Preparation time
less than 30 mins
Cooking time
10 to 30 mins
Serves
Serves 2
For the cucumber pickle
- 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 1 red chilli, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 cucumber, grated
- 50g/1¾oz cashew nuts, chopped
- 4 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 25g/1oz palm sugar
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the squid toasts
- 1-cm/½-in piece fresh root ginger, peeled and chopped
- 1 red chilli, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 free-range egg white
- 400g/14oz baby squid, cleaned, bodies and tentacles separated
- 2 spring onions, finely chopped
- 2 slices white bread, about ½-in thick
- 50g/1¾oz black sesame seeds
- vegetable oil, for deep-frying
- 25g/1oz cornflour
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
For the cucumber pickle, heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the chilli, garlic and cucumber for a minute. Add the nuts, soy sauce, vinegar and sugar. Season and stir to combine. Leave to cool.
For the squid toasts, place the ginger, chilli, garlic and egg white in a food processor and blitz. Add the squid bodies and pulse again until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, season and stir in the spring onions.
Cut the crusts off the bread and cut the bread into small rectangular pieces. Spread the squid mixture generously on the bread pieces.
Preheat the deep-fat fryer to 170C. (CAUTION: hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended.)
Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the bread pieces and carefully place in the deep-fat fryer. Deep-fry until golden and then transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper. Dust the tentacles with the cornflour and deep-fry separately and also transfer to the lined plate.
Slice the toasts into fingers and serve with the tentacles immediately, with the cucumber pickle on the side.