Oysters: The Topic

[Sony]

All oyster recipe welcome, but yes, you know exactly what I'm talkin' about, Jamie Lee! Would love to see your family's recipe....

[Busboy]

One great way to eat them is in a pan roast: cream, butter, chili sauce and Worcestershire, all gently warmed together. Worth picking up the cookbook from the Grand Central Oyster Bar just for that one recipe. Any variation on Oysters Rockefeller generally rocks, too: spinach, pork (bacon or ham) a little cream, amybe some shallots, some Pernod if you're feeling sassy.

Here are a few more suggestions.

[JimH]

Fried oyster po'boy, I don't make it though.

[Hiroyuki]

You may not believe this, but the Japanese usually don't eat oysters raw (some do, of course, if they are fresh enough). Our favoriate way to cook them is to bread and deep-fry them.

Images of deep-fried oysters

[faine]

Oysters Pablo from Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen in St. Helena, California. The combination of mayo, spinach, and chili oil is simply divine. It's like Oysters Rockefeller (another favorite of mine) but even more fabulous. Whenever we visit the restaurant, we usually order two rounds of these suckers - and wish we had more.

I will also confirm you MUST try oyster dressing.

I also love a really, really good fried oyster - big, juicy, not too much breading - eaten plain. It's hard to improve on that.

[Peter Green]

Oysters! I know a place up from Egmont on the Sunshine coast where a saddle appears at low tide and it's nothing but oysters. Tie off the boat, get out the knife, and settle in for some eating by the foot (or third of a metre....that would be Canada).

Oysters (little ones) fried in an omelet Thai style are always a treat.

And you could also do a Thai salad with them, loaded with lime,garlic and chilis (but then they'd still be raw, technically) if they're small enough.

And at The WGF in Bangkok Paul Wilson from The Botanical did a Carpaccio of Hiramasa Kingfish

with Rock and Pacific Oyster, where the oysters are gently warmed through with scallops.

Oh, and don't forget to keep and use the juice. Keller's FLC has a great cauliflower pannacotta with oyster glaze and sevruga caviar recipe that I love (and it works well with broccoli, too).

[Dianabanana]

Oysters (little ones) fried in an omelet Thai style are always a treat. 

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Ooh, how is this done?

[prasantrin]

Oysters (little ones) fried in an omelet Thai style are always a treat. 

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Ooh, how is this done?

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I linked to a video of hoy tod in this topic. I tried making it at home. It was good, but not as good as Thai street food.

I like oysters cooked teppanyaki-style. High heat, butter, and wee bit of soy and lemon juice. Oh so good...

[Dianabanana]

Oysters (little ones) fried in an omelet Thai style are always a treat. 

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Ooh, how is this done?

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I linked to a video of hoy tod in this topic. I tried making it at home. It was good, but not as good as Thai street food.

I like oysters cooked teppanyaki-style. High heat, butter, and wee bit of soy and lemon juice. Oh so good...

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Thanks! I got interested in this whole oysters'n'eggs thing recently when Jaymes (I think) suggested scrambled eggs with smoked oysters. I wasn't too crazy about that because of the strong smoke flavor and the mealy texture of canned oysters, but I did like the oysteriness with eggs. I missed the Fried Oyster Cakes thread, but that's just what I'm after.

[Tri2Cook]

One great way to eat them is in a pan roast: cream, butter, chili sauce and Worcestershire, all gently warmed together.  Worth picking up the cookbook from the Grand Central Oyster Bar just for that one recipe. 

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This one?

[kiliki]

Either lightly grilled (summer) or broiled (winter) with a little garlic butter, then maybe a dash of hot sauce or oyster bbq sauce*, if I have it, when they're done. You can put them on a hot grill or in the oven whole for a few minutes, until they start popping open, to help with the shucking, if you like. We've been doing this almost every sunday since we get the oysters at the sunday farmer's market here.

*I pick up a jar of oyster bbq sauce-kind of like cocktail sauce, but not exactly-when I'm at the Marshall Store on Tomales Bay, in Marin County, Ca (the epicenter of oyster growing in CA) and it might sound like heresy to some but damn that oyster bbq sauce is good.

[feedmec00kies]

Thanks! I got interested in this whole oysters'n'eggs thing recently when Jaymes (I think) suggested scrambled eggs with smoked oysters. I wasn't too crazy about that because of the strong smoke flavor and the mealy texture of canned oysters, but I did like the oysteriness with eggs. I missed the Fried Oyster Cakes thread, but that's just what I'm after.

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I've found that all cans of smoked oysters are not created equally. I've eaten quite a few smoked oysters in my time (my mom would buy them when we were little as one of those little side-type things to eat with rice and add a little flavor/salt) and some are mealier than others. I also like them despite the smoke flavor - I usually don't like that stuff.

That being said, I need to find a brand that's decent so I can make some of those tasty-sounding scrambled eggs!

[Fugu]

Childhood memories always works for me. My grandfather used to get buckets of oysters, before all this red tide and pollution, and he would just pour boiling water over the oysters until they openned up. Served with a vinegar sauce, much like a typical mignonette sauce.

BBQ oysters or baked with provencal type breadcrumbs. Or with spinach and bacon, topped with hollandaise or mornay sauce.

[Domestic Goddess]

Fugu - that's how my family would do it too. My mom would have the maids scrub the oysters clean then heat up a huge pot of water to boil and quickly blanch the oysters in it. It does open up the oysters a little and then the shucked oysters would be dipped in a vinegar with chopped onions dip.

My favorite oyster recipe is the Oyster Po Boy Sandwich. I've tried the oyster omelet and the oyster pajeon (korean scallion pancake with oysters). I still love my Po Boy.

[Busboy]

One great way to eat them is in a pan roast: cream, butter, chili sauce and Worcestershire, all gently warmed together.  Worth picking up the cookbook from the Grand Central Oyster Bar just for that one recipe. 

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This one?

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Funny -- that's pretty different than the recipe in the cookbook - much less oyster-centric. In the book they call for eight oysters instead of six, a quarter cup of oyster liqueur rather than two cups of clam juice, and 1/2 cup of cream rather than 2 cups of half-and-half.

We have a supplier of excellent shucked oysters (also unshucked) so we usually make it with whatever ratio of oysters/liqueur comes in the jar -- on average slightly less than the recipe calls for.

I expect it will work either way, but the preponderance of clam juice and half-and-half in the linked recipe reminds me of a cafeteria stretching it's supply (or of a TV show trying to adapt a recipe for the masses).

[TheSwede]

Marco Pierre White's Tagliatelle of Oysters with Caviar. Lightly poached oysters in the shell on top of a small nest of fresh tagliatelle, dressed with beurre blanch sauce, cucumber julienne and, of course, caviar. Very decadent...

I've done it a couple of times, sans real caviar.

http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/575730

[Dianabanana]

Thanks! I got interested in this whole oysters'n'eggs thing recently when Jaymes (I think) suggested scrambled eggs with smoked oysters. I wasn't too crazy about that because of the strong smoke flavor and the mealy texture of canned oysters, but I did like the oysteriness with eggs. I missed the Fried Oyster Cakes thread, but that's just what I'm after.

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I've found that all cans of smoked oysters are not created equally. I've eaten quite a few smoked oysters in my time (my mom would buy them when we were little as one of those little side-type things to eat with rice and add a little flavor/salt) and some are mealier than others. I also like them despite the smoke flavor - I usually don't like that stuff.

That being said, I need to find a brand that's decent so I can make some of those tasty-sounding scrambled eggs!

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What brand do you like? Or do you mean that they vary from one can to the next? I used Napoleon brand "tiny smoked oysters."

Edit--sorry, I'm blind this morning--missed the part where you say "I need to find a brand that's decent"!

Edited December 5, 2007 by Dianabanana (log)

[kbjesq]

All oyster recipe welcome, but yes, you know exactly what I'm talkin' about, Jamie Lee! Would love to see your family's recipe....

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I'm not Jamie Lee but I do make oyster stuffing every year. Here's how we do it. Take two pints of freshly shucked oysters, then drain one pint (save the liquid). Eat the drained oysters raw, with a bit of cocktail sauce, while you are mixing up the stuffing.

For the stuffing, saute 2 cups of finely diced onions and celery in a few tbs. of butter. S & P to taste.

Crumble a batch of cornbread (stale is better) in a large bowl and mix in the sauteed veg. Add seasonings if you want. I usually throw in a pinch of cayenne and some minced fresh parsley.

Separately, mix the reserved oyster liquid with one raw egg, then add the other pint of oysters and liquid.

Gently fold the oysters and liquid into the cornbread/veg mixture, place into a baking dish, and either bake in the oven (350F for 45 min) or steam for 45 min.

It's best to use large, strongly-flavored oysters for this dish.

[Habeas Brulee]

Oyster chowder! I use Jasper White's recipe, and it's just wonderful.

[MattJohnson]

My family always has oyster stew at Christmas time. Not exactly sure why its called stew, but its basically fry oysters in butter until the edges start to curl, then add milk and cream with the oyster juice. Season with salt, pepper, and Worcestershire/hotsauce and serve.

Always reminds me of Christmas Eve.

[Sunny Simmons Steincamp]

My favorite way to eat oysters is to eat them raw, but there are a lot of other yummy preparations, too... many of which have been covered here.

One fond memory I have is from my childhood, when my father would buy (raw) oysters in huge glass jars, in barbecue sauce. I figure they came from our family friend who was a butcher (although I guess they were unlikely to have come from his shop.) We'd either grill them or fry them (for assembling po boys or just eating as-is.) We always took these on our weekend (or longer) trips to our lake house in Arkansas. I'll never forget my filet & fried oyster "celebration" dinner on the occasion of my 100th tarantula bite... *grin*

Another of my favorites is a dish I had in New Orleans at a restaurant (the name of which I can't for the life of me recall... hey, I was there for Mardi Gras, ok?) where we ate several times. They called it oyster "casserole," and I made a bet with my travelling buddy that I could go home and recreate it. I made a thick sauce with cream, oyster liquor, and white wine, kinda layered the oysters in with the sauce in a baking dish, topped the whole thing with corn flake crumbs tossed with lots of cayenne pepper (I swear that's what they used, too!) and baked it until it was bubbly. I won the bet, even though I had to use canned oysters since I was living in Memphis at the time, and never could find a reliable source for good fresh ones. I've made it better since with the addition of fresh shucked oysters, which I put into the "casserole" raw... they cook a lot more delicately, I guess you'd say, that way... so yummy. Kind of "expensive" in the calorie department, but hey...

[Sony]

Take two pints of freshly shucked oysters, then drain one pint (save the liquid). Eat the drained oysters raw, with a bit of cocktail sauce, while you are mixing up the stuffing.

Kbjesq, I love this step .

Domestic Goddess, I remember that shot of your po' boy on the "Dinner!" thread- it looked SO good!

I love the flavor combination themes that are coming up. I never thought about how well Asian flavors match with oysters. Sunny, I have never seen oysters packed in barbeque sauce, although it makes sense when you think about how smokiness seems to match so beautifully with oysters! Faine, I'm happy that the recipe you linked includes chipotles, because I'm always looking for new ways to use them. Also looks like Worcestershire sauce is another common affinity.

In general, I'm curious about how people fry their oysters (coating, fat type and temperature, etc.) David, I never thought about a buttermilk bath for oysters, but I'm definitely going to try it! The few times I've made fried chicken with buttermilk, I found that the natural sugars in the buttermilk sometimes made it hard for me to time the chicken cooking through before the crust got too dark. Shouldn't be a problem with oysters, though....

I have yet to try smoked oysters, but I might want to hear more about preferred brands before taking a shot. I can unfortunately imagine my gag reflex kicking in with a bad can.

Oysters are something that I only gained exposure to about 7 years ago. Interestingly, in an 8 AM college zoology lab. We were studying bivalves and our TA brought pre-shucked oysters for us to eat raw- on saltines with cocktail sauce.

They weren't the freshest little guys.... and it's not the best thing I've had to hit my stomach first thing in the morning I was commenting to one of my friends about the experience, and once he figured out that it was a taste (not texture) issue, he got me to a nice raw bar where I had my first taste of oyster heaven- a little Malpeque, on the half shell, with the slightest dash of garlic Tabasco and a squirt of lemon.

Since then, I've been a huge fan, but not too experienced with preparing them at home. With all the inspired comments, I don't think that will be the case for much longer!

[hongda]

I like to top them off with japanese mayonaise and bake them... It tastes better than it sounds.

[Domestic Goddess]

Sony - you and my Mom share the same name. My technique in frying the oysters (for the Po Boy) is to prepare in 3 seperate shallow bowls - beaten egg, spiced flour and cornmeal. Dredge the oyster in egg, then flour, then egg and then cornmeal. Drop in hot oil (I use corn oil) and fry until golden brown. The result is plump juicy oyster with crispy coating.

[Sunny Simmons Steincamp]

Sunny, I have never seen oysters packed in barbeque sauce,  although it makes sense when you think about how smokiness seems to match so beautifully with oysters!

Yup, they sure were yummy.

In general, I'm curious about how people fry their oysters (coating, fat type and temperature, etc.) David, I never thought about a buttermilk bath for oysters, but I'm definitely going to try it!

I do both oysters and fried chicken with buttermilk. For chicken, my grandmother taught me to turn the heat down & cover the skillet after browning on both sides, which I guess keeps the crust from getting too dark. You're right, though... it's a lot simpler process with oysters. I do flour + buttermilk + seasoned cornmeal for mine, and use corn oil. 375°F til they "look right."

This thread is making me hungry, which is saying something coming off a 3-day stomach virus!