Spicy Thai squid salad with charred cucumber

1. Finely score the inside of the squid tubes with a sharp knife, and cut into bite-sized diamonds. Cut the tentacles into sets of four each and trim to manageable lengths.

2. Bring a large shallow pan of water to a simmer and add four tablespoons of salt for every three litres of water.

3. Blanch the squid in batches for 25 seconds each and then refresh in cold water. Repeat until all the squid is cooked, ensuring that the water comes back to a simmer before cooking the next batch. Drain well and set aside to come up to room temperature.

4. To make the dressing, smash the chilli, sugar, garlic and lemongrass in a mortar. Add the lime leaves and most of the lime juice and fish sauce. Mix and taste. Adjust with the remaining lime juice and fish sauce until balanced.

5. Preheat a griddle plate until extremely hot.

6. Toss the cucumber in a small amount of oil and place, cut-side down, on the hot griddle. Cook until you have good char marks.

7. Toss the cucumber with the shredded lime leaves and a tiny splash of fish sauce and arrange around a serving platter.

8. Add the squid to a bowl with half the dressing and toss well. Pile into the middle of the platter, pouring any of the dressing in the bottom of the bowl over the top. Scatter over the coriander and serve with the remaining dressing on the side.

Tips

1. Use small to medium squid for this, it will have better flavour and be more delicate than the larger ones, which really suits the cooking method.

2. Stack the lime leaves on top of each other and slice lengthways as finely as possible using a super sharp knife – discard the stalk when you get to it.

3. Make sure to score the calamari on the inside surface of the hoods so that it curls up to reveal the scoring pattern.