Rick Stein’s squid salad for summer

This is a memorable dish for me – the result of our trip to Thailand in 1986. It was an early means to show off the excellence of the great squid we have in Cornwall in a simple and fresh way. It’s also quite hot with red chilli. The crisp, roasted rice was something I’d never come across before, giving a pleasing crunch to the salad.

Serves 4 

• 225g prepared small squid
• 2tbs groundnut oil
• Good pinch of cayenne pepper
• 2tbs long-grain rice
• 1 Romaine lettuce heart, cut across into wide strips
• 4 spring onions, trimmed, halved and finely shredded
• Handful of mint leaves
• Handful of coriander sprigs
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper 

For the dressing

• 1 red finger chilli, thinly sliced into rings
• 50ml white wine vinegar
• juice of 1 lime
• 2tbs Thai fish sauce (nam pla)
• ½tsp caster sugar
• 1 lemongrass stalk, outer leaves removed and the core very finely chopped

Cut along one side of each squid pouch and open it out flat. Score the inner side into a diamond pattern with the tip of a small, sharp knife, then cut the squid into 5cm squares. Separate the tentacles, if large. Season with a little salt and pepper.

Start the dressing: in a bowl cover the chilli slices with the vinegar and leave them to steep for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a wok. Add the squid and stir-fry for two minutes. Transfer the squid to a plate, sprinkle with the cayenne and leave to cool, but don’t refrigerate.

While the squid is cooling, heat a small, heavy-based frying pan over a high heat. Add the rice and toss for a few minutes until it is richly browned and smells nutty. Tip the rice into a mortar or mug and pound it with a pestle or the end of a rolling pin to break it up. Don’t grind it into fine powder.

To serve, toss together the lettuce, spring onions, mint and coriander and spread the salad out on a large oval platter. Scatter over the squid and any oil left in the pan.

Lift the chilli slices out of the vinegar (keep the vinegar for the next time). Mix the slices with the rest of the dressing ingredients and two tablespoons of water. Spoon this over the squid and sprinkle with the roasted rice. Serve straight away.

Jack’s chef notes

Scoring and cooking the squid to get the right colour is really important with this dish. The sauce is so well balanced – it’s the kind of sauce chefs will put on staff tea to increase the flavour.

Charlie’s wine notes

A light and aromatic dish, this salad needs something equally light as a pair... I’m thinking a crisp and fresh Vinho Verde from Portugal.

Taken from The Seafood Restaurant: Recipes and Stories by Rick Stein and Jill Stein (£35, John Croft Editions). Read the review of the book

Photography ©Rick Stein/Sam A Harris