Ingredients
Dipping sauce
- 4 tablespoons lime juice
- 4 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons grated palm sugar
- 1 small fresh red chilli, finely sliced
- 4 whole calamari (about 250 g each)
- 300 g fish fillets (ling, boneless fillets, redfish)
- 4 raw king prawns, peeled, deveined and chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander leaves
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- 2 teaspoons grated palm sugar
- rice flour, to coat
- peanut oil, for shallow-frying
- lime wedges, to garnish
Method
1. To make the dipping sauce, place the lime juice, fish sauce, palm sugar and chilli in a small bowl and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside until needed.
2. Prepare the calamari by pulling out the tentacles and removing the quill from the body. (The tentacles can be used in the stuffing-slice under the eyes and cut the tentacles into rough pieces.) Pull the skin away from the hoods and discard. Rinse well under cold running water.
3. Place the fish fillets in a food processor and blend until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and add the prawns, garlic, fish sauce, coriander, lime juice and palm sugar. Mix together well.
4. To stuff the calamari, spoon the mixture into the hood, a teaspoon at a time, and push the mixture all the way to the bottom with a teaspoon. Continue filling until the hood is three-quarters full. Do not overfill, otherwise the mixture will ooze out during cooking. Secure the calamari with toothpicks, then coat in the rice flour.
5. Heat a little oil in a frying pan. Cook the calamari in batches over medium heat for 5–6 minutes, or until the filling is cooked through and the calamari is browned all over.
6. Slice the calamari, garnish with the lime wedges and serve with the dipping sauce.
