Oysters

What could be more perfect than having oysters on Valentine's Day? Besides my chocolate hazlenut cheesecake of course.

In preparation for today's post about oysters, we actually had these about two days ago. I'm going to share two of my favorite ways to prepare oysters.

I don't really like totally raw oysters. You know, the totally uncooked ones that you swallow whole and it's like snorting a big ball of sno-... Well, never mind.

I don't know what this first preparation is called officially, or even if anybody else makes them this way, so we will call these "Tina's Favorite Oysters."

These make a great appetizer and we usually have anywhere from 2 - 4 oysters per person, depending on the size of the oyster. We try to get the medium to smaller ones.

Place the oysters in a pie pan or other baking dish and bake in a 500 degree oven for 10 minutes. Pop the flat shell off and separate the oyster from the shell. Click here for a good tutorial. While the oysters were baking get your condiments ready: chopped green onion, torn cilantro, sesame oil, soy sauce, and hot chili garlic sauce.Put a little of each onto your oyster and you are ready to eat it up!

Next up are fried oysters. For convenience's sake we use jarred oysters (from the fish/meat counter at the grocery store). Again, we try to use the medium to smaller size. Drain the oysters in a collander. Set up a breading station with flour, beaten eggs with a couple tablespoons water added, and panco (Japanese bread crumbs). You can use regular bread crumbs if panco isn't available, but I find the panco makes for a crispier crust. You'll also need kosher salt for after the frying is done.

We used a deep fat fryer and set the temperature to the highest setting (360 degrees). Or you can use a pan with a couple of inches of oil, set to high or medium-high. To bread the oysters first coat in the flour, then dip into the beaten eggs, and finally into the panco. This part gets messy.

Fry for about 3 - 5 minutes, until they are golden brown.

Drain on paper towels and sprinkle immediately with the kosher salt.

Here's our perfect fried oyster meal, served with a nice salad and white rice with lots of butter!

Enjoy!