Calamari hotdog

This is a simple recipe inspired by Ben Bayly's dining experience at Bodega 1900 - the latest restaurant from elBuliLab chef Ferran Adria. Instead of cooking sliders at your next dinner party, try this calamari hotdog. Read about Ben's amazing dining experience at Adria's restaurant; a man cave that serves up traditional Catalonian tapas and vermouth.

Hot dog buns

2 ¼ tsp	Active dried yeast
¼ cup	Warm water, 32C-43C
1 ¼	Plain flour, plus 2 Tbsp
1 ¼ cups	Bread flour, + 2 Tbsp
3 Tbsp	Granulated white sugar
½ tsp	Salt
⅔ cup	Milk, warm or at room temperature
1 large	Egg, at room temperature
¼ cup	Unsalted butter, softened
2 Tbsp	Melted butter, for brushing dough
1 serving	Sugar, Pearl style, can be found at European food stores, to garnish

Garlic aioli

1	Egg
1 Tbsp	Lemon juice
1 Tbsp	Garlic, crushed or minced
½ tsp	Dijon mustard
¾ cup	Olive oil, or a mix of olive oil, canola oil or vegetable oil

Calamari filling

800 g	Squid, fresh or thawed (Main)
2 Ltr	Sunflower oil
185 g	Plain flour
1 pinch	Cayenne pepper
1 pinch	Flaky Marlborough sea salt
1	Lemon, cut into wedges
8	Hot dog bun (Main)
1 serving	Chives, to garnish
1 serving	Aioli

Directions

Hot dog buns

1. Dissolve yeast in¼cup warm water. Add a pinch of sugar and stir to combine. Let sit for 5-10 minutes until mixture is cloudy, foamy, and has increased in volume.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a hook attachment, mix together all-purpose flour, bread flour, sugar, and salt. Add yeast mixture, warm milk and egg. Knead to combine.
3. Slowly add softened butter, one tablespoon at a time. Mix until incorporated. Continue to knead in machine or transfer to clean working surface and knead by hand until dough is smooth, soft and elastic.
4. Roll dough into a ball and place in a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let dough proof for 45-60 minutes until dough has doubled in volume.
5. Preheat oven to 200C.
6. Remove dough from bowl and deflate using the heel of your hand. Transfer to a clean working surface. Divide dough into 8 equal portions, roughly 50g each. Or divide dough to your desired size.
7. Roll dough into tight balls, then roll each into a sausage shape and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes until dough has puffed up.
8. Score tops of dough using a sharp paring knife. Lightly brush dough with melted butter and sprinkle with pearl sugar. Bake for 12-15 minutes until dough is golden in colour.

Garlic aioli

1. Whirl the egg, lemon juice, garlic and mustard in a blender to combine.
2. With blender running on a low speed, drip the oil in slowly, allowing each addition to incorporate into the egg mixture before adding more. As more oil is incorporated, you can add the oil more quickly.
3. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately or cover and chill for up to two days.

Calamari filling

This requires a thin coating of flour mixture then quick-frying in the correct proper temperature of oil. There are only a few necessary cleaning steps to remove the tough, inedible bits of squid. Or buy them already cleaned and frozen from the supermarket.

1. Holding squid tube, pull off head and tentacles; set aside. Rinse squid tubes under cold water, rubbing off purplish skin. Pull out the internal cartilage.
2. On cutting board, pull off and discard fins from tubes. Cut off and discard eyes and head from tentacles, keeping tentacles attached on ring on top; squeeze hard beak from centre of tentacles and discard. Cut tubes crosswise into 1 cm wide rings; pat dry.
3. In wok or deep heavy-bottomed pot, heat oil to 180C.
4. Meanwhile, in large plastic bag, shake together flour, flour and cayenne pepper. All at once, add squid tentacles and rings to flour mixture; shake to coat. Transfer to sieve; lightly shake off excess flour mixture.
5. Fry in batches, until golden, 1- 1½minutes.
6. Using slotted spoon, transfer to paper towel-lined plate. Sprinkle with salt and add a squeeze of lemon juice.
7. Slice the top of warm hotdog buns open and stuff with the squid rings, spoon aioli on top and finish with chopped chives and more lemon juice. This is a very naughty treat - only for special occasions.

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Ben Bayly, head chef of The Grove and Baduzzi, travelled to Barcelona with Estrella Damm - a major backer of Ferran Adria's BulliPedia.Read more of Ben's experience here,which includes a video of Ferran explaining the concept of BuillPedia.