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Calamares a la Romana

Squid rings dredged in nothing but seasoned flour and deep-fried until pale gold and crisp, served hot with a squeeze of lemon — the tapas bar standard that a heavier batter only gets in the way of.

Calamares a la Romana
Prep
15 min
Cook
10 min
Difficulty
Easy

About this dish

Despite the name pointing to Rome, this is a thoroughly Spanish tapa, and the "romana" in the name refers to a style of frying — a light flour dredge rather than a thick batter — that arrived in Spanish coastal kitchens through Mediterranean trade rather than any direct Italian recipe. The whole dish depends on that restraint: squid cooks in well under two minutes, and a heavy batter needs longer in the oil to brown, which means the squid underneath is already turning rubbery by the time the coating catches up.

  • Lactose-free
  • Not vegetarian because of Squid, cleaned
  • Contains gluten because of Plain flour

Ingredients

4servings
  • 500gSquid, cleaned
  • 100gPlain flour
  • 6gFine sea salt
  • 500mlSunflower oil
  • 15mlLemon juice

Instructions

  1. Cut the squid into rings about a centimetre wide and pat them completely dry with paper towels.

    10 min

    Tip: Dry them thoroughly — any surface water left on the squid turns to steam the instant it hits hot oil, which is what makes the coating blister and fall off instead of sticking.

  2. Season the flour with the salt and dredge the squid rings, shaking off the excess.

    3 min

    Tip: Shake off every bit of extra flour you can — a thick, clumpy coating fries into something doughy, while a thin, even one is what actually goes crisp and pale gold.

  3. Heat the sunflower oil to about 180°C and deep-fry the squid in small batches for 1-2 minutes until pale golden and crisp.

    8 min

    Tip: Fry in small batches and let the oil come back up to temperature between them — too much squid dropped in at once cools the oil, and the rings end up greasy and soft instead of crisp.

  4. Drain briefly on paper towels and serve immediately with a squeeze of lemon.

    2 min

    Tip: Serve the moment they come out of the oil — fried squid this lightly coated goes from crisp to chewy within a few minutes, and this is not a dish that reheats back to how it started.