Sweet and Hot Squid with Thai Basil

I love calamari, squid salad, and Italian squid pastas, but I’d never tried cooking any such cephalopod myself. As usual, cheap produce lead me to new adventures: fresh squid rings were $2.00 per pound at YDFM today, and Thai basil was $0.99/lb. So, I decided to try a Thai-esque dinner. I used:

For the sauce:
1/4 cup Thai basil
1/2 tsp. ground ginger (or 1 tsp fresh grated)
2 tsp hot pepper flakes
3/4 tbs. light soy sauce
3/4 tbs. fish sauce
2 squeezes honey (1 tsp?).

Everything Else
3/4 lbs. fresh squid rings (or whatever bits you prefer)
White hominy (I used 1 can)
Sesame oil
Rice wine
Sriracha
Lemon juice

I first asked Professor Google how long squid need to be cooked (I'm still not clear on the answer: mine were a bit rubbery), and then set to considering my sauce options. Combining a number of mixtures I’ve used over the years and the ideas I remember from squid dishes I’ve eaten, combined the above-listed sauce ingredients in a mixing bowl, and stirred them together.

Having done that, I threw some sesame oil into my wok and got it going. When the oil was hot (just beginning to sputter), I lifted the wok for a few seconds, threw in a handful of chopped basil, and returned the wok to the burner, beginning to toss the basil and oil about. Once the basil was crispy, I added my squid, stir-frying it with the oil and basil for about 1 minute.

Then, I turned down the heat to medium and stirred in my sauce. As that simmered a bit, I put my hominy in a sauce pan over low heat with a couple splashes of oil, a few of lemon juice, and a sprinkle of ginger.

My accompaniment in the works, I added the remaining basil to the squid and stirred. Then I added a few squirts of Sriracha and maybe a quarter cup of rice wine to moisten it. When the squid seemed done, I removed everything from the heat.

I served the squid over the hominy, the latter’s lemony starchiness balancing the former’s slightly sweet spiciness. All in all a successful and satisfying dinner in almost no time (total fridge-to-plate: less than 10 minutes), plus the sauce is a definite keeper: it’d be good on almost anything!