Scallion-Blasted Squid Wrap

Method

1. Put a pan of water on to boil. It is wanted for a twenty-second dip and nothing else, so a couple of inches is plenty and it will be ready well before you are.
2. Slit the squid tubes open and lay them flat with the inner face upward. Score them in a close diamond lattice, blade held at a slant and cutting halfway down and no further, then cut the sheets into stamp-sized pieces. Now the rest of the board: spring onion into finger lengths with the thicker whites split and the greens set aside for the finish, ginger into matchsticks, garlic chopped, bean sprouts rinsed and shaken properly dry. Last, stir the white pepper into the black vinegar and the soy in a saucer and stand that within arm's reach of the hob, because it goes into the wok in one movement and there is no second chance to reach for it.
3. Slide the scored squid into the boiling water for twenty seconds and not a moment longer — every piece rolls itself up into a tight little pinecone — then drain it and shake it as dry as it will go.
4. While the squid is in the wok, lay the low-carb tortilla flat on a dry pan for two minutes, turning it at the halfway mark, so it is bendable by the time there is anything to put in it.
5. Take the wok and the neutral oil to the point where the first wisp of smoke lifts off the surface. Two teaspoons is all a blanched-and-dried squid asks for, and a puddle would only cool the metal down. Drop in the ginger, the garlic and the split spring onion whites and count to ten while they crackle.
6. Squid and bean sprouts in together, two hard tosses, then send the saucer down the inside wall of the wok so it flashes to steam before it lands. Off the heat the instant the sprouts go glassy at their tips.
7. Lay it in a line across the warm tortilla with the reserved spring onion greens and the coriander, roll it, and press the seam shut under your palm.
8. Eat it now. Squid kept warm turns from tender to rubber inside a few minutes and there is no bringing it back.