Sri Lankan hot butter cuttlefish features crispy, deep fried cuttlefish (or squid) tossed in a spicy, buttery garlic sauce! This legendary Sri Lankan seafood preparation is an absolute firecracker of a dish.
It’s meant to be paired with an ice cold beverage as a snack, or as a side dish with steamed rice or fried rice.
- Why this recipe works
- What is Sri Lankan hot butter cuttlefish?
- Ingredients you’ll need
- How to make hot butter cuttlefish (spicy garlic squid)
- My best recipe tips
- Storage
- What to serve with this spicy garlic squid
- Recipe FAQs
- More seafood recipes you’ll love
Hot butter cuttlefish is one of the most quintessential Sri Lankan recipes that everyone loves! A party-favorite, crowd-favorite, anytime-favorite spicy snack that goes especially well in social settings with a bottle of Sri Lankan arrack!
Even if you’ve only been to Sri Lanka on a short visit, chances are you’ve come across hot butter cuttlefish (hot butter squid). It’s that legendary around those parts.
Deep fried squid, tossed in a spicy, buttery garlic sauce , this dish is PACKED with incredible flavor. You can serve it with rice, or on its own as a side dish with an ice cold beer.
Why this recipe works
- I’ve been making this recipe for over 20 years, it’s a tried and true family favorite.
- Packed with buttery, garlic flavor, while also being spicy. Best of all, the cuttlefish is still crispy, even when coated with all this flavor and the sauce.
- I share tips on how to get the best flavor, even if you don’t have access to some of the ingredients.
- I show you different methods of making the batter, so it’s adaptable.
- Did I mention how flavorful this spicy squid dish is??
What is Sri Lankan hot butter cuttlefish?
Sri Lankan cuisine is deeply influenced by geographical neighbors, especially India. However, there are a few dishes that are very uniquely Sri Lankan.
One is kottu roti . Another is hot butter cuttlefish (spicy garlic squid).
Just like Hakka cuisine in India, Sri Lankan cuisine has dishes that have been influenced by East Asian food.
Dishes like this devilled beef (spicy dry beef curry) , or even devilled chicken are a result of Sri Lankan and Chinese fusion cuisine. Same is true of this hot butter cuttlefish.
The addition of butter, along with “chili paste” which is a version of chili crisp in Sri Lanka, gives this dish its characteristic spicy, buttery flavor!
It’s a delightfully zingy flavor pairing, and is often enjoyed in the island as a spicy “bite” or “short eat” (i.e. snack) with a cold beverage.
Squid and calamari are the same. Calamari is the Italian word for squid, and is used as a culinary term for squid.
Squid and cuttlefish are two separate species. They are both cephalopod molluscs, (along with octopus).
They can look similar, as they have “tube” shaped bodies with tentacles, and also ink sacs.
It’s the tube that is edible and used as the “meat”, because neither contains exoskeletons on the outside.
However, cuttlefish have a rounder, flatter body, and the “meat” is thicker. Cuttlefish also have a hard “cuttle bone” structure inside the mantle. Cuttlefish also have a “fin” that goes around their body.
Squid on the other hand, have a longer and narrower tube-like body. Squid contain a flexible structure inside the mantle made from chitin called a squid pen or gladius. This is much lighter than the cuttlebone.
They also have only 2 fins that are usually only on the sides of the lower part of the tube.
There are SO MANY different types of squid all over the world as well. Larger squid have tougher, thicker “meat”. while baby squid have more delicate, softer “meat”.
For purposes of this recipe, you can use squid / calamari interchangeably with cuttlefish. I’ve made this recipe many times in the past with squid / calamari and cuttlefish.
Likely origins for Sri Lankan hot butter cuttlefish
The closest alternative to hot butter cuttlefish is salt and pepper squid from East Asia.
But instead of the deep fried squid being tossed in salt and pepper, this is tossed in a spicy garlic butter-like sauce. Delish!
Ingredients you’ll need
For the squid / cuttlefish
- Squid or cuttlefish
- Cornstarch
- Flour
- Egg
- Salt and pepper
For the sauce
- Butter and oil
- Garlic
- Chili paste / chili crisp
- Tomato ketchup
- Dried red chili
- Banana peppers
- Green onions / spring onions
- Oyster sauce (if you’re not using Sri lankan chili paste)
- Sugar
Ingredient notes and substitutions
Squid / cuttlefish
You can use cuttlefish or squid for this recipe. When choosing squid or cuttlefish, it’s best to use tubes that are not too thick.
The thicker the tubes, the more cooking it requires to be soft, and isn’t the best option for deep frying.
Butter
In Sri Lanka, butter tends to be quite expensive. So, most households use margarine instead.
A little bit of oil is added with the butter or margarine to prevent the butter from burning at high heat.
Chili paste
Sri Lankan chili paste is equivalent to chili oil in Chinese cuisine. In Sri Lanka, we also add shrimp to the chili oil for an umami kick, along with other ingredients such as oyster sauce.
But for this recipe, you can use a store-bought or homemade chili oil, such as Lao Gan Ma.
Banana peppers
Banana peppers are very popular in Sri Lanka, and is a fairly mild pepper. This year, I started growing my own banana pepper because store-bought can be pricey!
However, when I haven’t had access to banana peppers in the past, I’ve used jalapeno peppers or hungarian wax peppers as well.
To reduce the heat, I remove the seeds before adding them to the dish.
How to make hot butter cuttlefish (spicy garlic squid)
Step 1 – Prepare the cuttlefish (or squid) tubes
You can purchase squid tubes that have already been cleaned, making it easier to prepare the squid. Take the cleaned squid tube and then cut it lengthwise to open it up.
Place the squid tube on the cutting board, inside facing up (image 1) . Sometimes, squid tubes contain a very thin, slippery lining. Using the blunt side of a knife, gently scrape off this membrane.
Then, using a sharp knife, partially slice the cuttlefish in diagonal lines (image 2) . Make sure each cut only partially cuts through the cuttlefish. Then repeat this process at a diagonal in the opposite direction (image 3) , so that the squid tube has diamond shaped cuts on the surface (image 4) .
For smaller squid tubes, the cuts should be closer together, but for larger tubes, the cuts can be a little further apart. Then cut the tubes into 2 inch thick strips horizontally (image 5) .
Then add salt and pepper and mix with the squid, and set aside (images 6 – 7) .
Why make these shallow diagonal cuts?
These shallow cuts increase the surface area of the squid / cuttlefish. In turn, this will,
- Allow the seasoning / marinade to go into the crevices, enhancing the overall flavor.
- Create a more “rough surface” for the batter to cling to.
- Allow the squid to cook quicker, which will keep the squid more tender as well.
- Squid / cuttlefish naturally shrinks as it cooks. The shallow cuts allow the meat to shrink and curl up easily, without making the meat thicker and tougher.
Step 2 – Prepare the other ingredients
It’s very important to have all the ingredients prepared in separate bowls for this recipe (image 8) . That’s because the stir fry portion of this recipe moves very fast and you don’t have time to look for ingredients and cut them in between.
This is also called mise-en-place, a French term that translates to “putting in place”.
Slice the banana peppers and green onions.
Finely chop the garlic. Chop the onions and red chili (if using). Prepare the chili crisp / chili paste and ketchup and other ingredients.
Step 3 – Fry the cuttlefish / squid
You can either do a wet batter or a dry mix to coat the cuttlefish pieces. Here, I’m using a dry mix.
Add the egg to the marinating cuttlefish and mix to combine (image 9) .
In a separate bowl, mix together the cornstarch and flour to make the dry coating and set it aside (image 10) .
In a large pot, heat up vegetable oil to deep fry the cuttlefish. When the temperature of the oil hits 350 F / 180 C, the cuttlefish is ready to be fried.
Take a few pieces of the cuttlefish and place them in the dry coating. Toss to coat the cuttlefish individually, and then transfer the coated pieces into the hot oil (images 11 – 12) .
Gently stir to ensure that the cuttlefish pieces are not sticking to each other and make sure to fry in smaller batches without overcrowding the pot (image 13) .
Fry until the batter turns a golden brown, about 1 – 2 minutes. For thicker pieces, it can take up to 3 minutes.
Make sure not to fry the pieces for too long so that they remain soft and tender inside, while being crisp and crunchy on the outside.
Remove the cooked cuttlefish using a slotted spoon, and place on paper towels to drain the excess oil (image 14) .
Step 4 – Make the hot butter cuttlefish
This step involves stir frying. This means, fast cooking on a higher heat. Avoid using non-stick pans, as they’re not meant to be heated on high heat.
A large stainless steel or carbon steel skillet will work. Make sure the pan is dry (no water). I’m using a wok here, but have made this on skillets as well.
We already have all the ingredients prepared and ready to go (step 2 above).
Heat the pan on high heat and add the butter and oil (image 15) . When the butter is starting to melt, add the garlic and onion (image 16) . Sauté for a few seconds and don’t let the garlic burn.
Add the chili crisp, dried chili, oyster sauce (if using), tomato ketchup, and sugar, and stir fry for about 1 minute (image 17) . If the mixture is too dry, add a little water.
Add the banana pepper (image 18) , and stir fry for another 1 – 2 minutes (depending on the heat), until it just starts to soften (image 19) .
If you want it to retain some crunch, then only stir fry for about 1 minute to coat with the spices. Again, you can add a little water if the mixture is dry. There should be about 3 – 4 tbsp of liquid in the mixture.
Now add the fried cuttlefish to the mixture (image 20) and toss to completely coat in the sauce (image 21) . The fried cuttlefish should be visibly coated in the spices and butter sauce, but not be soggy.
Remove from the heat and taste. Add a sprinkle of salt or soy sauce if you need to season the cuttlefish.
Finally mix in the green onions (image 22) and transfer the cuttlefish into a dish (image 23) .
Step 5 – Serve
Serve this dish while it’s still hot. We like to enjoy this with steamed rice or fried rice. But you can also enjoy this as is with a cold cocktail or beer! These are perfect as game night snacks too.
My best recipe tips
- To cut down on time, use pre-cleaned cuttlefish (or squid) tubes .
- Make shallow cuts in your squid / cuttlefish tubes, as this helps with keeping the cuttlefish tender as it cooks.
- When deep frying the cuttlefish, make sure not to overcrowd the pan . Otherwise, it’ll lead to greasy and soggy fried cuttlefish.
- Don’t let the cuttlefish or squid fry for too long , as this will make the meat rubbery and tough. The frying time will depend on how thick the cuttlefish / squid pieces are.
- Smaller / thinner pieces fry faster than thicker pieces.
- Make sure to gather and prepare all the ingredients before making the stir fry . This will make the process much easier and less stressful.
- Add the butter as you preheat the pan to prevent the butter from burning on high heat.
- If you cannot find banana pepper, you can use jalapeno instead, but remove the seeds to make it less spicy (if you like).
Storage
Hot butter cuttlefish is a dish that must be eaten the same day you make it. Ideally, within an hour.
The deep fried squid / cuttlefish will remain crispy even when coated with the spicy garlic butter sauce at the start.
However it’ll become soggy over time. To get the crisp texture along with the spicy garlic squid flavor, it’s best eaten while fresh.
We do on occasion store leftovers and reheat it in an air fryer. While it is certainly possible, leftovers jut don’t taste the same.
What to serve with this spicy garlic squid
Steamed jasmine rice is a great accompaniment, along with a simple vegetable stir fry.
However, you can also make your rice special by cooking it with chicken stock, OR making it into fried rice.
How spicy is this dish?
It’s fairly spicy. But it also depends on the ingredients you use. My family loves to make this dish with a lot of chili, as we prefer it super spicy. However, if you use a chili crisp that’s not too spicy, and remove the seeds from the dried chili and jalapenos – this dish will be milder. You can also leave out the dried red chili, if you prefer. As this dish is typically paired with a cold beverage, it’s meant to be spicy.
Why did my cuttlefish turn soggy? How can I make it crispy?
The fried cuttlefish or squid can become soggy for a couple of different reasons. 1. They were fried at too low of a heat. This can happen even if you overcrowd the pan. 2. There was too much liquid in the sauce before adding the fried cuttlefish. The crisp batter absorbed too much sauce, making it soggy.
Can I make a vegetarian version with mushrooms instead?
Yes! You absolutely can. I recommend using oyster mushrooms, as they have the best texture and flavor to make this dish. King oyster mushrooms are the best, but regular oyster mushroom is fine too. Instead of regular oyster sauce, you can use a vegetarian oyster sauce to keep it vegetarian.
More seafood recipes you’ll love
- Fish curry
- Shrimp curry
- Crab curry
- How to cook lobster
- Lobster rolls
- Butter lobster risotto
- Ahi tuna poke bowl
- Smoked salmon dip
Recipe
Hot Butter Cuttlefish (Spicy Garlic Squid)
Ingredients
For the cuttlefish / squid
- 500 g cleaned cuttlefish or squid tubes, about 1 lb (see recipe notes)
- 1 egg
- ½ cup cornstarch
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- Vegetable oil for deep frying
For the stir-fry
- 6 - 8 cloves garlic finely minced
- ½ large onion large dice
- 2 ½ tbsp Sri Lankan chili paste or any chili crisp / oil (do not use the oil - just the chili crisp)
- 4 dried red chili
- 1 ½ tbsp oyster sauce optional but recommended if you’re not using Sri Lankan chili paste
- 2 ½ tbsp tomato ketchup or alternative
- 2 cups sliced banana peppers or hungarian peppers (seeds removed) or about 1 cup sliced jalapenos (seeds removed)
- 45 g butter or margarine (about 3 tbsp)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- ½ - 1 tsp sugar add ½ tsp first, and only add more if needed
- 3 - 4 green onions / spring onions sliced
- Salt or soy sauce to taste
- Water as needed
Instructions
For the cuttlefish / squid
- Cut each cuttlefish or squid tube lengthwise to open up the tube. Clean the tubes under running water. 500 g cleaned cuttlefish
- Place each piece on your cutting board with the inside facing up. If there’s a film (membrane) on the inside of the cuttlefish / squid tube, use the blunt side of your knife to gently scrape it off.
- Next, make diagonal shallow cuts on the whole surface of the squid along parallel lines. Repeat the process in the opposite direction to create a diamond patterns on the surface of the squid / cuttlefish. Make sure the cuts are shallow and not all the way through the tube (I explain the purpose of these cuts in the post).
- Cut the squid into 2 inch wide bands and place them in a bowl or on a plate.
- Mix in salt and pepper and let it marinate for a minimum of 15 minutes, or up to 1 hour. ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper
- While the cuttlefish is marinating, prepare the rest of the ingredients and place them in separate bowls.
- Mix the cornstarch and flour together to form the dry coating for the cuttlefish. ½ cup cornstarch, ½ cup all purpose flour
- Crack an egg into the marinating cuttlefish and mix to combine. 1 egg
- Heat a pot with vegetable oil for deep frying. When the oil reaches 350°F / 180°C, the cuttlefish / squid can be dredged and fried. Vegetable oil for deep frying
- Take a small handful of the marinated, egg coated cuttlefish and place it in the dry mixture. Toss to coat all the pieces well.
- Transfer the coated pieces of cuttlefish into the heated oil and fry until the cuttlefish is cooked through and is golden and crispy. This can take about 1 minute for baby squid, and up to 2 minutes for thicker pieces of squid / cuttlefish.
- Remove the fried pieces from the oil and place them on paper towels to drain excess oil.
- Once all the cuttlefish / squid is fried, you can make the hot butter cuttlefish.
Hot butter cuttlefish
- While the cuttlefish is marinating, prepare all the ingredients (mise en place).
- Finely mince the garlic (or slice it if you prefer), dice the onion, chop the dried chili, slice the banana peppers and the green onions. Measure out the butter, oil, chili paste (or alternative), sugar, ketchup and oyster sauce. Keep salt or soy sauce close by, along with some water. 6 - 8 cloves garlic, ½ large onion, 2 ½ tbsp Sri Lankan chili paste, 1 ½ tbsp oyster sauce, 2 ½ tbsp tomato ketchup, 2 cups sliced banana peppers, 45 g butter, 1 tbsp vegetable oil, ½ - 1 tsp sugar, 3 - 4 green onions / spring onions
- Place a large skillet or wok on the stove. Wipe to make sure there’s no water, and heat the pan over medium high - high heat. If at any point the pan is too hot, you can remove it from the heat, or add a little water to lower the heat. Just ensure there isn’t a lot of liquid in the pan at the end.
- While the pan is heating, add the butter and oil. When the butter is almost melted, add the onion and stir fry for about 1 minute, or until the pan heats up well. Then add the garlic. Stir fry quickly for about 30 - 60 seconds, but do not let the garlic or onion burn. 6 - 8 cloves garlic, ½ large onion, 45 g butter, 1 tbsp vegetable oil, 4 dried red chili
- Then add the chili paste, dried chili, tomato ketchup, sugar, and oyster sauce, and stir fry to mix thoroughly for about 1 minute. Add 1 - 2 tbsp of water if the mixture is getting too dry. 2 ½ tbsp Sri Lankan chili paste, 4 dried red chili, 1 ½ tbsp oyster sauce, 2 ½ tbsp tomato ketchup, ½ - 1 tsp sugar, Water
- Add the sliced banana peppers and stir fry for about 1 - 2 minutes. If the mixture is too dry, add about 2 tbsp of water to create a little bit of sauce with the chili and garlic. 2 cups sliced banana peppers, Water
- When the banana pepper is starting to soften, add the fried cuttlefish and immediately toss to coat in the sauce well.
- When the cuttlefish is heated through, and coated in the chili garlic butter sauce, remove the pan from the heat. Taste and mix in some salt or soy sauce if needed. Salt
- Add the sliced green onion while the mixture is hot and toss to combine. Transfer the cuttlefish / squid into a serving dish, and serve immediately with rice and vegetables. Enjoy! 3 - 4 green onions / spring onions
Notes
- You can use cuttlefish or squid / calamari for this recipe.
- While you could pre-cut calamari rings, this recipe will work better with tubes that you can prepare yourself. The shallow cuts help the dry mix adhere to the calamari / cuttlefish well.
- Sri Lankan chili paste is like Chinese chili oil / chili crisp, but contains dried shrimp paste for extra umami flavor. You can use the chili flake in chili oil or chili crisp (do not use the oil).
- This is meant to be a fairly spicy dish, but you can adjust the spice level by doing the following. Reduce the amount of chili paste used (do not remove entirely). Remove the dried red chili in the recipe. Use sweet bell peppers, if you cannot find banana peppers, OR use hungarian wax peppers / jalapeno peppers, but remove the seeds first to reduce the heat.
Nutrition
Recipe from The Flavor Bender by Dini Kodippili
Hot Butter Cuttlefish (Spicy Garlic Squid) https://www.theflavorbender.com/sri-lankan-hot-butter-cuttlefish-squid/
