Fried Oysters With Pickled Ginger Aioli Recipes

FRIED OYSTERS WITH PICKLED GINGER AIOLI

Steps:

• Pickled Ginger: Combine vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to boil over medium-high heat. Add sliced ginger to the pan, and immediately remove from heat. Pour into small mixing bowl and allow to cool, 6-8 hours. (Pickled ginger will keep for up to one month in a lidded container in the refrigerator.)
• Fried Oysters: Heat oil to 375 degrees F. Meanwhile, gently detach oysters from their shells with a spoon; place meat into a small bowl, making sure they are clean of shells. Wash and reserve the shells. Next, whisk egg yolks and a splash of water in a small bowl to create an egg wash.
• Dredge each oyster in flour; then coat in egg wash, followed by breadcrumbs. Handling carefully, tap off any excess coating. They should be lightly breaded. Fry oysters in 375 degrees F oil, several at a time, for no more than 20-25 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and let them drain on a paper towel. The outside should be golden brown while the inside is barely cooked.
• To serve, place each oyster in a clean, dry shell. Top with a small dollop of aioli and a slivered slice of pickled ginger.
• In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks, Dijon mustard, and a pitch of salt until smooth and emulsified. Add grapeseed oil very slowly, drop by drop to start, then in a fine drizzle, whisking constantly to emulsify with the yolks. Add olive oil in the same manner. The mixture should thick and emulsified. Add vinegar, lemon juice and zest, and whisk again until doubled in volume. Add the soy sauce and stir to combine; fold in the garlic and pickled ginger. Let sit to let flavors come together, about 1 hour. Taste and season as necessary, perhaps with a bit of pickling liquid. (Can be made up to one week in advance.)
• Combine vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to boil over medium-high heat. Add sliced ginger to the pan, and immediately remove from heat. Pour into small mixing bowl and allow to cool, 6-8 hours. (Pickled ginger will keep for up to one month in a lidded container in the refrigerator.)

CRISPY PAN FRIED OYSTERS WITH LEMON CAPER AIOLI

Steps:

• Mix together all aioli ingredients before preparing oysters so the flavours can meld. This can be made ahead up to 2 days.
• Pour oysters into a colander to drain while you set up 3 shallow bowls in a row. In first bowl, mix together flour, salt, pepper and optional add in ingredients if using. In second bowl, add eggs and beat until frothy.In third bowl, pour crushed saltines. (You can crush with your hands or the bottom of a heavy glass)
• Dredge oysters in flour, coat well in egg wash and then press gently in saltines to coat well and place on a plate, repeating until all oysters are coated.
• Preheat a large pan (or two if needed) filled with a few millimeters of vegetable oil on medium heat until shimmery and then place oysters in the pan in one layer. They can be quite close together.
• Fry until golden on one side (4-5 minutes) and then flip and repeat on second side. Adjust heat as need so that they will cook through without browning too fast.
• Garnish with mixed greens and pickled onions if desired and serve with the aioli.*Store leftovers in the fridge up to 2 days. Reheat any leftovers in a dry frying pan to re-crisp them.

FRIED PICKLES WITH CAJUN AIOLI

Steps:

• For the Cajun aioli: In a bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, lemon juice and Cajun seasoning until combined. Fold in the green onions, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
• For the fried pickles: Combine the sour cream and pickle juice in a shallow dish. In a second shallow dish, whisk the flour, cornmeal and cayenne until combined.
• Drain the pickles and add them to the sour cream mixture. Then, using a fork, add the pickles, a few at a time, to the flour mixture and toss to coat.
• Heat 1/2 inch of canola oil to 350 degrees F in a large cast-iron skillet. In several batches, fry the pickles, flipping constantly, until golden brown and crispy all over, 2 1/2 minutes per batch. Drain on a paper-towel-lined baking sheet and season with salt.

GREEN CURRY FRIED CHICKEN WITH SMOKED OYSTER AIOLI

Steps:

• For the marinade: Toast the mustard seeds, coriander seeds, grains of paradise, black peppercorns, pink peppercorns, green peppercorns, fennel seeds, mace, cinnamon, cloves and star anise in a dry skillet until fragrant, being careful to not burn. Blend the toasted spices in a spice grinder. In a blender or food processor, blend the spices, onions, ginger, spinach, cilantro, garlic, tamari, salt and chiles until smooth. Add the grapeseed oil and blend until emulsified.
• Marinate the chicken in the green curry for 1 hour.
• Add the buttermilk and marinade for 1 more hour.
• For the aioli: Shuck the oysters carefully, reserving their liquor. Strain the liquor through a coffee filter. Use the strained liquor to rinse the oysters and remove any sediment or bits of shell. Strain the liquor one more time, and pour over the cleaned oysters.
• Place the eggs, garlic and oysters into a tall, round container. Add a quarter of the oil and, using an immersion blender, blend until emulsified. Then slowly add the remaining oil while continuously blending to maintain the emulsion and blend until smooth. Transfer the aioli to a wide storage container and cover with plastic wrap to ensure the container will trap the smoke. Place the container over an ice bath. Use a food smoker with the applewood and alfalfa dusk to fill the container with smoke. Allow the smoke to infuse until it completely dissipates. Taste and smoke again if you would like a more pronounced smoke flavor. Reserve the aioli in a container over an ice bath and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
• For the custard: Sprinkle the yolks with the salt and lightly mix with a whisk.
• Place the yolks into a vacuum-sealed bag and compress under full pressure. Cook in a circulator at 65 degrees C (149 degrees F) for 1 hour. Alternatively, cook the custard in a double boiler set over low heat stirring with a rubber spatula.
• Chill the mixture in an ice bath until completely cooled. Pass the custard through a fine mesh strainer. It should have a thick, smooth texture. Reserve in a squeeze bottle or piping bag.
• For the sea urchin powder: Gently wipe the seaweed with a damp towel and cook it in 1 liter of filtered water at 70 degrees C (158 degrees F) for 1 hour. Strain the seaweed and add the salt to the cooking liquid, mixing until the salt dissolves. Chill the mixture over an ice bath until completely cool.
• Use the mixture to brine the sea urchin for 10 minutes. Remove the sea urchin from the brine and blend with the mirin. Place the mixture in a dehydrator programmed to the medium setting. When the sea urchin is completely dry, blend in a spice mill.
• For the fried chicken: Fill a cast-iron skillet with about 3 inches of grapeseed oil and some schmaltz if using. Heat the skillet until a deep-frying thermometer inserted in the oil reaches 350 degrees F.
• Strain the chicken from the buttermilk and dust in the flour. Fry the chicken until golden, turning as necessary, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Season the fried chicken with the sal de gusano and sea urchin powder. Dot the fried chicken with egg yolk custard and place a few coriander blossoms and fennel fronds on top. Serve over the smoked oyster aioli.

GINGER AIOLI

Steps:

• Thoroughly mix all ingredients together.
• Chill at least an hour to blend flavors and thicken the aioli.
• NOTE: I've had good luck freezing fresh ginger knobs.
• They peel easily with a knife while still frozen, and grate easily with a microplane grater- just freeze small recipe size pieces individually (I put each piece in its own sandwich zip bag, then place all the bags inside a quart size freezer zip bag).
• The 60 minutes cooking time is for chilling.