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 Ah oysters. Probably one of the most polarizing of foods. Some, myself included, can’t get enough and derive enjoyment out of hunting down every single different variety we can find. I have been known to hunt down local oyster bars when visiting coastal cities for work or vacation. Then there are others who liken the experience of eating oysters to swallowing cold snot. Well, those people are wrong, oysters rule. goût de terroir As mentioned, oysters are filter feeders, and as such, their flavour is very dependent on where and how they are grown. Viticulturists will sometimes call this the “goût de terroir” or “taste of the earth” when talking about wines. With oysters, variables matter. Water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen in the water due to waves (affects algae growth), tide, intensity of sunshine, beach/rope/seafloor/seeded/wildgathered culture, and species can all affect the shape, size, flavor profile, sweetness, brineyness, etc. Flavors run the gamut from the sweet, melony, and clean kumamoto to the funky, musky skookums to the briny Willapas, so I’m usually a bit skeptical when someone who has tried one oyster tells me that they don’t like any of them. Since they are a live food product, often times it will be hard to find any given variety of oyster in a certain part of the country/world. They are one of the few food things we can actually say with some confidence, that increased culture is actually good for the environment. One adult oyster can filter 1.3 gallons of water an hour. There are actually plans to use protected shoreline as an oyster habitat to filter pollution from places like the San Francisco Bay. Some vegans may actually find it morally acceptable to eat oysters: http://www.slate.com/articles/life/...the_oyster.html There are 5 Basic Species available in North American markets: Pacific Oysters (Crassostrea gigas) Examples: Drake’s Bay (  ), Hog Island Sweetwaters, Skookums, Fanny BayWest coast oysters. Year round cold waters usually give these guys a fairly clean, sweet taste, however this may not be the case for some farms that are located in brackish waters where there is more algae (such as the Skookums). Don’t that  Atlantic Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) Examples: Malpeque, Bluepoint, Beausoleil East Coast Oysters. The typical “high quality” oyster for pretty much a century, bluepoints from Long Island Sound are arguably the most renowned. So much so that other farms started tacking on “blue point” to their names to catch people’s eyes as a supposed sign of quality. These days bluepoints are all hype. Don’t dismiss Long Island though. I’ve spent a lot of time out there and have become very fond of the light briny oysters out of Mecox bay, as well as the wild raised, diver gathered “Naked Cowboys”.  European Flat (Ostrea edulis) Examples: Belons These are the native oysters of western Europe. They are now grown sparsely in North America but are quite hard to find. I have had them once and found them to be quite daunting, though I really hope to one day say that I enjoy them. They are very intense and minerally almost medicinal. These particular oysters are not for the newbies. Kumamoto (Crassostrea sikamea) Probably the most popular oyster right now across the country. Its small plump meat, sweet flavor reminiscent of melons, and clean finish makes everyone a fan, from the newbie to the experienced. If you like Kumas give Kusshis a try. Their round deep cups give them a shell filling plumpness that is due to beach tumbling which rounds off the lips of the oyster as they mature.  Olympia (Ostreola conchaphila) Very hard to find, though it used to fill the San Francisco Bay. The Native Americans were apparently such big fans of this petite oyster that settlers to San Francisco found huge mounds of oyster shells on the shores. They were loved so much that they were eaten to the point where most people thought they were extinct, and have almost completely disappeared from the San Francisco Bay. They are on a rebound though with a few protected shorelines along the west coast. There is one place that still cultivates them for consumption in Olympia, WA (go figure). I’ve never had a chance to try these and you will only ever see them at the source. Though we are not limited to these 5 species, there will sometimes be some from Asia or New Zealand and South America depending on season and if your fishmonger is able to get them. Storage Oysters are alive when you buy them (or they should be anyway) so you need to treat them well to make sure they don’t die. Never place them in a sealed plastic bag. If someone gives them to you in a sealed bag, cut some holes into it so fresh air can get in. Keep them surrounded with ice, but make sure they are not submersed in water. The way I like to do transport them is in a cooler filled with ice, with them in an open plastic bag, the bag surrounded with the ice. This keeps the oysters in thermal contact with the ice but no physical contact with the water. Tools  All you really need is a shucking knife and a towel. You can get by with a clean flathead, a thin butterknife, or any thin, very rigid, flat metal object. Know that it will ruin your butterknife if you use one, so don’t do it with anything you love. Don’t use anything particularly sharp or brittle either because they will just snap or cut you when you slip (yes, you will slip at some point, it is a certainty). I use the OXO oyster knife and they usually carry them at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. There may be a better one out there, but this one works fine for me, and they’re easy to find because there’s a BB&B pretty much everywhere. Some people like to wear nonslip gloves, I don’t just because I don’t have any, but I could see them being useful. I just use a regular kitchen towel, folded in half. Some people use a rubber or plastic mallet to drive the tip of the oyster knife into the hinge for shucking extra large (read: thick, well developed shell) oysters. http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Good-Grip...e/dp/B00004OCLC Shucking Place the oyster rounded side down, flat side up, onto the towel with the hinge facing your dominant hand. With your left (or non dominant) hand hold part of the towel and push down on the oyster with your knuckles holding the oyster secure in the crease formed by the towel (lip side facing the crease). Place the oyster knife into the hinge with the bent tip pointed upward and apply firm but controlled pressure directly into the hinge. Pay attention because at any given moment a part of the shell could give leaving you pushing the business end of the knife directly at your other hand. Jiggle it back and forth and twist slightly and eventually you will feel it snug inside the hinge. Give it a good push and apply some torque with a flick of the wrist and it should pop open. Wipe the shell fragments off of the blade with the towel and then run the blade across the top (flat side) of the oyster with the bent tip pointed down to disconnect the muscle. Remove the top shell and do the same to the cupped bottom shell. If you’re a stickler for presentation, use the tip of the knife to flip the oyster over so that the cupped side faces upward. This side is more plump looking and some people prefer it that way. I don’t usually care, but I generally prefer the look of the frillies when it’s not flipped. Though I suppose if it’s flipped you know that the muscle connecting it to the shell has been severed. Knocking back an oyster only to find that the shucker didn’t detach the meat from the bottom shell is the worst. Service and Accoutrements Unless you plan to eat as you shuck, you should always serve oysters on ice to keep them cold. Small ice pellets or chips are preferred since they conform to the shape of the bottom of an oyster when one is placed on it, which keeps all that delicious oyster juice in the shell. Most bars will serve them with lemon, sometimes accompanied by grated horseradish. Some places will serve with a red wine vinegar, bruinoised shallot, and coarse cracked peppercorn sauce called mignonette. I prefer a dab of mignonette, but lemon is good, too. Some places serve with cocktail sauce...that one I don’t care for at all. A lot of people like hot sauce on their oysters, too, but I’m not the biggest fan unless it is a notably bland oyster. Then there are crazy oyster shooter concoctions. Yeah, I don’t really care for those either, but hey, if you do... whatever floats your boat. Cooking Some people like to cook them. I don’t have that much experience with it, but if someone wants to write it up I will quote you here. I know a lot of people like them grilled, broiled (in oysters rockefeller), deep fried (and in a sandwich (called poboy)), and smoked, but I’m not an expert in these. mich posted:Grilled oysters: Resources: http://www.oysterguide.com - great maps, writeups, and general oyster info for most of North America. Unfortunately he only mentions the more established oyster farms, so don’t expect to find much on Carlsbad Lunas, Grassy Bars, or any other smaller startup farms. Good Eats episode on oysters: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq_VtkAFhaw Where to buy by region: Here are some great places to buy good quality oysters. I could use help here, but I can mention places I like to buy from based on where I’ve been. Feel free to recommend places to others in the thread and I will copy them here as a resource for everyone. Please list if it is a market or a restaurant or both so those who are interested know if they can buy for home consumption or if they have to eat them there. Long Island New York Buoy One, market and restaurant, Riverhead, NY Usually only ever one variety, but they are well priced, and very fresh. Atlantic Seafood, market and restaurant, Moriches, NY Port Jeff Lobster House, market and restaurant, Port Jefferson, NY Northern California Hog Island Oysters, market and restaurant, San Francisco, Napa, Point Reyes, CA Great selection Bouchon Bistro. restaurant. Yountville and Beverly Hills, CA and Las Vegas, NV http://bouchonbistro.com/ Kinda pricy, great selection though. Drake's Bay Oyster Company. farm and market. Inverness, CA. Due to a series of, frankly, completely idiotic series of rulings by the National Park Service that spat in the face of scientific studies and contracts/allowances with the state of CA, Drake's Bay Oysters are on the chopping block and may be closed down. for more info: http://www.drakesbayoyster.com/ Central Coast California Giovanni’s Fresh Fish Market, market, Pismo Beach, CA http://www.giovannisfishmarket.com/ BJ Enterprises, pier fishmonger, Avila Beach, CA. Southern California Santa Monica Seafood, market and restaurant, Santa Monica and Costa Mesa, CA http://www.santamonicaseafood.com/ Great selection. Quality Seafood, market, oyster bar, and attached fast food restaurant, Redondo Beach, CA http://qualityseafood.net/wordpressqs/ Fantastic selection, they had, like 25 varieties last time I was there. King's Fish House. Restaurant. Scattered across Southern California with locations in Henderson, NV and Tempe, AZ. Kinda pricy but generally good selection. Bouchon Bistro, see nor cal entry. Washington State Taylor Shellfish Farms in Seattle http://www.taylorshellfishfarms.com Recommended by Blacksuit. Pikes Place Market Central Market, Mill Creek, http://central-market.com/mill-creek/ Recommended by Amethyste The Oyster Bar, Bellingham, http://www.theoysterbar.net/ Uwajimaya grocery stores, Bellevue and Seattle, Recommended by Fatal Virginia Hank's in Old Town, Alexandria, VA Recommended by me your dad Maryland Kooper's Tavern, Baltimore, Recommended by Chernobyl Princess Online/Mail Order http://www.macsseafood.com/ *disclaimer. I am not an expert by any means I just love oysters and a lot of this info is stuff that I’ve heard while at an oyster bar, touring an oyster farm, or just reading about oysters, so, don’t kill me if you see something that is wrong. What are you waiting for? Go eat some oysters!  **though often called viagra of the sea, oysters have shown no effect on libido in clinical trials. GrAviTy84 fucked around with this message at Mar 18, 2013 around 22:18 |
| # ? Mar 16, 2013 07:19 |
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| # ? May 25, 2013 02:58 |
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One thing I've always wondered -- when you eat an oyster from the shell, do you chew it or do you just suck it down? I've seen people do it both ways and it's confused me.
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| # ? Mar 16, 2013 07:28 |
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tarepanda posted:One thing I've always wondered -- when you eat an oyster from the shell, do you chew it or do you just suck it down? I've seen people do it both ways and it's confused me. I like a few chews. Not too many, 2 or 3. Like a good cup of coffee, a nice wine, a good beer, whatever, if you go straight for the swallow you're missing out on a lot of the flavor. Some have a pretty cool succulent crunch to them, too, on the frilly parts. If this is accompanied with a nice cucumber finish which a lot of oysters have, then it can be a pretty cool combination.
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| # ? Mar 16, 2013 07:39 |
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Taylor Shellfish Farms in Seattle http://www.taylorshellfishfarms.com is the bee's loving knees of local oysters in my town. Theirs are some of the cleanest, most flavorful oysters I've ever tasted. But honestly, oyster newcomers can get a pretty gentle introduction at Pike Place Market for a song.
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| # ? Mar 16, 2013 09:13 |
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GrAviTy84 posted:I like a few chews. Not too many, 2 or 3. Like a good cup of coffee, a nice wine, a good beer, whatever, if you go straight for the swallow you're missing out on a lot of the flavor. Some have a pretty cool succulent crunch to them, too, on the frilly parts. If this is accompanied with a nice cucumber finish which a lot of oysters have, then it can be a pretty cool combination. Seconding this. Go for a few chews. You're really missing out on a nice heterogeneity in flavor and texture over the whole oyster if you don't.
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| # ? Mar 16, 2013 13:06 |
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So down here in Texas, we can generally get 100 Gulf oysters for about $20. Compared to these northern varieties, are they just trash? I don't see them mentioned in your "common varieties" list yet they are really the only kind we get down here without paying $2 each.
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| # ? Mar 16, 2013 13:09 |
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If you dont chew them you're missing out on all the awesome organ stuff inside.
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| # ? Mar 16, 2013 14:52 |
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Sweet oysters and strong coffee is my favorite hangover cure in the world. There's a bar in Baltimore that has a guy shucking oysters for a dollar apiece that I walk to most weekends in the winter. It's wonderful. This past Thanksgiving my fiance's father got a couple dozen oysters for free, so I made poboys. Easy as anything to make. Shuck oyster directly into whatever light batter you choose, toss into oil, toss onto sandwich. Consume. Generally I'd rather used tinned oysters for this, because I'd rather eat fresh ones raw, but damned if those weren't the best sandwiches I ever made.
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| # ? Mar 16, 2013 15:18 |
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I don't think there's a more consistently delicious and accessible (near the coasts, where 2/3 of people in the US live) food in this country than raw oysters. Like no loving contest. I mean they come pre-seasoned. Also - oysters are about eight calories each. Eat up...
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| # ? Mar 16, 2013 15:40 |
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I loving love oysters. Given that I lived most of my life near the sea - which, admittedly, is not as big of a feat as it might seem, here in the Netherlands - I've been shuckin' and chuckin' them since I was two (although the shucking part only came later, obviously). Unfortunately I haven't eaten them in ages, and they are way too expensive for me to justify buying right now.  On the other hand, as much as I love them, I've never eaten them any way other than raw, which is a little surprising now that I think about it.
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| # ? Mar 16, 2013 16:21 |
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At $5 a shell from the fishmongers I rarely buy oysters, even though I love them. Does anyone have a nice recipe for gratinated oysters?
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| # ? Mar 16, 2013 16:52 |
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Chernobyl Princess posted:Sweet oysters and strong coffee is my favorite hangover cure in the world. There's a bar in Baltimore that has a guy shucking oysters for a dollar apiece that I walk to most weekends in the winter. It's wonderful. where's this?
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| # ? Mar 16, 2013 18:30 |
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Lolcano Eruption posted:So down here in Texas, we can generally get 100 Gulf oysters for about $20. Compared to these northern varieties, are they just trash? I don't see them mentioned in your "common varieties" list yet they are really the only kind we get down here without paying $2 each. They're probably virginica species. There are only 2 naturally found oyster species in north america to my knowledge. Everything from Prince Edward Island down to the Gulf Coast is Crassostrea Virginica (aside from farms that grow other species not naturally found). As far as their quality? I have no idea, I've never seen them here or in Long Island and have never visited the gulf so all I can say is if you like em, don't let anyone stop you from eating em.
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| # ? Mar 16, 2013 18:51 |
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I loving love oysters. My two favorite times having them was when we picked them up at Le Verdon-sur-Mer close to Bordeaux and when I went to a friend's parents' annual oyster party at the Gulf in south Texas a few years ago. A little bit of lemon, sometimes some good hot sauce, a beautiful bottle of sauvignon blanc and let the afternoon drift away. Hmm, maybe I should go get some oysters.
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| # ? Mar 16, 2013 19:04 |
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I live within driving distance to the oyster farms located north of San Francisco, so it's always pretty cool to be able to go there whenever. One thing I was wondering was when oysters were "in season". I heard something like "every month that ends in -er", how true is that? The OP mentions that the Pacific oysters are in year-round cold waters... Does that mean they are roughly the same in quality year round?
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| # ? Mar 16, 2013 19:35 |
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canoshiz posted:I live within driving distance to the oyster farms located north of San Francisco, so it's always pretty cool to be able to go there whenever. One thing I was wondering was when oysters were "in season". I heard something like "every month that ends in -er", how true is that? The OP mentions that the Pacific oysters are in year-round cold waters... Does that mean they are roughly the same in quality year round? I've heard a lot of things of varying believability having to do with the "months-ending-in-r" thing. One is that red tide blooms in the summer. That was from my parents and I've never heard a fishmonger verify that. Another was that the oysters spawn in the summer and during this time the meat is not very good in texture, more watery and oozy. That seems moderately believable, I guess. Another was just that back in the day, keeping things cold was very hard, because of this, oysters were more likely to spoil in the summer months, and that the "months-ending-in-r" thing was a persistent tip from those days that is now irrelevant. Also seems pretty believable. I don't know which is true, but I do know that all three of these would be the opposite for oysters farmed in the southern hemisphere. If anyone knows for sure what the deal is, I would love to know.
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| # ? Mar 16, 2013 19:46 |
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I was lucky enough to live in an area of South Carolina that had a huge oyster business. Every so often they'd throw this huge oyster roast. At least 2 story tall vats to steam the oysters, and then shovel them onto tables where they'd be devoured in about 2 minutes. Unfortunately I now live in an area where I can't even find a single oyster po' boy.
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| # ? Mar 16, 2013 20:32 |
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The quality of shellfish like shrimp, lobsters, sea crawfish and crab are quite superior from September onwards where I'm from. The meat is not only tastier and more succulent, but there's also way more of it. Whether this includes oysters I can't say since I eat them so rarely. The first time I had them was in Brittany and I only thought they tasted like stale harbour water smells. This fall I went to an oyster bar in Shanghai and was mildly impressed, and last month I took my wife for a shellfish platter and was pretty much blown away by them! I guess three's a lucky number.
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| # ? Mar 16, 2013 21:18 |
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Sjurygg posted:The first time I had them was in Brittany and I only thought they tasted like stale harbour water smells. Sounds like belons. Oysters are kind of like scotch, they vary so widely based on where they're from that it's very hard to form an opinion on the whole with just one sample. Continuing that example, Belons are like Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength, kumamotos are like Dalwhinnie.
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| # ? Mar 16, 2013 22:12 |
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GrAviTy84 posted:They're probably virginica species. There are only 2 naturally found oyster species in north america to my knowledge. Everything from Prince Edward Island down to the Gulf Coast is Crassostrea Virginica (aside from farms that grow other species not naturally found). As far as their quality? I have no idea, I've never seen them here or in Long Island and have never visited the gulf so all I can say is if you like em, don't let anyone stop you from eating em. GrAviTy84 posted:I've heard a lot of things of varying believability having to do with the "months-ending-in-r" thing. One is that red tide blooms in the summer. That was from my parents and I've never heard a fishmonger verify that. Another was that the oysters spawn in the summer and during this time the meat is not very good in texture, more watery and oozy. That seems moderately believable, I guess. Another was just that back in the day, keeping things cold was very hard, because of this, oysters were more likely to spoil in the summer months, and that the "months-ending-in-r" thing was a persistent tip from those days that is now irrelevant. Also seems pretty believable. I don't know which is true, but I do know that all three of these would be the opposite for oysters farmed in the southern hemisphere. If anyone knows for sure what the deal is, I would love to know. Just to comment on both of these. I came from a family that caught oysters in the Gulf of Mexico out of Barataria bay and Bay Adams in southeast Louisiana. The Oysters here are "bluepoint" or virginica. The flavor aren't the same as farther up the east coast (I live in Boston now, its definitely different) but they are excellent. Much of american cuisine around oysters is heavily influenced from New Orleans cooking etc in regards to Oysters. In this part of the country at least, the months ending in "r" bit holds true because the salinity changes in the gulf due to snow melt pushing freshwater into the gulf etc and much larger changes in water temperature compared to the true Atlantic areas. Farther up the east coast I get the impression that it does not matter. The oysters here in New England are fantastic. I have taken quite a liking to Wellfleet oysters out of Cape Cod. They are smaller than the virginica out of the gulf albeit the same species, but they have a much smokier and saltier character. I need to get some true Long Island bluepoints to compare. Can someone comment on that? Would be nice to know.
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| # ? Mar 16, 2013 22:30 |
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Asbestos posted:where's this? Kooper's Tavern in Fells Point. Right on the water.
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| # ? Mar 16, 2013 22:47 |
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Chernobyl Princess posted:Sweet oysters and strong coffee is my favorite hangover cure in the world. There's a bar in Baltimore that has a guy shucking oysters for a dollar apiece that I walk to most weekends in the winter. It's wonderful. This is how I get most of mine. My girlfriend cant eat them due to some weird blood disorder so I try not to eat them in front of her but man, the second her back is turned I gobble down as many as I can. I usually get them at Cross Street Market or at the farmers market under Jones Falls expressway though I think I have been to this bar before. I have never bought a oyster except for immediate consumption. I see them so much as a bar/festival food it would be weird to eat them at home.
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| # ? Mar 16, 2013 23:08 |
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Once while In Charlston I was at a raw bar and they found a tiny little crab inside my oyster. They called it an oyster pearl and told me to eat it raw. I did and it tasted delicious. Was I treated to something special or was I just disposing evidence of parasites within the oyster?
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| # ? Mar 17, 2013 00:09 |
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Soupisgood posted:Once while In Charlston I was at a raw bar and they found a tiny little crab inside my oyster. They called it an oyster pearl and told me to eat it raw. I did and it tasted delicious. Was I treated to something special or was I just disposing evidence of parasites within the oyster? Those are properly called pea crabs and while they technically are a "parasite" (in that they can harm the host oyster/clam/etc), they are totally edible and a surprise treat!
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| # ? Mar 17, 2013 00:45 |
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I grew up here: http://www.oysterguide.com/maps/mass-and-ri/wellfleet/ where picking oysters is the typical summer job in high school, so I've got to admit I'm biased towards Wellfleet oysters. I love them plain or with a squeeze of lemon, I feel like it helps neutralize some of the briny taste when you want to get more of the oyster's underlying flavor. If you want to buy them online, I highly recommend http://www.macsseafood.com/ they're great people, they really care about the quality of their product, and they'll make sure it gets to you anywhere in the lower 48 as fresh as humanly possible. Prices are also really reasonable, you get a much better deal than the poor summer tourists who shell out at least 30 bucks for a dozen. (EDIT: haha, "shell out", no pun intended, seriously)
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| # ? Mar 17, 2013 01:21 |
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I loving love oysters. A real Bluepoint is still a big deal, but it's not a protected name, so you also get a lot of poo poo sold as Bluepoints. If you're somewhere serious about oysters, though, especially if they have a selection, the bluepoints are probably worthy of the name. They're also my fiancée's favorite. Malpeques are way too bitter for me. What I really like is west coast oysters, which you dont see outside of serious oyster places in NYC, especially the kumamotos, which I had no idea are a third species altogether. I get oysters to shuck at home whenever FreshDirect has the BeauSoleils on special. They're almost too mild, but at 75c an oyster it's a fun night.
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| # ? Mar 17, 2013 03:39 |
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Soupisgood posted:Once while In Charlston I was at a raw bar and they found a tiny little crab inside my oyster. They called it an oyster pearl and told me to eat it raw. I did and it tasted delicious. Was I treated to something special or was I just disposing evidence of parasites within the oyster? Yeah, nothing bad about that. Oysters are like the little plastic eggs you get for 25 cents at the supermarket. Never know what you'll get. Where were you in Charleston?
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| # ? Mar 17, 2013 05:13 |
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Gravel Gravy posted:Yeah, nothing bad about that. Oysters are like the little plastic eggs you get for 25 cents at the supermarket. Never know what you'll get. Where were you in Charleston? A rather fancy (though not fancy priced) place in downtown Charleston. It was happy hour and drinks were downright cheap along with the food which was excellent. Might have been Hank's Seafood, I remember a lot of artsy pictures on the walls of people dancing and the bar stretched around near the front entrance. Actually now that I think about it, it was the Amen Street Fish and Raw bar. Soupisgood fucked around with this message at Mar 17, 2013 around 05:54 |
| # ? Mar 17, 2013 05:45 |
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To add on a place, here in DC we have a warf in SW DC that has them fresh year round. So the warf in DC is good as well.
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| # ? Mar 17, 2013 06:53 |
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The availability of oysters sits at the top of an extremely small list of things I miss about living in Texas. There's a bar across from the minor league baseball field in Corpus Christi that served them $5 a dozen for happy hour, every day, with $2 beers. I do miss that place.
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| # ? Mar 17, 2013 08:10 |
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I really want to enjoy oysters, but I find it difficult to do so. I have tried raw oysters twice now and I enjoy the flavour of them, but every time I swallow them, both chewed or straight down from the shell, I feel like I am choking and it's really uncomfortable.. Did anyone else struggle with this or am I just incredibly bad at eating? The only time I didn't experience it was when I had an oyster steamed in buttermilk and cut into bite sized pieces, but I'm afraid it would look silly if I cut my raw oysters into pieces at raw bars
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| # ? Mar 17, 2013 09:19 |
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You could try chewing.
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| # ? Mar 17, 2013 10:37 |
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Soupisgood posted:You could try chewing. He said he did. Honestly the texture of them just gets to some people.
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| # ? Mar 17, 2013 15:21 |
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Grilled oysters: Place the unshucked oysters on a hot grill flat side up and cover the grill. Grill just long enough for them to start opening slightly, it should only take 5 minutes at most. Alternatively you can shuck them first and grill them for just a few minutes, careful not to spill the liquid. Or baked: Place them on a sheet pan flat side up, stick in really hot oven just until opened slightly. Once cooked, then shucked if not shucked before cooking, squirt on a bit of lime juice, crack on some pepper, and place a leaf or two of Vietnamese coriander (rau ram) on the oyster, then eat.  This is a Vietnamese style of eating oysters, and I imagine the lime/pepper/rau ram combination would be tasty on raw oysters too.
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| # ? Mar 17, 2013 17:19 |
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A note on gulf oysters: After the BP oil spill, they really don't taste the same raw. I only eat them cooked these days because of it. When you're shucking oysters, be really, really sure you put the folded kitchen towel over the hand holding the oyster or you're going to end up with a real deep cut from your skin splitting open when the oyster knife hits it and you might end up with a nasty infection. Also the scars take forever to go away. Oh, and if you're going to roast oysters whole (bed of coals, wet burlap sacks, that whole deal), be sure you lay them down with the flat side up to keep the juice from running out when they pop. Roasted oysters are delicious and easy to cook while you're having a bunch of beers with your buddies. Popping raw oysters and eating them as you go is also goddamn awesome as long as you don't cut the poo poo out of the base of your thumb. gently caress, now I want some oysters.
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| # ? Mar 17, 2013 18:14 |
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Nother recommendation for Washington. Uwajimaya grocery stores. At Bellevue and Seattle locations (only two I've been to, maybe others) they usually have at least 8 different kinds of oysters available. Not sure if this is normal but they have them all arranged in tank systems that lets you grab whichever ones you want. Can't get much fresher than that unless you're walking the beach! If you're in Bellingham, this is a pretty nice resturant: http://www.theoysterbar.net Fatal fucked around with this message at Mar 17, 2013 around 20:48 |
| # ? Mar 17, 2013 20:46 |
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When I was in GA, I was all about these little suckers: http://www.oysterguide.com/maps/gul...t/apalachicola/
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| # ? Mar 17, 2013 21:04 |
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Skeesix posted:When I was in GA, I was all about these little suckers: Oh man, I used to spend a week every summer on St George Island in Apalachicola Bay. We'd go over the bridge to this seafood joint right on the water and watch them bring the oysters in on the boats and clean 'em on the dock. So fresh and delicious. They had the best blue crab too. I've gotta get back down there soon.
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| # ? Mar 17, 2013 22:12 |
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Fatal posted:Nother recommendation for Washington. Uwajimaya grocery stores. At Bellevue and Seattle locations (only two I've been to, maybe others) they usually have at least 8 different kinds of oysters available. Not sure if this is normal but they have them all arranged in tank systems that lets you grab whichever ones you want. Can't get much fresher than that unless you're walking the beach! Yeah, Uwajimaya is awesome. They have a killer seafood section and it's the go-to place for sushi-grade fish in the downtown core.
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| # ? Mar 18, 2013 04:14 |
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| # ? May 25, 2013 02:58 |
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blue points & kumamotos for lyfe dawg  I didn't see much mention of mignonette sauce, but I love mignonette and oysters. anyone who hasn't tried it should.
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| # ? Mar 18, 2013 17:00 |
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