Oysters on Ice with Chardonnay Vinegar and Chilli Jelly
Raw oysters are a luxury that should always be served freezing cold and over ice. This recipe from Al Brown gives you an explosion of clean sharp flavours incorporating the salty briny oyster, the acidity of the vinegar, the heat of the chilli and the refreshing zest of the citrus to be devoured in one delicious mouthful.
Ingredients
- ½ cup chardonnay vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 leaf gelatin
- 1/2 tablespoon very finely minced lemon zest
- ½ tablespoon very finely minced lime zest
- ½ – 1 tablespoon very finely minced red chilli no seeds and add to your liking
- crushed ice
- 24 oysters
Instructions
Step 1: Chardonnay Vinegar and Chilli Jelly
- Pour the chardonnay vinegar into a small saucepan along with the sugar. Place on low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Remove and let cool slightly for a couple of minutes.
- Bloom the gelatin in a small bowl! of cold water for 3 minutes, then squeeze out the excess water and stir the gelatin into the vinegar and sugar. Let this sit and cool to room temperature.
- Add the lemon and lime zest, and chilli to the cooled vinegar and stir to combine.
- Pour the jelly into a small rectangular dish about 10cm x 5cm and place in the fridge to set (about 1 hour). If for some reason the jelly doesn’t seem to be setting, you may need to add more gelatin leaf. No problem. Just warm the jelly until it becomes liquid again, then add another 1/2 leaf of bloomed gelatin.
To Serve
- Place the crushed ice on a nice high-sided platter. Arrange the oysters in their half shells or on Asian soup spoons and push them into the ice so they sit firmly.
- Remove the jelly from the container and slice into little squares. Place a square on each oyster. Serve immediately or keep in a very cold fridge for up to an hour before serving.
Notes
This recipe is from Al Brown’s ‘Go Fish’. Of oysters on ice and serving them this way, Al says:
“I do love them in their absolute naked natural state with just a grind of fresh black pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice; however, they are often served with various vinegars that work equally well. The only hassle when serving oysters on ice with a vinegar is that, more often than not, the oyster slips off the toothpick and into the vinegar. So, this recipe is a way of eliminating those occasions and with colourful specks of the other ingredients through the clear jelly, the presentation is pretty cool”.
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.
