“MY STEPFATHER is from Puerto Rico and I vividly remember the excitement of my first visit,” stated Renee Touponce. “We’d consume pinchos or skewers directly from the grill. They were delicious bites.”
This recipe for grilling squid and crispy potato tostones, Touponce’s 3rd Slow Food Fast contribution, honors those early tastes. A sweet barbecue sauce with a hint of chili and pineapple provides tender, fast-cooking squid to have a tropical flavor. Meanwhile, soft, cooked baby potatoes are lightly mashed and then pan-fried before sprinkling with freshly squeezed lime zest and spicy garlic. If eaten in conjunction, this simple combination evokes the spiciness that Touponce could taste as a child and proudly continues to enjoy in her kitchens of today.
Barbecue-Glazed Grilled Squid With Crispy Smashed Potatoes
Apply a grilling glaze of chile, pineapple, garlic, and more for succulent squid and a vibrant tropical bite.
Ingredients
- Salt Kosher
- 1 1/2 pounds of baby potatoes
- Two tablespoons of olive oil plus an extra tablespoon for frying
- One white onion, chopped
- 3/4 cup of diced pineapple
- 1/2 cup cilantro, plus extra for garnish
- 1/2 jalapeno stemmed, seeded, and chopped
- Eight large cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup of ketchup
- Two tablespoons of water
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
- One tablespoon of soy sauce
- One guajillo chile, toasted (optional)
- Two limes, juiced and zested
- 2 pounds of squid clean and dried
- Lemon wedges
Directions
- Make a medium kettle of water that is salted up to the point of boiling. Add potatoes. Boil until tender, 18 -20 minutes, depending on size. Drain. When cool enough to handle, gently press each potato until the skins split but the potato remains intact.
- Set a small pan at medium-high heat. Add two tablespoons of olive oil. Add onions, and sauté until tender, approximately 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of pineapple, jalapeno, cilantro, and less than half of the garlic. Cook until garlic softens but does not change color, around 3 minutes. Mix in vinegar, ketchup and water, brown sugar, soy sauce, and chile if you are using. Let it simmer until the chile softens, approximately 10 minutes. Blend till smooth. Sprinkle with salt and put aside.
- Fill the large saute pan with 1 1/2 inches of oil at medium-high temperature as you cook. When the oil is hot, you can add potatoes, being careful not to crowd. Fry in batches until the potatoes are golden on the other side, around 2-3 minutes. Turn and fry for 2 minutes longer, drain off the oil, and mix potatoes with the remaining garlic, salt, a pinch, lime juice, and zest.
- Grill to high heat or place a cast iron pan at a high temperature. Squids should be dry on both sides and threaded onto skewers of 8-12. Sprinkle with salt. Reduce the heat to medium. Grill, smear with the reserved sauce for chile, 2 to 3 mins per side. To finish, grill for one minute on both sides at high temperatures. (The flesh must be soft but not gummy.) Serve the squid hot with potatoes alongside. Sprinkle with lemon wedges, cilantro, and lemon wedges.
