"Get Off Your High (Sea)Horse" Calamari Challenge: Thai Chili Squid Stir-Fry with Carrots and Arugula

There's something miraculous about a dish made with ridiculously fresh ingredients, stir-fried for mere minutes and coated in a salty, sweet, sour and hot sauce before making the inevitable journey to your mouth. Come on, LOOK at those colours!

I also love that this is a very affordable recipe and so healthy, without feeling like you're depriving yourself. It's seafood, after all, and seafood is a luxury. It looks and tastes deceptively gourmet, but has a much higher intimidation factor than actual level of difficulty. So take a deep breath and go buy some squid. I resent the fact that so many people like deep-fried calamari but refuse to eat un-coated squid. If you don't like the tentacles, just buy the tubes, but know that you're missing out on great mouth texture. One small step at a time, I suppose. Think of this as my calamari challenge, to get off your high horse...or squid horse...or sea horse??
Ingredients:
2 cups jasmine (thai) rice

Sauce for Rice:
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock (I happened to have fish stock frozen that I hacked away at until I had 1/2 a cup)
2 Tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tsp sesame oil

1 lb squid (just go to a fish counter and ask for about a pound of squid. The tentacles won't hurt you but the tubes are what you really want since they'll stay more tender)

Stir-Fry Sauce:
1 heaping Tbsp hoisin (the original recipe calls for ground bean sauce but I didn't have that. I realize my version is completely different)
2 tsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. fish sauce
1 Tbsp. soy sauce or tamari
1-2 tsp. chili sauce, or 1-2 fresh red or green chilies, minced, OR 1-2 tsp. dried chili flakes (I used a small handful of my pickled chili peppers for the endorphin rush of the sezchuan peppercorns)
5 carrots, cut in thin sticks (the thinner they are the faster they'll cook)
2 cups arugula
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves (I used frozen)
handful of fresh coriander leaves (again, frozen)
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 thumb-sized piece galangal or ginger, sliced into matchstick-like pieces
2 tsp oil

1. Cook the rice first. Leave it covered on the stove while you make the sauce.
   
2. Combine the stock, hoisin, and sesame oil sauce for the rice in a pot and heat it until it almost boils. Turn off the heat and leave the sauce on the warm burner until the rice is done. When it is, pour the sauce over the rice. This step is actually meant for glass vermicelli noodles or rice noodles because the noodles will keep absorbing the sauce, but I kind of like how it mushes up the rice and sweetens it. Then the stir-fry sauce on the squid itself doesn't have to do as much work. I'm a big believer in fair distribution of labour.
   
3. In the meantime, while the rice cooks, thaw your squid (if it's frozen) by dunking it in a bowl of warm water. If it's fresh, skip the dunking and get on with the scoring. All these sports terms...I don't even watch basketball. You don't dunk anything in World Junior Hockey, or more recently, the Montreal Canadians games.
   
4. Place the squid on a cutting board. Slide your knife along one side of the squid to open each tube. Lay the pieces of squid flat (leave the tentacles alone. They'll be fine without your knife assistance).
5. Score the squid tubes with diagonal slices. Score first one way, then the other to create diamond-shaped cuts, kind of like grill marks. Apparently you only want to cut through half the thickness. If your scores are too superficial, they won't be apparent when cooked. The cuts will "open up" while cooking and give the squid extra visual interest and texture. All this means is that you don't really need to do this step but it'll look cooler if you do.
   
6. Definitely do this step: Slice the squid into smaller, bite-size pieces (squares or triangles) and reserve. See, now that I don't understand because you just went to all the trouble of scoring and now you're cutting everything up, probably through your carefully scored lines. Any ideas on what's going on, stir-fried squid experts out there?
   
7. Combine the stir-fry sauce of hoisin, brown sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce and chili sauce (or chilies) in a small bowl.
   
8. Place a little bit of oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, ginger, and carrots (or other vegetables of your choice) and stir-fry 3-5 minutes, or until vegetables are soft. Add a little water to the pan when it becomes too dry instead of more oil. If the carrot is chopped in big pieces it will take a bit longer to soften. If you like it tender-crisp, feel free to err on the side of crisp. It gives great crunch to the resulting meal.
   
9. Now add the squid, arugula, and the stir-fry sauce. Also add the cilantro and basil if they're frozen. If they're fresh add them as a garnish only at the very end when you serve. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes, or until the squid curls up and the meat is tender. My squid didn't really "curl" but it cooked for 2 minutes, which was plenty. I hate, hate, hate rubbery squid, and when you think of how gross squid can be it's probably because you've always had it over-cooked. When it's not over-cooked it's tender and delicious. Ask a Greek. Or a Thai. So, do NOT over-cook, or the squid will become rubbery (3 minutes maximum).
10. Do a taste test for salt, adding 1-2 more Tbsp fish sauce if it's not salty enough. If it's too sour, add a little more brown sugar. If it's not hot enough, add a little more chili. If it's too sweet, add some lime juice. This isn't in the recipe (the lime) but it's the standard way to make Thai dishes more sour. Well, lime or tamarind, but only if tamarind is already called for in the recipe. You can also serve a piece of lime on the side of the plate as garnish and everyone can adjust their own level of sourness by squeezing it over top.
    
11. To serve, scoop the sauced rice onto a serving platter (or individual plates) and top with the stir-fried squid and vegetables. Add sprinklings of fresh basil and coriander, and enjoy!