20. 生蚝 (shēng háo), 牡蛎 (mǔ lì), 海蛎 (hǎi lì), 蚵仔 (é zi)
Thousands of 生蚝 (shēng háo) oysters are eaten every day across Guangxi. Every day two women sit in the main seafood market shucking the molluscs. Yes, they deliver to the restaurants pre-shucked losing all the internal juices. The other names listed above are alternatives in different parts of China. The last is only used in Taiwan.
Oyster Shuckers - Liuzhou
Very few, if any, of those oysters are sold as I like to eat them. The general Chinese reluctance to eat anything raw goes into overdrive at the mention of oysters. Restaurants refuse to sell me raw oysters, fearing lawsuits when I surely drop dead after the first one. That is when they finally realise I’m being serious. They think I’m joking when I ask for them raw with a lemon. Only once, have I managed to persuade a roadside stall holder to serve me a plate and he watched very nervously, then was amazed to see me still alive the next evening, when he refused to repeat the experience.
Grilled Oyster Vendor in Laibin, Guangxi. His oysters are farmed in 湛江 (zhàn jiāng) in neighbouring Guangdong.
So, I have to eat them at home. No hardship. I can buy them easily enough to take home. I get both wild ‘caught’ and farmed and can also save money by buying them in bulk boxes. They keep well wrapped in a damp towel in the fridge.
The locals like to bury them in finely chopped garlic and grill them or, in restaurants, often cover them in fake fake cheese and grill that. By “fake fake” cheese I mean they use local copies of Kraft slices which, in my book, isn’t cheese in the first place. I’m surprised you call it American cheese; most countries would be ashamed to admit it!
Fake Fake Cheese
Anyway, I wouldn’t put good cheese on oysters either. I am a firm believer in the cheese and seafood don’t mix rule! But then, I am also the kind of person who thinks that the same cheese on a burger ruins the burger. I’m a cheese lover.
Sacrilege
I treat them with respect, shucking them myself immediately before eating, always careful to keep the internal juices, then hold them momentarily on ice until they are all ready.
Unshucked
Shucked and on Ice
I then eat them with a little lemon or lime juice or with nothing depending on my mood. I did manage to persuade one young friend to try one. She didn't die, found the experience pleasant enough, but is still reluctant to repeat the experience. Pity.
I have been eating these oysters here, every week in season, for over 20 years and never got sick once. (He writes from hospital, although my current condition is non-oyster related. They aren't on the hospital menu app, that I have noticed. In fact it's an exclusion zone for seafood of any kind. 😭 )
