Neil Perry’s chilli-salt squid

In too many Chinese restaurants, chilli-salt squid is made from frozen squid – and it’s often so salty that you can’t stop drinking! What you’re left with is an overall sense of cluttered and clumsy flavours. Working with Neil Perry at Rockpool really drummed into me the importance of freshness, and what I want to show you with this recipe of Neil’s is how amazing chilli-salt squid is when it’s done properly. So I use the freshest squid from South Australia, I test the chilli-salt to make sure it’s not too salty and not too spicy, and I use fresh oil. This allows the natural integrity of the ingredients to come through, and then all you need is some aromatic spring onions and coriander, and a squeeze of lemon juice.