When life gives you limes, rearrange the letters until they smile
Limes add a zesty punch to any meal or drink. There is nothing quite like a squeeze of lime juice to make guacamole sing or make a mojito quaffable.
The New Zealand lime season is from March through to September. Try to pick up a few limes over the summer and you may find yourself financially crippled. Why? Because they’re all imported. Unlike lemons, which can be grown all year, limes only start being picked in autumn. Before that, all the limes in the shops are imported from the States and in my ever so humble opinion, they tend to be knobbly, horrible little things.
If life gives you limes, make margarita oysters
Fortunately, at Mahurangi Oysters, we also grow something that is at its prime over the colder months: oysters! So let’s put two winter items of deliciousness together and see what we get!
Lime and margarita oysters
We’ve got three different recipes; two that play on the theme of tequila, lime and margarita oysters and one that just uses loads of delicious limes. The first is a Mexican-inspired dish.
Oyster Ceviche
Ingredients
- 12 fresh Mahurangi oysters shucked. Reserve the liquor.
- ¼ diced red onion
- 1 finely diced tomato
- ½ green bell pepper finely diced
- ½ tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
- 5 limes juiced
- ½ tablespoon oil sunflower or light olive oil
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- In a bowl mix all the above ingredients. Then add the oysters to this luscious mixture.
- Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow the flavours to meld, if you can wait long enough..
- Before serving, you can also sprinkle with fresh coriander and a pinch of salt.
- Serve with lime wedges on the side. and taco chips for dipping, and lime margaritas.
Margarita Oyster Slurp
Ingredients
- 1 dozen fresh Mahurangi oysters shucked reserve the liquor
- 1 Tbsp finely minced spring onion
- 1 chili pepper finely diced (you choose the heat you like)
- 60 ml 4 tbsp tequila
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp orange liqueur e.g., Triple Sec or Cointreau
- Zest of one lime
Instructions
- Place shucked oysters, with their original juice still in place, over a bed of ice to keep cool.
- In small bowl, mix together all the mignonette ingredients.
- Taste mixture before serving to ensure proper balance is between lime juice and tequila. You may need to add more lime.
- Sprinkle a small pinch of lime zest over each oyster.
- Serve immediately with coarse sea salt and lime wedges on the side.
Tequila oyster shooters
Ingredients
- salt for coating the glass rims
- 1/2 dozen fresh Mahurangi oysters shucked, with their liquor
- 1/2 cup chilled fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon minced chili pepper (you choose the heat you like)
- 1/2 tablespoon minced spring onion
- 1/2 teaspoon chopped coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh chives
- 6 ounces tequila – about ¾ of a cup
- ice
Instructions
- Moisten the rims of 12 shot glasses with water, then dip each glass in salt to coat the rims.
- Put an oyster into each shot glass.
- In a medium bowl, combine the lime juice, pepper, spring onion, coriander, parsley and chives.
- Pour 1 tablespoon of the lime juice mixture into each of the shot glasses over the oysters.
- Pour the tequila into a cocktail shaker with ice cubes and shake to chill the tequila.
- Add about 2 tablespoons of tequila to each of the shot glasses.
- Serve immediately.
The oyster of choice
Thanks to our careful husbandry and intelligent market selection, our plump Pacific oysters have become the oyster of choice in the Auckland restaurant scene and are exported in large numbers to Pacific Rim countries.
Feel free to contact us directly should you want more information. As a family business, we are very proud of what we produce and sell – and we only sell the best.