I've never actually eaten an Oyster before. I had one once at The Beach restaurant in Albert Park. It was an uncooked Oyster, a rather large uncooked Oyster. The idea of Oysters back then kind of scared me, especially raw ones, but I'd heard good things, so I thought I'd give it a go. In my mouth it went, the slimy little beast. All I could think of was a mouth full of snot, disgusting I know, which is why I couldn't swallow it. As much as I tried, I just couldn't get it down, even with water. I ended up taking the Oyster out of my mouth and hiding it under some greens on my plate.
Today, I decided to pay a visit to the good people down at Sea Bounty Mussels on Gem Pier, in Williamstown for some of their Tip Top Mussels. But unfortunately, by the time I got there, they were completely sold out of their Mussels! Oh no! What would I do? I noticed that they also had freshly shucked Oysters for sale ($10 a doz) as well. So, even after my previously weak effort at consuming this apparent delicacy, I was determined to give them another go. So, off home I went with a dozen ice packed Mussels for my dinner. It's quite possible I could be going hungry tonight!
On my way home, I remembered the wonderfully fresh looking Oysters on the cover of Ezard's new book 'Lotus', so I thought I'd give those a go. Now these Oysters are actually steamed and not raw, I know I'm kind of cheating, but I'll start off slowly and lead up to the raw Oysters.
Today, I decided to pay a visit to the good people down at Sea Bounty Mussels on Gem Pier, in Williamstown for some of their Tip Top Mussels. But unfortunately, by the time I got there, they were completely sold out of their Mussels! Oh no! What would I do? I noticed that they also had freshly shucked Oysters for sale ($10 a doz) as well. So, even after my previously weak effort at consuming this apparent delicacy, I was determined to give them another go. So, off home I went with a dozen ice packed Mussels for my dinner. It's quite possible I could be going hungry tonight!
On my way home, I remembered the wonderfully fresh looking Oysters on the cover of Ezard's new book 'Lotus', so I thought I'd give those a go. Now these Oysters are actually steamed and not raw, I know I'm kind of cheating, but I'll start off slowly and lead up to the raw Oysters.
This recipe really is quite simple, it basically consists of a basic Soy dressing which includes light soy, ginger, chilli, mirin, rice wine vinegar, garlic and sugar.
The Oysters are steamed for a couple of minutes, then you drizzle them with the dressing, and garnish with some chopped coriander and spring onions. You then drizzle over some smoking hot sesame oil.. be careful, it will sizzle and spit!
After being a little hesitant at first to try these little fellas, I managed to work up the courage. Their texture I thought was like a big juicy mussel and their flavours more subtle. I have to say I liked it! The Oysters from Sea Bounty I imagine to be perfect specimens, just like their Mussels always are. You can literally taste the freshness in the Oysters! The dressing and the smoking hot oil drizzled over the top, brings out the delicate flavours of the Oysters. There. I'm over my Oyster fear and I enjoyed conquering my fear. If you're like me, a bit hesitant at trying Oysters, this is a good recipe and I'd recommend getting them from somewhere like Sea Bounty, just because you KNOW they will be as fresh as you're likely to get them anywhere in Melbourne. Next... raw mussels!!
2 comments:
Oysters are delicious. I always eat them this way, steamed and then with a soy, oil, spring onion, garlic, ginger, chilli and sugar mixture. I add a dash of sesame after I pan fry the rest of the mixture quickly to give it a wonderful taste.
You can even cheat and microwave the oysters and they're still perfect.
:)
I steamed over a dozen tonight!
But never had them like this- I will try it ;)
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