Cut open the squid body and lay flat on your cutting board. Clean the squid and with a sharp knife make a series of cuts 5mm apart at a 45˚ angle. You want to almost cut through the squid body but leave the outside surface of the squid intact. Rotate the squid body 90˚ and make the same width cuts perpendicular to the first set of cuts. Cut the squid into 5 cm squares.

In a large pot, bring water to a rolling boil. Have an ice bath prepared. Blanch the squid pieces for around 20 seconds. Remove and place into an ice bath until the squid has cooled down. Remove and dry the pieces. The ‘cubes’ on the surface should now be visible and the squid pieces should have curled up. The cuts in the squid not only look pretty, but it also allows the squid pieces to pick up more flavour.

With a wok on very high heat, dry stir-fry the squid pieces until most of the moisture is removed. Remove from heat and discard the liquid left in the wok.

Cut the green peppercorns into 6cm lengths.

Chop and crush the garlic with a cleaver.

Pick your holy basil leaves and have them ready for the wok.

Mix the sugar, oyster sauce and fish sauce together. Add a little hot water to help the sugar melt.

Heat the wok to high, add the vegetable oil and quickly stir fry the garlic and the green peppercorns. When the garlic is lightly coloured, add the squid to the wok and stir fry until the ‘cubes’ start to turn lightly golden.

Finish with the sugar, oyster sauce and fish sauce mix. Reduce, add the basil and serve.