Hong Kong Style Salt & Pepper Squid Tentacles and Capelin

Rinse 250g of squid tentacles, completely cut away the hard beak, eyes, and surrounding cartilage with a knife; slice thicker tentacles into 1 to 2 tentacle portions, rinse clean and drain thoroughly in a bowl.

Rinse 4 capelin fish, gently pull out the gills and impurities from the gill cavity while keeping the fish body intact, then rinse and pat dry with paper towels.

Place the prepared 250g squid tentacles and 4 capelin into a bowl, add 0.25 tsp salt, 0.5 tsp sugar, 0.125 tsp ground white pepper, and 0.125 tsp five spice powder; toss gently with chopsticks or by hand until evenly coated, then let marinate for 30 minutes to absorb flavor and remove fishiness.

In another mixing bowl, add 50g cake flour, 0.125 tsp baking powder, and 0.125 tsp salt; crack in 1 egg and pour in 30g water, then whisk thoroughly with a balloon whisk until smooth with completely no flour lumps.

Pour 500ml cooking oil into a deep pan, preheat slowly over medium-low heat; dip a chopstick in batter and drop a tiny bit into the oil to test: the batter should sink initially, then float right up with fine bubbles forming around it, indicating optimal frying temperature.

Pick up marinated squid tentacles with chopsticks, coat thoroughly in the batter, gently shake off excess batter, and place one by one into the medium-heat oil; fry until the batter sets and puffs up slightly, flip over and continue frying for about 2 minutes until light pale yellow and about 70-80% cooked, then transfer onto a plate.

Coat the 4 capelin evenly in the batter, slide them one by one into the oil, and turn heat to medium-low; fry until the bottom sets, then flip and gently fry for about 3 minutes until puffed up, pale golden, and fully cooked through inside, then remove and set aside on the plate.

Use a fine mesh skimmer to thoroughly scoop out all remaining batter crumbs and floating debris from the oil, then turn the heat up to medium-high to raise the oil temperature to about 180°C until slight ripples appear on the surface.

Quickly return the capelin to the high-heat oil, double fry over medium-high heat for about 30 to 45 seconds to force out excess oil and turn the crust deep golden and ultra-crispy, then immediately scoop onto a plate lined with paper towels to absorb excess oil.

Add the pre-fried squid tentacles in batches into the high-heat oil, double fry over medium-high heat for about 45 to 60 seconds until deep golden brown and exceptionally crunchy, then scoop out onto paper towels to drain thoroughly, and arrange onto a serving platter with the capelin to serve hot.