Mar 31

Mar 31 Crispy Fried Oysters with Chilli Tomato Salsa and Lemon Mayonnaise

Small Plates and Sides, Something Special, Food Inspirations

If you think you don’t like oysters because you have only had them raw, then these scrumptious Crispy Fried Oysters might well make you think again. And it is worth thinking again, as they are a sustainable and abundant source of protein from our UK waters.

Delicately textured and tasting of the sea, they are a delicious crispy, hot treat for a special occasion starter or just piled into a ciabatta for a relaxed snack or lunch.

You can get native oysters in the UK from September to April. They are spawning outside these months and are best avoided to maintain stocks and also because they have a flaccid texture. Rock oysters are farmed and are originally from a Japanese species which tends not to spawn in our colder British waters and so are often available all year.

Buy oysters as fresh as possible and ideally use them on the same day, although they should keep for up to 5 days if they are stored flat side up on a baking tray at the bottom of the fridge under a damp tea towel.

Method

Serves 4 as a starter

You will need an oyster shucking knife.

First make the salsa so the flavours have time to come together. Bring a pan of water to the boil and cut a small cross in the bottom of each tomato. Blanch the tomatoes by dipping them into the boiling water for 10 - 20 seconds and then refreshing them in a bowl of cold water. Peel and deseed the tomatoes and then cut into small dice. Peel the onion and finely chop along with the deseeded chilli and the parsley.

Mix together the white wine vinegar and olive oil in a bowl and add the chopped parsley, onion, chilli and tomato. Gently stir until it is all coated in the oil and vinegar. Set aside to marinade.

For the mayonnaise. Put the mayonnaise in another bowl and add the lemon juice and zest a bit at a time until you have the lemon flavour you want. Be careful you don’t use so much lemon juice that they mayonnaise goes runny. Use more zest to get flavour and keep the consistency as you want it if it starts to look a bit loose.

Set aside in the fridge until you are ready to use it. This can be made ahead and taken out of the fridge 20 minutes before you need it.

To open the oysters. Make sure all the oysters are closed or close when you tap them gently. If they are open, it means they are dead and should be discarded.

Cover your hand and wrist with a folded over tea towel and hold the oyster rounded side down in your hand with the hinge (the narrow part) pointing towards you. Insert the oyster shucking knife into the hinge end of the oyster and wiggle from side to side until the knife goes in, then lift open the shell.

Smell the oyster, it should smell of fresh sea and ozone. If it smells fishy or odd then don’t use it. Loosen the oyster from the foot inside and drop into a bowl of very cold water if you are cooking them straight away.

If you are doing them in advance, keep the clear liquid in the shell and pour it into a container along with the oyster. They can stored in the fridge in this liquid with a lid on for up to 3 days.

When all the oysters have been shucked and you are ready to use them, rinse them in the water and drain in a sieve being careful to get rid of any bits of shell or grit. Then dry them on some kitchen roll.

Prepare your flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs on separate plates. Coat the oysters in the flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs.

Fill a medium to large saucepan a third full of the vegetable oil. Carefully, fry the oysters a few at a time in the vegetable oil for 1 minute at 180c. Take them out of the pan with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen towel.

Repeat until you are fried all the oysters.

Serve them still hot on a bed of tomato salsa with a dollop of lemon mayonnaise on top.

Ingredients

Tomato Salsa

4 tomatoes

1/2 red onion

1 - 2 red chillies

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Small handful of flat leaf parsley

Lemon Mayonnaise

3 tbsp of mayonnaise