — it seems perfectly reasonable to me — but I didn't want to push it. I'm glad you said it. Your second point about the sacrificial waffle is a good one, too. Maybe a savory version with chives and/or soy sauce? One of the problems is that by that point, most of the squid is fairly burnt. On the plus side, it usually only takes one waffle to get the job done. In this case I made just half a batch of batter.

Susan - Thanks for saying that. I really appreciate the sentiment behind it, but everything comes to an end. The only question is whether it ends neatly or gets awkward for everyone.

[Frank]

You have outdone yourself and again raised the bar on what was conceivable with a waffle iron. Plus, it looks delicious.

[Amanda Elkohen]

This looks amazing. I could never make it, as it really isn't kosher and there's no way to make it so, but it's a fantastic concept. One thing I noted in my read through, maybe you could add a note about how to know when squid is fully cooked? I wouldn't have a clue...

[Daniel]

Great point. I added "until opaque" to the directions. Raw squid are sort of translucent. They become milky white and opaque when cooked. That's perhaps less true with the tentacles (the milky white part, at least), but they cook so quickly it's practically impossible to undercook them. Once the bodies are done, the tentacles certainly are.

[Joe Gray]

RUFKM? (are you fucking kidding me?) amazing.