BLACK SQUID
For our first ever holiday as a couple, Andrew and I went to Pangkor Island and stayed in a cheap hut by the beach; we were blissfully happy. Across from our beach was the exclusive Pangkor Laut Resort. We were students then, so would never have been able to afford to stay there, but Andrew promised to take me one day. He fulfilled his promise on our fifth wedding anniversary and it was magical.
Several years later I returned to Pangkor Laut to write a travel piece, and took our daughter, Alexa. I was so excited to be taking her to an island that meant so much to us. We went fishing with the head chef and then to the local town to see how the fishermen worked. We bought fresh squid and the chef cooked me a speciality of his called sotong masak hitam which basically means ‘squid cooked in ink’. It wasn’t the prettiest plate of food, I must admit, but it was the sweetest, most tender and flavoursome squid I have ever tasted. Here is my version of it, which I like to serve with plain rice.
Serves 4
2 tbsp vegetable oil
400g fresh squid, cleaned and cut into 1.5cm rings
8g squid ink
2 tbsp water
2 tsp tamarind concentrate
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp chicken stock powder
1 tsp caster sugar
¼ tsp light soy sauce
pinch of ground black pepper
For the spice paste
½ onion
2 fresh red chillies
1 bird’s eye chilli
¼ tsp turmeric
1 tsp vegetable oil
Place all the spice paste ingredients in the bowl of a food processor or in a blender and blitz until smooth.
Heat the oil in a wok, add the spice paste and fry over a medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring (do not let it burn). Add the squid rings to the wok and fry for 30 seconds, then add the squid ink, water and remaining ingredients and cook for about 4 minutes, until the squid is tender.
