Hot and Spicy Squid Salad

Prepare the ingredients. Finely chop cloves, cut garlic chives into 2.5 cm lengths, trim and cut in half spring onions, quarter banana shallots, slice cherry tomatoes, pick mint leaves, peel the ginger, grate the palm sugar, cut the lime into wedges, deseed and finely chop bird's eyes chilies.

Put all the dressing ingredients in a pestle and mortar. Pound to incorporate all the flavors. Set aside.

Cut off the squid tentacles, pull the innards out of their body. Remove the quill, plasticky part, then discard the innards and quill.
Pull the purplish membrane off the body and chuck it away.

Rinse the tentacles and pull out the little hard beak from the center, cut the tentacles into halves.
Slit the body cones along one side and open them out. Rinse them well to remove any remaining innards.

Score the inside in a criss-cross pattern with the tip of a knife, working diagonally across the flesh without cutting all the way through. Cut each cone in half and pat all the squid dry with paper towel.

Cut the cucumber in half length. Use a spoon to scrap the seeds out of the center and chuck them away.
Cut the cucumber into 5 mm slices.

Put the slices in a large bowl with the garlic, chives, spring onions, shallots and tomatoes, then add the mint leaves and basil. Put aside.

Heat vegetable oil and sesame oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
Add the ginger and fry until it turns to golden brown. Add the squid and tentacles and cook for another 1 1/2 minutes, until the squid has curled up and cooked.

Add the dressing to the hot squid and toss well then transfer to the bowl together with the salad.
Mix thoroughly and serve straight away with lime wedges.