Easy Grilled Calamari

Have you ever had fresh grilled squid or calamari at the beach? I think it’s the best way, really, to eat squid – fresh caught from the fisherman and grilled almost immediately by the vendor, dipped in spicy a homemade dipping sauce….omg! I just tortured myself by just saying that, and now I really want to go to the beach, especially the beach in Thailand!

  

So, today I’m having grilled squid since I’ve been thinking about how much I enjoyed eating grilled squid by the beach in Thailand lately. I bought a package of frozen squid another day with the idea of making Thai spicy squid salad…but I grilled them instead. I used frozen squid because they were already cleaned and I was too lazy to clean the fresh squid (that’s awful sad…I knowww!) 

The squid I bought came in small tubes so I just left them whole and marinated them first just for 15 minutes with my no-recipe marinate sauce and served with Thai sweet chili sauce. Oh yeah!!! This sauce pairs well with everything I should have made my own spicy dipping sauce but the grilled squid looked too good and I just could wait to dig in. 

What you need:

1 1/2 lb small squid (or calamari) tubes fresh or unthawed if frozen (I bought them frozen and already cleaned)
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp finely minced garlic
1 tbsp finely minced ginger
1 tbsp finely minced mint leaves
Short bamboo skews, soaked in water for at least 15-20 minutes to prevent burn when grilling
Thai sweet chili sauce - or your own homemade sauce - for dipping


How to:

- Mix oyster sauce, sesame oil, ground black pepper, garlic, ginger, and mint leaves into a medium bowl then add squid, and marinate them for 15-20 minutes.
- Thread 2 or 3 squid tubes through each bamboo skewer.
- Grill on the medium heat for 4 minutes on each side. Be careful if you let them cooked too long they will become rubbery.
- Serve immediately with Thai sweet chili sauce.

Enjoy!

^_^