Oyster omelette

A starch batter fried to a crisp sheet before the egg goes on, with the oysters added late.

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

Ingredients

• 300 g small oysters, shucked
• 100 g tapioca flour
• 40 g rice flour
• 250 ml water
• 4 eggs
• 200 g beansprouts
• 6 tablespoons oil
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 3 spring onions, sliced
• sriracha, to serve

Method

1. THE BATTER IS FRIED TO A SHEET BEFORE THE EGG GOES ON. Starch batter and egg poured together make a thick soft pancake; batter alone, spread thin and left to crisp for two minutes first, gives the chewy-crisp sheet this is built on. The egg goes over it afterwards.
2. TAPIOCA FLOUR DOES THE WORK. It fries to something crisp outside and faintly chewy inside, which wheat flour never does. The rice flour is only there to stop it going rubbery.
3. Whisk both flours with the water to a thin batter, thinner than you expect, and rest it 15 minutes.
4. Drain the oysters thoroughly and pat them dry. Their liquor is what makes the pan steam instead of fry.
5. Plenty of oil, properly hot. Pour the batter in and spread it thin with the back of the ladle.
6. LEAVE IT 2 MINUTES WITHOUT TOUCHING IT, until the edges lift and the underside is set and lacy.
7. Beaten eggs poured over the top, then the oysters dropped on, spaced out.
8. 1 minute more, then cut the sheet into quarters with the spatula and turn each piece. 1 to 2 minutes on the second side.
9. OYSTERS GO ON LATE AND COOK BRIEFLY. Thirty seconds too long and they shrink to rubber beads -- they should be barely set and still soft.
10. Beansprouts in for the last 30 seconds, white pepper and fish sauce over, spring onion off the heat. Sriracha on the side.

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 Thailand · All recipes