Welsh Family Kitchen
Fried Oysters
This is a favorite of the Maryland Eastern Shore, and individual cooks swear by their individual recipes. I consumed a lot of Apalachicola oysters from Florida's Gulf Coast while in college, but oysters (pronounced "arsters") from Delmarva are the best.
Maryland state statutes and rules require oysters be washed after shucking. This removes much of the flavor contained in the "liquor" in which the oyster lives, within the shell. Virginia does not require this, so the oysters have more taste. We can get them at How Sweet It Is.
Ingredients:
1-2 pints Oysters [Unwashed Chincoteague are the best]
1 Egg per pint of oysters
Chef's Choice Coating [Bread crumbs; Panko; Cracker Meal; Washington Seafood Breading "Dust."]
Pinch of Salt
Pinch of Cayenne Pepper
Veggie oil to 2-3" depth in a Dutch Oven
Procedures:
Check the oysters for shell and drain the liquid. [Do NOT rinse.]
Put them in a bowl with beaten egg.
If the oysters were previously washed, add salt.
Remove each from the egg bath and pat the coating into the oyster. [Combine small oysters together in the coating.]
Fry until golden.
Notes:
2024-02-17: As a part of Lyd’s birthday weekend, 2 pints were ordered from the Crab Barn in Crsifield. The smaller went into Oyster Stew, and the larger were fried, and served with sweet potato fries, corn pudding, and a bottle of La Marcia Prosecco.
2023-10-07: As before, we ordered 2 pints from Crisfield. The smaller ones went into Oyster stew. And the larger were fried. All for Bill’s visit.
2023-02-16: We got 2 pints from Crisfield. The larger ones were fired and the smaller save for Oyster Stew.
2021-09-20: The oysters were quite small, so Lyd made 7, with multiple oysters in each, served with homemade cocktail sauce, broccoli crowns, corn bread squares and a Barefoot Riesling.
2009-02-22: Added to our cookbook.
05/14/2024
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