Salt & pepper squid

Name: Salt & pepper squid
Prep time: 9 min
Cook time: 16 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Ingredients: 85g Corn Flour; 85g Plain Flour; 2 tsp Black Pepper; 2 tsp Szechuan Peppercorns; For frying Sunflower Oil; 400g Squid; Sliced Spring Onions; Sliced Green Chilli; 1 chopped Red Chilli; 1/2 Cucumber; 1 chopped Red Onions; 100 ml Rice Vinegar; 1 tablespoon Caster Sugar; 2 tsp Fish Sauce

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Seafood recipe with Vietnamese flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 47 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 25 min total

85g Corn Flour
85g Plain Flour
2 tsp Black Pepper
2 tsp Szechuan Peppercorns
For frying Sunflower Oil
400g Squid
Sliced Spring Onions
Sliced Green Chilli
1 chopped Red Chilli
1/2 Cucumber
1 chopped Red Onions
100 ml Rice Vinegar
1 tablespoon Caster Sugar
2 tsp Fish Sauce

Step-by-step instructions

step 1.
To make the dipping sauce, mix all the ingredients in a small bowl until the sugar has dissolved, then set aside. Mix the cornflour and plain flour with both peppers and 2 tsp sea salt in a large bowl, then set aside. Line a tray with kitchen paper and make sure you have more salt to sprinkle with.
step 2.
Heat about 7cm of oil to 180C in a deep fryer, wok or deep pan. If you don’t have a thermometer, you can test it with a cube of bread – it should brown in 20 secs. Coat the squid well with the flour mix and fry in batches for about 2 mins each or until crisp. Use a slotted spoon to lift out the squid, then drain on the kitchen paper and sprinkle with a little more salt. Serve the squid scattered with the spring onion and chilli, with the dipping sauce on the side.

Why this works on a weeknight

Salt & pepper squid genuinely fits a 30-minute weeknight window, which is why it earned a spot in our Stir-Fry collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Salt & pepper squid actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🥢 Stir-Fry Seafood Vietnamese ⚡ 30-Min Dinner