Oyster Omelette

Oysters in a starch batter that sets to a chewy translucent sheet, with the egg poured over it rather than beaten into it.

Shellfish, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains fish sauce, lard, shellfish.

Ingredients

• 12 small oysters, shucked
• 60 g sweet potato starch
• 20 g cornflour
• 180 ml cold water
• 3 eggs, beaten
• a handful of leafy greens
• 4 tablespoons lard or flavourless oil
• fish sauce and ground white pepper, to taste
• chilli sauce, to serve

Method

1. THE STARCH BATTER GOES IN BEFORE THE EGG. This is not an omelette with things in it. The batter hits the fat and sets into a chewy part-translucent sheet, and the egg is poured over that sheet. Beaten together, you get a thick pancake with no chew anywhere in it, which is the usual way this goes wrong.
2. SWEET POTATO STARCH IS NOT INTERCHANGEABLE WITH CORNFLOUR. It is what gives the chew; cornflour alone sets to something that tears like paper. The small amount of cornflour here stops the sheet being rubbery, and the proportion between them matters more than the brand of either.
3. Oysters rinsed gently and drained thoroughly on paper. Wet oysters water down the batter where they sit and leave soft holes in the sheet.
4. Both starches whisked into the cold water until completely smooth and left to stand 10 minutes. WHISKED AGAIN right before use -- it settles hard within minutes and a poured-off batter is mostly water.
5. A wide pan over the highest heat with half the fat, until it is properly hot.
6. Batter stirred and poured in to a thin layer. Left 30 seconds untouched; it turns from white to translucent at the edges.
7. Oysters scattered over and pressed in lightly.
8. The rest of the fat around the rim of the pan, then the beaten egg poured over the whole thing. Left another 45 seconds.
9. Greens scattered on top, where they wilt in the steam rather than cooking in the fat.
10. Now it is broken up: cut through it with the edge of the spatula into four or five rough pieces and flip them. IT IS NOT TURNED AS ONE DISC and is not meant to stay whole -- the torn edges are where the crisp comes from.
11. 2 minutes more, the pieces pushed about so the cut faces catch, until the egg is set and the edges are browned and frilly.
12. Fish sauce and white pepper over it, onto the plate, chilli sauce beside it.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under China · All recipes