I was reminded as I saw that today is National Fluffernutter day that my one year blog anniversary has come and gone without notice! A few days over one year ago I started my culinary journey around the world with meatloaf, and today I’m cooking food from Singapore.
It all started with some meatloaf…
Crazy how time flies. I can say with confidence that I’ve liked 75% of what I’ve made but, in the interest of moving forward, haven’t had time to remake too many of them. I hope you’ve enjoyed the ride and even had a chance to try a few. If you’re new to the crew, check out my “favorites” for some of my top picks of what you just HAVE to try. Anyway, Happy Anniversary to me! Moving on…
So today we have an omelet.
It’s just an omelet. No biggie. I’ve made 1000s of omelets in my life (this is not really an exaggeration. I went through a phase pre-blog where I probably ate omelets 3-4 days a week for dinner, and then another stint where I had one every day for breakfast. So versatile. Anyway, I digress…)
This was not really an omelet.
Today’s breakfast or sorts is a Singapore Oyster Omelet. Remember how I mentioned that hawkers and outdoor food court type markets are sort of a big deal in Singapore? Well, the oyster omelet seems to be a favorite. And I do try to make a country’s favorites, especially those requiring new ingredients.
A few things make this a bit different than the omelets I typically make at home:
1. Oyster omelets are made with a sort of starchy batter that forms sort of a crust on the bottom.
2. Asian sauces mixed it up a bit.
3. The omelet is broken up in a way that the end result is almost like a scramble.
4. Oysters. I’ve never cooked with them.
A few things I learned about oysters:
1. Like mussels, you buy them alive. Like, on ice, with holes poked in the plastic wrap. Sort of like I was bringing home a pet.
2. You need special tools to clean them. These tools, I did not have.
3. You have to know how to shuck an oyster. They don’t just open sesame.
It wasn’t until I was standing in front of my stove, ready to go that I realized #3 above was a problem. As I stood there, turning the closed oyster around in my hand, giving it a smack here and there, I realized this problem would not solve itself. Thank you, you tube. If you also don’t know how to shuck an oyster, check out this video.
I didn’t think I’d be able to do it with just my crappiest paring knife (I wasn’t going to ruin one of my good knives…), and was genuinely shocked with the first one cracked open.
Success!
While the end result wasn’t pretty, success to me was cleaning them at all.
I know what this looks like, but trust me, they’re oysters…
Recipe adapted from Singapore Local Favourites
Ingredients
7-10 oysters, cleaned and shucked
2 TB cornstarch
1 TB rice flour
8 TB water
1 TB oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 eggs, beaten (I used 1 egg and 2 whites)
1 TB soy sauce
1 TB sake rice wine
1 pinch white pepper
Cilantro, to garnish
Spring onion, for garnish
Chili sauce, to serve
Directions
**This process moves pretty fast, so I say get everything ready to go before you turn the stove on. **
1. Mix both cornstarch and rice flour together with the water to make a fairly thin batter.
2. Heat a large heavy frying pan until very hot and add oil. Pour in the batter and cook for about 15 seconds until batter is half set before adding in the eggs.
3. When the eggs are almost set, make a hole in the center by pushing the egg and batter mixture to the side of the pan. Pour in a little more oil and fry the garlic for a few seconds.
4. Mix, then season with soy sauce, sake and pepper. Add oysters and cook just long enough to heat through.
5. Garnish and serve immediately with fresh cilantro leaves and spring onions.
The omelet came out quite tasty, and while I’m not sure I’d go through the trouble to shuck oysters every time I want an omelet, I did like the crust from the rice flour/cornstarch, and the Asian flavors to mix it up. Worth a try, if you’re a master shucker.
