start with fresh calamari, it can be found at any decent fish market. there's nothing wrong with the tentacles, but most prefer the rings as they fry up more evenly without clumping together. get the whole bodies, cut them yourself about 1/4 inch thick or so. perfection is not a must, i'd rather see some minor imperfections and know that my food didn't come from a fucking robot. avoid the frozen stuff, but alot of places will have fresh frozen, which is fine. if you get the frozen shit that's already cut up, well then you are probably the same type of person who buys pre-cut vegetables and there is no hope for you at this point! instead of the calamari, stick your head in the oil and rid the world of your terrible culinary practices!
soak in whole milk for at least a few hours, overnight is fine. this does 2 things: first, it will help remove some of the more offensive fishy smells and odors if you copped out and bought a cheap product. secondly, when you add it to the flour, it binds with the flour and creates a nice light breading. as far as the flour, it must be well seasoned! salt and pepper is fine, but i also add old bay and garlic powder. either way, taste it! nothing is more of a waste of time than under seasoning things. how many of us have seen people season their pasta water with such a small sprinkling of salt that we just wanted to dump it out and make them start again? do it right or don't do it at all!
fry it hot and fast, say around 375 in canola/veg/peanut oil. don't add too much at one time, it will not only clump together but will lower the oil temperature allowing the food to absorb more oil. this is known as bad frying! it cooks quick, only a couple of minutes. a tip when frying: the food is always going to appear a shade or 2 darker a few minutes after you pull it out of the oil then when it first comes out, so keep that in mind so you don't look like a fool serving dark brown squid!
serve with a nice spicy marinara and lemon wedges. another thing i enjoy is to toss it with some fresh squeezed lemon and a bit of chopped flatleaf parsley as soon as it comes out of the oil and it drained, which should always be done on a brown paper bag, not paper towels dammit!
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