Fried Oysters
WCA Pan Fried Oysters
I created this recipe when I made a mistake with another recipe.
I love both oyster stew and pan fried oysters. I had them often in my youth, but my wives (I’m on number three) didn’t and don’t care very much about oysters. That means that I have most often had to get fried oysters in restaurants. They seem to always cook them in deep fat fryers.
I don’t like my oysters cooked too much, and it is possible to keep from over cooking them in a deep a fat fryer, but even so, something has been missing from all of the restaurant, deep fat fryer, cooked oysters I have tried. I’m not a chef and have not been able to determine just what has been missing. But a mistake in a recipe obtained from the web showed the truth. Deep fat frying loses all the juices in the oyster, and that is where the greatest flavor is. I don’t mean the oyster liquor; I mean the juice in the oyster itself.
This recipe uses an egg wash to create a little wall around each the oyster to make it a little island and save all of the internal delightful oyster juices.
Ingredients
1 pint fresh select oysters
2 eggs
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup self-rising yellow corn meal
1 or 2 tablespoons Peanut oil for cooking
Directions
Drain oysters in a large strainer or colander.
Preheat heavy sauce pan with peanut oil to very high – 350 to 400 F.
Beat eggs in suitable bowl
Mix flour and corn meal in a zip lock bag
Put oysters in zip lock bag with the flour/corn meal mixture
Shake to coat oysters with flour and corn meal
Remove oysters from zip lock bag, reserving the dry mixture in the bag.
Put oysters in egg wash one by one and make sure all oysters are coated with egg wash
Return oysters to zip lock bag and shake to coat all oysters
Add each oyster to hot pan.
Cook until nice and brown, about two minutes, and then flip to cook other side.
Don’t overcook. You want to just get the crust brown without overcooking the oysters. That’s why you need high heated cooking oil.
Don’t over crowd the cooking pan.
After oysters are light brown, place on paper towels to absorb unneeded cooking oil.
Serve with any condiments you desire, but the oysters will speak for themselves.
NOTE.
This recipe uses self-rising cornmeal. That normally is all that is available in the south. That cornmeal contains both baking powder and salt. That’s why there is no salt in this recipe. That works very well for this recipe, but if you can only get non-self-rising corn meal, you will need to add a little salt and baking powder. I don’t know how much, but I’m sure not very much.
The baking powder in the self-rising corn meal, or added to non-self-rising corn meal is what makes the oyster a little island in the flour/corn meal mixture, and that is what keeps all the oyster juices in.
I created this recipe when I made a mistake with another recipe.
I love both oyster stew and pan fried oysters. I had them often in my youth, but my wives (I’m on number three) didn’t and don’t care very much about oysters. That means that I have most often had to get fried oysters in restaurants. They seem to always cook them in deep fat fryers.
I don’t like my oysters cooked too much, and it is possible to keep from over cooking them in a deep a fat fryer, but even so, something has been missing from all of the restaurant, deep fat fryer, cooked oysters I have tried. I’m not a chef and have not been able to determine just what has been missing. But a mistake in a recipe obtained from the web showed the truth. Deep fat frying loses all the juices in the oyster, and that is where the greatest flavor is. I don’t mean the oyster liquor; I mean the juice in the oyster itself.
This recipe uses an egg wash to create a little wall around each the oyster to make it a little island and save all of the internal delightful oyster juices.
Ingredients
1 pint fresh select oysters
2 eggs
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup self-rising yellow corn meal
1 or 2 tablespoons Peanut oil for cooking
Directions
Drain oysters in a large strainer or colander.
Preheat heavy sauce pan with peanut oil to very high – 350 to 400 F.
Beat eggs in suitable bowl
Mix flour and corn meal in a zip lock bag
Put oysters in zip lock bag with the flour/corn meal mixture
Shake to coat oysters with flour and corn meal
Remove oysters from zip lock bag, reserving the dry mixture in the bag.
Put oysters in egg wash one by one and make sure all oysters are coated with egg wash
Return oysters to zip lock bag and shake to coat all oysters
Add each oyster to hot pan.
Cook until nice and brown, about two minutes, and then flip to cook other side.
Don’t overcook. You want to just get the crust brown without overcooking the oysters. That’s why you need high heated cooking oil.
Don’t over crowd the cooking pan.
After oysters are light brown, place on paper towels to absorb unneeded cooking oil.
Serve with any condiments you desire, but the oysters will speak for themselves.
NOTE.
This recipe uses self-rising cornmeal. That normally is all that is available in the south. That cornmeal contains both baking powder and salt. That’s why there is no salt in this recipe. That works very well for this recipe, but if you can only get non-self-rising corn meal, you will need to add a little salt and baking powder. I don’t know how much, but I’m sure not very much.
The baking powder in the self-rising corn meal, or added to non-self-rising corn meal is what makes the oyster a little island in the flour/corn meal mixture, and that is what keeps all the oyster juices in.
