Beer-battered brilliance

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TRADITIONALLY back home oysters are eaten freshly shucked with a squeeze of lemon on a hot summer’s afternoon. This week I show you how to give the dish an English twist, so you can enjoy oysters all year round.

Tempura or beer battering fish is one cooking technique we are all familiar with. This recipe will show you how to use the beer battering technique to coat fresh oysters, adding texture and flavour to these naturally salty morsels.

Oysters are best bought unopened in their shell, however, I suggest asking the fishmonger to open them for you to avoid any nasty accidents. The UK has a wide variety of oysters available. Although they are much smaller than the French varieties, their size makes them perfect for this quick bite recipe.

Once the oysters are open give the shells a clean under running water and boil the shells for five minutes in salted water to sterilize. These make perfect serving dishes. Although you can choose your favourite dipping sauce to go with the oysters I find fresh Asian flavours work fantastically with this dish.

Beer-battered Oyster Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Recipe by Chris Arkadieff Course: StarterCuisine: SeafoodDifficulty: Medium

Servings

1

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

5

minutes

Ingredients

• 6 fresh oysters and the juices reserved

• 250 g plain flour

• 60 ml water

• 220 ml of warm beer

• 60 ml olive oil

• 2 egg yolks

• 4 egg whites

• ½ cup of flour for dusting

• Salt and pepper

• Dipping Sauce

• 2 parts fresh lime

• 1 part fish sauce

• ½ chopped chilli

• 1 tsp of fresh coriander

Directions

• Shuck the six oysters. Save the juices and strain through a sieve
• Sterilize the shells by placing into boiling water for three minutes
• Cover the oysters in a wet towel
• Prepare the batter by whisking the flour, water, beer, olive oil and egg yolk to form a smooth batter
• Cover the batter with cling film and allow to rest for 1 hour
• Heat the frying oil in a deep pan to 180 degrees
• Whisk the egg whites until they form firm peaks and fold through the batter mixture
• Dust the oysters lightly in the plain flour
• Using a fork drop the oysters in the batter and gently coat well
• Gently place the oysters into the hot oil
• Fry until golden
• Place on kitchen paper and season to taste
• Dipping sauce
• To make the dipping sauce combine 2 parts lime juice to 1 part fish sauce and add half a chopped chilli
• Add a tablespoon of fresh coriander and mix together

Notes

• Serve in the shells with a drizzle of sauce. Enjoy!