“The first time I had an oyster it was just down the hatch with no lemon or anything. It wasn’t the greatest way of introducing me to them as I found it difficult to eat. This is a much nicer way of introducing you to this delicacy. Then you can become more adventurous and try them the traditional way,” says young Irish chef and rising star Adrian Martin.
Serves 4
Ingredients
500ml sunflower oil
6–8 oysters per person, shucked (retain the shells for serving)
Sea salt
For the batter:
Juice of one lemon
300ml beer
100g plain flour
For the coating:
100g panko breadcrumbs
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon mild chilli powder
1 tablespoon sea salt
For the dip:
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
½ teaspoon spicy harissa paste
Method
Mix the batter ingredients well with a whisk in a bowl until you have no lumps. Sometimes it helps to sieve the flour. For the coating, combine and blend all the ingredients for 10–20 seconds in a food processor.
Heat the sunflower oil in a wok or large frying pan over a high heat until it reaches 180ºC (check this with a thermometer). Dip each oyster in the batter, then the breadcrumb coating and place gently into the hot oil. Fry until crispy. This should take 1–2 minutes. Try not to overcrowd the pan. Drain on some kitchen paper and then season with a little salt.
Mix the dip together and you are ready to serve.
To plate, mix some sea salt with a tiny bit of water to soften it, and then place six small mounds of salt around a plate with some of the dip in a dish in the centre. Place an oyster shell on top of each salt mound, then lay a crispy oyster inside and enjoy them while hot.
Recipes are from Create Beautiful Food At Home by Adrian Martin, which is published by Mercier Press in April 2019. Photography by Rob Kerkvliet. For more information, please go to: https://chefadrian.ie
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