Fishbox Guide | How to Shuck, Serve and Store Oysters
Friday, August 5, 2016 : 10:56 AM
Oysters, a delicious treat from the sea!
If you've 'caught' oysters in your Fishbox, use this guide to shuck and serve them!!
If you fancy saving them for later, make sure you store them properly to keep them fresh and tasty.
Follow our guide to oyster perfection!!
Shucking is the name of the skill used to split the shells in two. They are a bit trickier to open than scallops, but the reward is worth it.
YOU WILL NEED
A pointy but blunt short strong knife (A small vegetable knife or an oyster knife) and a thick tea towel!
HOW TO GUIDE
1. Take a look at your oyster and you will see there is a round side, a flat side, a rounded end and a pointy end.
2. Place a thick overlapping tea towel on your dominant hand and place the oyster, round side down and the pointy end pointing to your body.
3. Pick up your strong knife and shoogle the point into the pointy end until you find a gap. Push in until the end is in about 1cm, then twist the knife until the rest of the shell pops off. Now you need to keep the shell upright to keep as much of the seawater inside especially if you’re going to eat them raw!!
Use your knife to scrape any extra meat of the inside of the top of the shell and as for the oyster you need to run the blade of the knife under it to remove it from the bottom shell.
4. Now you can enjoy them as they are and eat them raw, but remember and give them a few chews first, savour the flavour before swallowing.
5. Other options for raw are lemon juice, tabasco, cracked pepper, dried crushed garlic, fresh chilli, lime juice etc
6. You could try battering (in a tempura batter) and deep frying them or grilling them in the shell with a bit of bacon and fried onions.
GAPING
If oysters are gaping (open!) then that’s a sure sign they have died and will not be fit for consumption, and it is recommended that you discard them.
River House Restaurant Oysters
OYSTER STORAGE GUIDE
Store in your fridge with a temperature between 32-40 degrees F (0 to 5 degrees C). Keep them covered with a damp cloth and flat side up to increase shelf-life. If properly cared for oysters can live out of the water in their shell for around 4 - 5 days. If not consumed within 5 days, please shuck them and then it’s possible to store them for another 2-3 days in the fridge in a sealed container with their water.
FREEZING
If you would like to freeze your Oysters you must first shuck them. They can then be frozen in regular freezer bags. You can freeze them for up to 5 days after receiving them. Once frozen and defrosted eating them raw is not recommended, you will need to cook them.
READY TO EAT?
Browse some of our favourite Oyster Recipes!
Oysters with Shallot, Red Onion and White Wine
Oysters Simply Done with Lemon and Tabasco
Cooked- Bothy Oysters with Black Pudding and Apple Sauce
