Crispy Oysters Recipes

BEST SOUTHERN CRISPY FRIED OYSTERS

Steps:

• While the oil heats, pour the oysters into a colander or strainer and let them drain. Then, rinse with fresh water to wash off any debris or shell fragments.
• Pour the buttermilk into a medium-sized bowl and dunk the drained oysters.
• Place the cornmeal, flour, creole seasoning, and salt in a shallow bowl or pie plate and whisk to combine.
• Remove the oysters from the buttermilk one at a time and dredge them in the cornmeal mixture. Toss gently and make sure they are well coated, then shake any excess breading off.
• Place the coated oysters on a metal cooling rack until all of them have been coated. Letting them sit for a few minutes helps to fuse the breading and buttermilk and keeps the breading from falling off when they are fried.
• Place a large stockpot, Dutch oven, or cast iron skillet with high sides over medium-high heat and add one to two inches of oil.
• Use a candy or deep-fry thermometer to test the oil temperature, and when it reaches 370 °F, carefully add the oysters, one at a time to fry. Depending on the size of your pan, it works best to fry in batches and only cook six to eight at a time. You do not want to crowd them. (Maintain a consistent heat of 370 °F by increasing or decreasing the heat under the pan.)
• Let the oysters fry for about two to three minutes, stirring occasionally or until the breading is light golden brown and the meat is opaque with the edges slightly curled. Use a wire kitchen spider or slotted spoon to remove them from the oil. Place on a paper towel or wire cooling rack to drain.
• Repeat until all of the oysters are fried and serve immediately. Optional, garnish with fresh lemon or lime slices and serve with your choice of sauce and sides.

CRISPY OVEN-FRIED OYSTERS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. In a shallow bowl, combine flour, salt and pepper. In another shallow bowl, whisk eggs. In a third bowl, combine bread crumbs, cheese, parsley and garlic salt. , Coat oysters with flour mixture, then dip in eggs, and coat with crumb mixture. Place in a greased 15x10x1-in. baking pan; drizzle with oil., Bake until golden brown, 12-15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk mayonnaise ingredients. Serve with oysters.

CRISPY OVEN-FRIED OYSTERS

Steps:

• In a shallow bowl, combine the flour, salt and pepper.
• In another shallow bowl, whisk eggs.
• In a third bowl, combine the bread crumbs, Romano cheese, parsley and garlic salt.
• Coat oysters with flour mixture, then dip in eggs, and coat with crumb mixture.
• Place in a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan; drizzle with oil.
• Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the jalapeno mayonnaise ingredients.
• Serve with oysters.
• Yield: about 2-1/2 dozen (about 2/3 cup jalapeno mayonnaise).

JEFFREY'S CRISPY OYSTER NACHOS

Steps:

• Preheat a fryer with canola oil to 375 degrees F. Soak yucca root chips in hot water for 15 minutes. Remove from the water and pat dry with paper towels. Fry until light brown, about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Season with sea salt. Set aside.
• In a blender, combine mustard, honey, lemon, habanero, egg yolks, and cilantro and puree. With the machine running, add the olive oil slowly. Season with salt. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• In a saucepan heat canola oil to 375 degrees F. Soak the oysters in buttermilk and transfer to the flour to get a light coating and fry for 45 seconds to 1 minute until lightly brown. Transfer oysters to a paper towel to drain. Place oysters on top of yucca root chips, spoon a little habanero sauce on each oyster and sprinkle with mango pico.
• Mix all ingredients in a bowl and let sit for 20 minutes.

CRISPY "OYSTERS ROCKEFELLER"

Steps:

• In a food processor, place the tarragon and spinach and pulse 1 to 2 times to coarsely chop. Add the panko and pulse until completely combined with the tarragon and spinach (it should look like green bread crumbs). Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl and set aside.
• In a small saute pan set over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and pancetta and cook until the pancetta is golden-brown and crispy, about 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and add the lemon juice, sugar and salt, stirring with a wooden spoon until the sugar is dissolved. Add the parsley and set aside.
• Pour enough grapeseed oil into 10-inch saute pan to fill it by 1/3 inch. Heat the oil over medium heat to 350 degrees F or until a few breadcrumbs sprinkled in the pan sizzle immediately but do not burn. Lightly beat the egg in a medium bowl. Add the oysters to the egg and toss gently to coat. One by one, lift them out of the egg and place them in the herb breadcrumbs. Again toss gently to make sure the oysters are coated all around, pressing gently to adhere.
• Place the breaded oysters, one at a time, into the hot oil. You should be able to fry about 6 at a time. Fry until golden brown, about 1 minute. Flip the oysters and cook another 1 minute to brown on the other side. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat the process with the remaining oysters.
• Place one oyster in each half shell and spoon some of the pancetta vinaigrette over the top. Serve warm.

PANKO FRIED OYSTERS FOR TWO

Steps:

• HOT SAUCE: Mix all ingredients together.
• To allow flavors to blend, refrigerate several hours.
• Hot Sauce will keep several days in the refrigerator.
• Be sure to cover it tightly.
• Line colander with two layers of paper towel.
• Rinse oysters, drain and put in colander, patting to dry.
• EGG DIP: In small bowl, add egg and milk; whisk to blend well.
• If using only egg whites, do not whisk enough to be dry/frothy.
• FLOUR COATING: Put all ingredients in small plastic bag and shake to mix well.
• PANKO COATING: in a small bowl, add ingredients and mix well.
• TO BREAD OYSTERS: Step 1: Dip 2 or 3 oysters in Egg Dip, letting any excess drain off.
• Step 2: Place them in Flour Coating, shaking to completely coat oysters.
• Remove from Flour Mixture.
• Step 3: Repeat step 1.
• Step 4: Place them in Panko Coating bowl.
• Roll them over and get them completely coated with bread crumbs.
• With tongs, gently remove them from breadcrumbs and place in a single layer on a baking tray lined with plastic wrap.
• Repeat Steps 1-4 until all oysters are breaded.
• Cover breaded oysters with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours or more.
• This breading can be done up to 8 hours ahead.
• TO FRY OYSTERS: Heat frying oil in deep pan to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
• With tongs, gently remove oysters from baking sheet and gently drop them into the hot oil.
• Fry the oysters in small (6-8 oysters each) batches to keep from lowering the temperature of the oil too much.
• Fry about 2 minutes or until golden brown on one side, turn and brown other side (about 1-2 minutes).
• Remove from oil and drain on layers of paper towels.
• NOTE: After cooking one batch of oysters, let the temperature of the oil return to about 375, before cooking the next batch.
• If the oil temperature is not hot enough before adding the oysters, they will taste greasy, rather than light.
• Serve immediately with Hot Sauce.