# Vietnamese stuffed calamari.



## moikel (Dec 10, 2013)

This is for dirt sailor who is freezing.Its a summer vibe meal. Its to hot for me to BBQ outside tonight,so I will do them on a cast iron griddle inside with the air con .













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__ moikel
__ Dec 10, 2013






These are local . I will do a stuffing with Thai/Viet flavours using minced chicken,pork works as well.

You can bake them with coconut milk or water in the pan or in the MES.

My favourite way is over charcoal grilled fast but its to hot to get the Weber going.

I will cook the chicken mince with all the bits first then stuff them. Don't need the chance of partially cooked chicken.


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## moikel (Dec 10, 2013)

Took about 300gm minced chicken thigh with fat! Fried that in peanut oil with a dash of sesame oil(easy) with finely chopped red onion, 2 x cloves of garlic, 1/2 thumb size bit of galangal,ginger would be fine, 2 x chilli,5 x kaffir lime leaf ,zest & juice of a lime,slug of keycap manis,same of fish sauce pinch of sugar,chopped cilantro  about a fat pinch.
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






  Used some lemon grass out of squeeze tubes about a teaspoon.













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__ moikel
__ Dec 10, 2013






Formula is 100gm chicken mince per calamari.You don't want to overstuff them.


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## moikel (Dec 10, 2013)

OK  ready to go once I drag my fat self back from the gym.

100 gm per squid was over but not by that much.Tasty stuffing ,got all the usual Thai/Viet suspects in it.I don't salt it because of the fish sauce.













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__ moikel
__ Dec 10, 2013






I just cut the collar of the body,its chewy.Toothpick the tentacles back in place.

We get several different species here.What we call arrow squid are bigger, thicker & cheaper.Nothing wrong with them,just more of a slow cook deal.

Calamari have fins that run the length of their body,they are a bit more delicate.Normally about 3 or 4 different types at the big market at different price points. I got these at my local fish shop. 

A lot comes here from Asia,snap frozen,jig caught ungutted surprised the crap out of me,really good product. One of my chef buddies gave me some.

A lot of people fish for them here, great bait but I find it hard to throw them back into the water,with a hook in them.Just to tasty.


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## moikel (Dec 11, 2013)

OK ,onto to  a screaming hot griddle ,with peanut oil.













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__ moikel
__ Dec 11, 2013






 Got them on each side until I was happy with the colour.













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__ moikel
__ Dec 11, 2013






Char grill would be  best but just not doable today.













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__ moikel
__ Dec 11, 2013






Pretty, aint it ? Thats a bit of chilli bean paste to make the broccoli eatable .


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## chef jimmyj (Dec 11, 2013)

Mick, They look amazing. I love the choice of flavorings...JJ


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## leah elisheva (Dec 11, 2013)

VERY BEAUTIFUL - as always! Here's to grabbing life by the tentacles and to making today delicious! You most certainly have!!! CHEERS!!!!!!!! - Leah


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## moikel (Dec 11, 2013)

Chef JimmyJ said:


> Mick, They look amazing. I love the choice of flavorings...JJ


 I went with pretty standard Thai flavours as a chef you know its all about balance . I don't have a written recipe I just know what Thai flavours I like. I grow kaffir lime,chilli,galangal the rest is in the pantry. Glad you liked it.

They have some great ingredients that can be a little tricky to get your palate around,that big family of basil, some of those peppercorns,eggplants just to start but its a great learning experience. We have access to so much here,the Thai grocers is only one city block from my office. 

Its a great cuisine. Gets dumbed down a bit for mass consumption but thats just life.


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## moikel (Dec 11, 2013)

Chef JimmyJ said:


> Mick, They look amazing. I love the choice of flavorings...JJ





LeahOceanNotes said:


> VERY BEAUTIFUL - as always! Here's to grabbing life by the tentacles and to making today delicious! You most certainly have!!! CHEERS!!!!!!!! - Leah


Some how I have got this quote thing around the wrong way.. 

Anyway Leah I am glad you liked it. Its a nice meal & I don't see anything wrong with mixing protein ,squid with chicken or pork stuffing give you a good vehicle for the flavour profile . I made the stuffing pretty wet so it stayed moist with the high heat. Fast sear meant it was tender.

So much more to calamari than deep-fried  rubbery crumbed rings ,only bogans eat that
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	

















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__ moikel
__ Dec 11, 2013






Thats one of 2 kaffir lime tree's must be 15 years old,ignore the yellow fruit ,my lemon tree has gone berserk.I have lemons everywhere.


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## leah elisheva (Dec 11, 2013)

You're so blessed to have the access you do! Fantastic to see!!!! Cheers and happy wonderful Wednesday!!!!! - Leah


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## dirtsailor2003 (Dec 11, 2013)

Wow, those look fantastic Mick! With all that heat maybe you should be making Goi Muc with those squid!

Was a blisteringly 8°f here this morning!


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## daveomak (Dec 11, 2013)

When I had my Charter Boat, I'd buy a 25# block of fresh frozen squid for $20....  Bait, they called it.....  It sure ate just like the $7 a pound stuff they had at the store.....


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## moikel (Dec 11, 2013)

DaveOmak said:


> When I had my Charter Boat, I'd buy a 25# block of fresh frozen squid for $20.... Bait, they called it..... It sure ate just like the $7 a pound stuff they had at the store.....


I have been on charter boats & thought the same thing. I think here fisherman have a set contract price to supply the bait companies.

The pro fisherman that run the biggest pole & trap boat at Greenwell Point start the week catching hundreds of yellowtail scad or blue mackeral that become bait for yellow tail kingfish or bonito. Then at other times they just sell the" baitfish" straight to the market for human consumption.


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## frankbe (Dec 11, 2013)

YEAH !!!

That's it !!!


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## moikel (Dec 11, 2013)

FrankBE said:


> YEAH !!!
> 
> That's it !!!


Now that's a seal of approval ,coming from a Thai resident.Thank you.


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