Squid Sauce Padang is one of the favorite menus that many people order when eating at seafood restaurants. Chef Devina Hermawan’s seafood sauce recipe for squid with Padang sauce is spicy, sour, and rich in spices. Besides squid, this Padang seafood sauce recipe is also suitable to be combined with shrimp, crab, clams, fish, and other seafood. In this recipe, there are also tips for cleaning the right fresh squid.
This time, We are sharing a seafood sauce recipe for seafood lovers especially making Squid with Padang Sauce. We are not sure where the name Squid with Padang Sauce comes from. But if we order one in an Indonesian restaurant, it looks like this.
Ingredients of Seafood Sauce Recipe
Let’s dive into the seafood sauce recipe ingredients! First, of course, is squid. We will use fresh squid. You can also use frozen squid. Cooking with fresh squid is rather tricky, so using baking powder and salt is recommended. We will give you tips on how to make the squid become tender.
For the spice blend use shallots, garlic, and curly red chili. You can use Tanjung chili. Tanjung chili is not shiny. I think this tastes better and has no raw aroma, unlike the shiny variety. You can just use regular chili, too.
We’ll also add oil to blend all the spices in this seafood sauce recipe. For the spices, use ginger, lemongrass, and Kaffir lime leaves. Next, we have red chili, onion, and leeks. For the sauces, use chili sauce by Cap Ibu Jari because the dish is quite spicy. I use this brand because it tastes like real chili. Plus, it contains garlic. It can complement our dish very well.
Next, we have oyster sauce, tomato sauce, and tamarind. You can substitute the tamarind with something sour, like lemon or key lime.
We’ll clean the squid and soak it in baking soda water. Why doing this can make the squid tender? I’ll tell you later.
How To Clean The Squid For This Seafood Sauce Recipe
Now, here’s the tip for cleaning squid. So, there’s the body and the head. Usually, you’ll find the cuttlebone inside. Ideally, you should clean squid in the sink.
Next, peel the skin but you can skip this step. To peel, find the outer skin layer and peel both sides.
After peeling the skin, move on to the head. We’ll remove the teeth from the head. Squeeze it like so. You’ll find a pair of these. Then, there’s the top part. We have to remove that. You’ll find some hard, bone-like parts that should be removed, too.
Because we’re not using squid ink, remove the ink sac. Inside the sac is the squid ink. It has black in color and is very viscous.
Some people remove the eyes, some don’t. I prefer to remove the eyes so everything served on the plate is edible. Above the eye, on the head, there’s a hard, bone-like structure. Remove it.
Some squid contains eggs. You can use that or skip it. Now, all that’s left is the edible flesh. Rinse the clean squid. Rinse until the water is clear because the remaining slime exudes a fishy odor.
Next step you can slice the squid. You can cut it into 5 parts. I’m cutting in 2 cm increments, but it’s up to you. Please don’t cut it too small as you’ll lose the bite. So, cut in 1.5 – 2 cm increments. For the head, you can halve it if it’s large. You can leave it whole, too.
Then add baking soda to the squid. Baking soda is an alkaline substance. It makes the squid tender. You can use this method for other types of meat, like beef, etc. Don’t use too much baking soda, though, as it has a funky aroma when used in large amounts.
If you don’t want to use baking soda, you can soak the squid with natural ingredients like lemon or milk. That will help to make the squid tender. However, it’ll take a lot more time.
If you want to soak the squid with milk, soak the squid all day. For lemon, soak it for 2 hours. Basically, adding acid, base, fat, etc. can break down squid or beef muscles.
Soak the squid in baking soda and water for 15 – 20 minutes. Rinse the squid after soaking. This is a must, or there’ll be some bitterness left. I’ll add some salt to enhance the flavor.
For the spice blend, combine the shallots, garlic, and chili. Add some bird’s eye chili if you want it to be spicy. Add some oil as needed. Then, we’ll sauté the spice blend. As we wait for this to be reduced and get fragrant,
Prepare the other ingredients of the seafood sauce recipe. First, the onion. Slice it into large pieces. After the squid’s been soaking for 15 minutes, heat some oil to fry them. You can sauté the squid right away, but I’m flash-frying them. It’s when you fry the squid for a short time on high heat so that when cooked with the sauce, the squid won’t get soggy or release any more liquid which will make the sauce lose its flavor. Also, it will ruin the squid’s texture. After the spice blend has reduced, we can lower the heat.
We will prepare the chili to make the dish look more inviting. Cut it into large pieces. Pound the lemongrass. Make a knot. We’re supposed to add the lemongrass at the beginning, but it’s okay.
Add the Kaffir lime leaves and ginger. Add in the onion and chili. Once they start to cook, add some water. It’s so all the spices are deglazed. Add the tamarind water, tomato sauce, oyster sauce, and chili sauce. Mix well. The sauce is ready.
The next step is to drain and rinse the squid to eliminate any bitterness from the baking soda. Fry these in batches. Frying too much at once will overflow the oil.
The oil temperature will also drop drastically. If so, we wouldn’t be flash-frying the squidFry just for a bit. Tips & Tricks: Fry the squid for 1 – 2 minutes. More than that, and they’ll be rubbery.
If you’ve reached the desired thickness, taste the sauce. Season the sauce with sugar and salt. Add in the leeks. This is optional, just to add some green color. You can use flavor enhancers, too.
We will remove the Kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass. Set them aside, and we’re ready to plate and have a taste. Make sure the squid is tender yet bouncy. The sauce is spicy, savory, sweet, and a bit tart, so it tastes fresh. Those are Padang seafood sauce recipe characteristics.
Enjoy the full seafood sauce recipe below :
Padang Sauce Recipe for Squid and Other Seafood
Squid with Padang Sauce is one of the most popular menus in a seafood restaurants. This time, I’m sharing a recipe for my version of Squid with Padang Sauce with a spicy and tart flavor that’s rich in spices. Other than squid, Padang Sauce is also compatible with shrimp, crabs, clams, fish, and other types of seafood. In this video, I’m also sharing several tips on the correct way of cleaning a fresh squid.
4
servings30
minutes40
minutes300
kcal0
minutesKeep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
- Spice blend ingredients:
7 shallots
4 garlic
6 curly chili
2 tbsp cooking oil
- Other ingredients:
750 g fresh squid
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking soda
1 stalk lemongrass pounded
3 Kaffir lime leaves
1 ginger pounded
2 tbsp tomato sauce
2 tbsp Cap Ibu Jari chilli sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
100 ml water
2 tbsp tamarind water
1 chilli, sliced
1 leeks, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp pepper
Directions
- Detach the squid’s head from the body. Remove all the dirt and cuttlebones. Rinse well and cut into 1-2 cm increments, depending on the size.
- Soak the squid with baking soda, salt, and water for 15-20 minutes.
- Remove the soaking liquid, rinse well, and drain the squid.
- Prepare the spice blend. Combine the curly chilli, shallots, and garlic. Blend with the cooking oil until it becomes a paste.
- Sauté the spice blend. Add onion, chilli, pounded lemongrass that’s been tied into a knot, Kaffir lime leaves, and pounded ginger.
- Add in the water, tomato sauce, oyster sauce, tamarind water, and Cap Ibu Jari chilli sauce. Mix well.
- In a different pan, flash fry the squid. Make sure the oil is hot.
- Add the squid to the sauce. Season with salt, sugar, and pepper.
- Add in the leeks and cook for a bit.
- Squid with Padang Sauce is ready to serve.
