The best oyster omelette I ever had was at the Shihlin Night Market in Taipei. I'm speaking, of course, of the market I remember from my formative years in Taiwan. Back then, the night market was rustic, chaotic, and totally non-conforming to our modern hygienic standards, but the street food offerings were so incredibly good. I'll never be able to replicate those oyster omelettes of yore, but here's my best rendition. For the purposes of home cooking, I've found it best to divide this recipe in two portions (easier to flip the omelette).
Ingredients:
6 eggs, very lightly beaten (ok to leave some of whites unincorporated)
Ingredients:
6 eggs, very lightly beaten (ok to leave some of whites unincorporated)
Pinch of salt & white pepper
8-10 small oysters (if frozen, defrost first)
2 cups Taiwan lettuce (E-Ah Tsai), Chrysanthemum (Tang Oh), or romaine lettuce, chopped
SLURRY:
1/2 cup sweet potato or tapioca powder (or oyster omelette powder)
1 cup cold water
1 tsp. salt
1 cup cold water
1 tsp. salt
SAUCE:
6 tbsp. ketchup
2 tbsp. soy pastes
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. rice wine
6 tbsp. water
1. Slurry: combine sweet potato powder, salt & water in a bowl & set aside.
2. Sauce: mix all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl & set aside.
3. Very lightly beat the eggs with a pinch of salt and white pepper; set aside.
4. Heat 1 1/2 tbsp. of vegetable oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add 1/2 of the oysters and cook about 2-3 minutes.
5. Pour in half of the sweet potato powder mixture over the oysters. Cook about 2-3 minutes or until partially cooked.
6. Pour half of beaten eggs over the oyster mixture and top with half of the chopped veggies. Press down with a spatula. Flip omelette over and cook an additional 2-3 minutes until done.
7. Make a second omelette with the remaining ingredients. Each omelette will serve 2 persons (or one, if you're really hungry).
8. Serve with sauce.
This is oyster omelette powder, consisting of tapioca flour & starch. Easy substitute
Although small oysters are the best for this recipe, they aren't easy to come by.
Taiwan lettuce (Eh-Ah Tsai in Taiwanese). This is the best veg to
4. Heat 1 1/2 tbsp. of vegetable oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add 1/2 of the oysters and cook about 2-3 minutes.
5. Pour in half of the sweet potato powder mixture over the oysters. Cook about 2-3 minutes or until partially cooked.
6. Pour half of beaten eggs over the oyster mixture and top with half of the chopped veggies. Press down with a spatula. Flip omelette over and cook an additional 2-3 minutes until done.
7. Make a second omelette with the remaining ingredients. Each omelette will serve 2 persons (or one, if you're really hungry).
8. Serve with sauce.
Sweet potato powder, available in most Asian markets.
for the potato or tapioca starch, if you can find it.
Frozen oysters from 99 Ranch Market (imported from Korea). These are much smaller than the average North American oyster, and best suited for this recipe.
Lightly rinse the defrosted oysters.
You can use large fresh Pacific oysters, but just cut them into halves or thirds.
use for this recipe. Otherwise, romaine lettuce is a good substitute.
Cut into bite-sized pieces.
Very lightly beat the eggs. Ok to leave some of the egg whites unincorporated.
Mix together the water, sweet potato powder and salt.
Saute half of the oysters in 1 1/2 tbsp. of vegetable oil for a couple minutes.
Add half of the Sweet potato slurry to the oysters.
Cook 2-3 minutes or until mixture is partially cooked through.
Add half of the beaten eggs.
Add half of the chopped veggies.
Cook 1-2 minutes and then flip the omelette. Cook another 2-3 minutes until omelette is cooked through; plate. Cook the second omelette in the same manner.
Serve with sauce. It's not pretty, but I promise I'll get better at it. Tastes good, though.
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