My favorite local restaurant serves a calamari dish they call ‘old school Italian calamari’. It’s sauteed calamari in a spicy Calabrian chili paste that explodes with flavor. Every time we order it I want to lick the bowl clean to get every last drop of the chili paste. Thank god they give you ample bread to soak up all the flavors.

I got home and started experimenting with the chili citrus flavors and came up with my own version using Lao Gan Ma chili crisp - arguably the best chili crisp on planet Earth. At this point, you probably are wondering why a site dedicated to French food is doing this recipe? It isn’t French. The flavor profiles are wildly different. I would answer simply - who doesn't love Lao Gan Ma chili crisp? Every culture has its own set of amazing flavors and dishes. The joy of life is we all can celebrate everyone else’s culture at our own tables. Good food is good food.

Chili Crisp Calamari

PREP: 5 minutes | COOK: 10 minutes | SERVES: 2 (if you have to share)

ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 cloves of garlic cut GoodFellas thin

• 1/2 a sweet onion diced

• 1 pound calamari rings (available frozen at most grocery stores) or 1 pound of cleaned shrimp - see notes

• 1 lemon zested and juiced

• 1/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock

• 1/4 cup Lao Gan Ma chili crisp

• 1 tablespoon of butter

• 3 scallions chopped

directions

1. Pour the oil into a large skillet and get it smoking hot. Add the garlic and onions and toss until translucent, about 1 minute. Add the calamari rings and cook until done, about 3 minutes. Bear in mind the calamari will release liquid as it cooks and maybe even splatter all over. Continue cooking until all the calamari liquid is reduced down, possibly another 2 minutes.

2. Add the zest, juice, and stock and continue cooking over high heat until reduced to sauce consistency, about 1 - 2 minutes. Finish the dish by adding the chili crisp, butter, and scallions.

3. Serve over a bowl of pasta, rice, or just with a couple of slices of toast.

Notes

Frozen calamari rings have a lot of water in them. After they thaw I like to squeeze as much water out as possible before cooking.

Make sure you use a large skillet - like 14 inches. When you cook too much in a small pan the temperature drops quickly and food steams rather than browns. With a larger surface area, the pan will maintain a higher temperature which is key in this recipe.