This amazing recipe for vegan calamari is a revelation of the ways that great veggies can be used as substitutes for animal products. We will always adore mushrooms!
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Indeed, this amazing recipe, that I promise, will taste and feel exactly like the original, is made starting from his majesty (pun-intended) King Oyster Mushrooms.
We already seen how versatile and amazing vegan fish substitute these mushrooms are in this Seafood Pasta recipe, where we used them as mock scallops.
Well today we are going to learn how to replicate another fish favourite: calamari (aka squids) in a completely cruelty-free way and starting with, of course, these humble mushrooms.
We are going to use the air fryer as cooking method, so we won't be getting too many calories as well as oil splashes all over the kitchen due to deep frying - not to mention how not really environmentally friendly this cooking method is, and also we are going to use gluten free pantry staples to make them beautifully crunchy (of course feel free to deep fry them or use non gluten free ingredients, if you prefer),
Let's see how to make them now, shall we?
How To Make Vegan Calamari
First of all, make sure that you clean your mushrooms. There’s some contention about whether or not you should wash your mushrooms with water - we’d recommend simply wiping any dirt off them with a damp cloth or some kitchen paper. The reason that we would tell you to never wash mushrooms with water is that they absorb a lot of fluid during the washing process, which affects flavour and texture in the final recipe.
Once clean, slice the mushroom stalks into five to six millimetre thick discs. You can use the tops for other recipes, such as mushroom tagliatelle pasta or minestrone. Most mushrooms make an amazing risotto - so give that a go!
Now, grab a bunch of piping bag nozzles or round cookie cutters to cut holes into the centre of each mushroom round. You can make a lot of calamari out of wider rounds, by using increasingly small cutters. Make sure to reserve any mushroom parts that don’t fit in with your rounds - they will be great for other recipes.
Now - prepare three bowls. Put the flour into one, the plant milk into another, and the cornflakes into the final one. With the cornflakes, combine nori powder and sea salt for some extra seafood-style flavour.
Dip every mushroom one by one into the flour, then into the milk, and then into the cornflake mixture. We recommend using the wet-hand-dry-hand method: you toss the mushrooms in the dry ingredients with your left hand and the wet ingredient with your right hand. This cuts down on clean-up greatly and makes the entire process much easier.
Place the vegan calamari on a well-oiled air fryer basket. We’d recommend trying to use a spray bottle to apply the oil - it makes the process a lot easier. Make sure that you don’t overlap any of the mushroom rings - this will result in them not being as crispy as they could be.
Spray your mushroom rings down with a little bit of vegetable oil - you want them to be quite wet. The oil will get hot very quickly, and result in brilliantly crispy mushroom rings.
Cook the rings at 180˚C for around eight minutes - they should be golden brown and crispy on the outside while being succulent and juicy on the inside.
Sprinkle some salt flakes onto the vegan calamari rings while they’re still hot, and then serve them with a lemon wedge and your favourite dipping sauce. We’d recommend getting some vegan mayo, tartar sauce, or cocktail sauce. Sprinkling the salt on top while they’re still hot will let it dissolve better, leading to a really tasty end product!
Vegan Calamari (Squid) Recipe
Ingredients:
300 g King Oyster Mushrooms
150 g Plant Milk (Oat)
50 g Gluten Free Plain Flour
30 g Ground Corn Flakes (make sure they’re SFV)
1 ½ teaspoon Ground Nori (simple nori seaweed blended until powdered)
1 teaspoon Sea Salt
1 tbsp Vegetable Oil (Sunflower)
Lemon Wedges / Dipping Sauce to Serve
Method:
1. Gently remove any dirt from the mushrooms using a slightly damp cloth or kitchen paper. Remember, mushrooms should never be washed with water.
2. Slice the mushrooms stalks into 5-6mm thick discs. Use the top for other recipes like pasta dishes, vegetable mince or to be added into stews/minestrone soups.
3. Grab a bunch of piping bag nozzles or round cookie cutters to cut holes into the centre of each mushroom round. You can make more “calamari” out of wider rounds and use the middle discs too or reserve for other recipes.
4. Prepare three bowls: one with the flour, one with the plant milk and one with the corn flakes combined with the nori powder and sea salt.
5. Dip every mushroom ring first into the flour, then into the corn flakes mixture.
6. Place the vegan “calamari” on well oiled air fryer basket (I use a very handy spray bottle) avoiding to overlap one another.
7. Spray the mushroom rings with vegetable oil until quite wet and cook at 180°C for around 8 minutes.
8. Sprinkle some salt flakes onto the vegan calamari rings and serve hot with lemon wedges and your favourite dipping sauce (I recommend vegan mayo, tartar or cocktail sauce).
For other scrumptious recipes using the air fryer do not miss:
- Vegan Garlic Mushrooms with Air Fryer
- Air Fried Oyster Mushrooms
- Air Fried Vegan Pakora
- Sweet potato Falafels
- Courgette & Smoked Paprika Rolls
- Lebanese Moussaka
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