Calamari

Homemade fried calamari is both easy and inexpensive.  This dish is all about getting the batter fine-tuned to your specific taste.  Squid doesn't really have much flavor by itself, so you get to fill the blank slate however you like.

Acquire your squid fresh.  In preparation for battering and deep frying, be sure to remove the inedible innards.  Just separate the legs from the body and you'll see a slimy bulb that shoots ink.  Don't eat that part.

On this day, I ended up cutting out the squid body completely and just ate the legs.

Mix your batter.  I put corn starch in this photo, but I ended up using tempura batter, which is actually what I'd recommend, especially if you prefer a Japanese flair to your calamari.  

Batter up your calamari and deep fry them at around 325 degrees.  They really shouldn't be in there for more than a minute.  Perfectly-cooked calamari straddles a fine line between fishy-tasting (undercooked) and chewy (overcooked).  

Enjoy.

Tempura Crab Nigiri

For the sushi lover on a budget, imitation crab is a quite splendid invention.  I'm always looking for a new way to prepare it, something beyond the typical California roll or crab salad gunkan.  There must be another creative way to eat it.

As the old adage goes, "when in doubt...deep fry it."  I present to you tempura imi crab.

It all starts with choosing a tasty brand of imitation crab.  Trust me, they're not all created the same.  I've tried many different brands and this one is quite good.

The crab sticks get battered just as you would anything in the style of tempura.  Apply a fair amount of dry tempura batter first, then only a light coating of wet tempura batter.  Too much batter equals a doughy, starchy finish.  Imi crab is a food with enough of its own flavor to hold up without a chef over-battering it.

Drop your battered crab sticks into the deep fryer.  You'll want your oil set at about 375 and your cook time should only be 1-2 minutes.

Pull your crab sticks out of the fryer when they hit that classic golden tempura color.  Try your damndest not to eat one before you get them all plated and sauced.

It just got real.

Plate them up.  Top them with whatever sauce you prefer (I opted for spicy mayo).  Don't eat too fast!