Cold Calamari Salad with Ginger-Black Bean Vinaigrette

Name: Cold Calamari Salad with Ginger-Black Bean Vinaigrette
Yield: Serves 2 to 3 as a Luncheon Main Course, 4 to 6 as part of a Multicourse Meal
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: 1 small red (bell) pepper, finely diced; 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice; 2 cups loosely packed baby mizuna, baby red mustard, and/or tender sprigs of watercress or curly cress; ¾ teaspoon finely minced Chinese black beans (do not rinse them); ½ small red onion, finely diced; 2 serrano chilis, tipped and halved lengthwise; 1½ teaspoons finely minced garlic; 1½ pounds small squid (4 to 5 inches long and 1 inch wide), cleaned, tentacles reserved, and bodies cut crosswise into ½-inch rings (see How to Clean Squid); 1½ teaspoons “goop” from China Moon Hot Chili Oil; ⅔ cup packed coriander leaves and stems; 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh ginger; ½ cup China Moon Pickled Ginger; 2½ teaspoons sugar; 1 teaspoon fine sea salt; 3 tablespoons juice from China Moon Pickled Ginger; 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar; ¾ cup corn or peanut oil

Preparation info

Serves
2 to 3
as a Luncheon Main Course

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

China Moon Cookbook

By Barbara Tropp

Published 1992

About

If you think of calamari as a pile of rubbery curlicues, looming sea creature-like on a plate ready to attack, think again! Here is a perfectly delectable salad of tender calamari rings laced with a spicy vinaigrette. The choice of small squid will change forever your calamari nightmares.

Ingredients

1½ pounds small squid (4 to 5 inches long and 1 inch wide), cleaned,

Asia
China
Dinner
Spicy
Gluten-free

Method

To cook the squid, separate the tentacles, if larger than the rings, and cook them separately. Bring a medium-sized pot of water to a rolling boil. Using a Chinese mesh spoon or a wire basket that fits the pot, lower the squid into the water. Blanch just until opaque, about 6 seconds at most, and then drain and plunge immediately into ice water to stop the cooking. Drain an