Easy Shellfish Storage:

If you’re going to be serving your shellfish within a few days after arrival, all you really need to do is put them in a large bowl in your refrigerator and cover them with a wet towel.

However, if you’re curious about the absolute best way to store them, the one chefs use for maximum quality and shelf life, here it is:

Keeping Live Shellfish Fresher Longer:

Keeping shellfish on ice consistently is the best way to preserve their quality.  The only tricky part is keeping them out of the melting ice water (they’ll drown in fresh water).

You’ll need:
            A large bowl or other open-topped container
            Ice
            A wet towel
            A “shelf” (we’ve suggested several options below)

How to Build Your Shellfish Storage:

1.  Put your shelf in your bowl.  The shelf should be something that holds the ice and shellfish up above the water that melts from the ice, but allows that water to pass through. 

Depending on your outer container and amount of shellfish, this could be a colander, a collapsible steamer basket, a steamer insert, a large heavy-duty strainer, or even an old plastic container with small holes punched in the bottom.  

Alternatively, we’ve found a large sheet of heavy duty foil folded into four layers with holes poked through will work (you’ll need to use more layers with normal foil).

If your shelf doesn’t have a stand or legs of its own, place it on top of something to elevate it so the water has room to collect.  Here we’ve used a small inverted bowl topped with an inverted saucer.  Be sure to leave room for the water to get around the plate.

2. Put a large pile of ice on the shelf (whether it is the colander shelf below or aluminum foil shelf above).

3. Put your shellfish on top of the ice.

4.  Cover the shellfish with the wet towel.

5.  Store the entire setup in your refrigerator.

6. Check your shellfish regularly to drain collecting water, add more ice, or re-wet the towel.

Related Posts:
How to Freeze Mussels
Oyster Recipes
Mussel Recipes
Clam Recipes

1. With a towel in hand (to protect your hand from the oyster knife), hold the oyster cupped-side down, with the hinge toward you.

2. Wedge an oyster knife into the hinge.

3. Use short twisting and prying movements to loosen the top shell from the bottom shell.

4. Rotate the oyster knife so that it is perpendicular to you and slide it under the top shell. Remove top shell.

5. Now, run the knife under the oyster to separate it from the bottom shell.

6. It is now ready to enjoy. Dress with a mignonette or slurp away.

Now that you’ve got your oysters open, check out our collection of oyster recipes.

___________

Browse More:
Culinary Techniques

Raw oysters dressed with this mignonette are briny and bright with a strong herbal note, especially from the celery-esque flavor of lovage.  They make your mouth very happy indeed.

Drink Pairing: White Burgundy Wine

Ingredients: Makes Enough for 1 Dozen Oysters 
1 tbsp Shallot, very finely minced
2 tbsp Champagne Vinegar
2 tbsp Fresh Lovage Leaves, thinly sliced (chiffonade)
1 tsp Fresh Chives, sliced
1 tsp Fresh Italian Parsley, minced
Salt & Pepper to Taste

Plus: Fresh Oysters of your choice (it’s incredible on kusshi oysters)

Directions:
1. Stir all the ingredients together in a small bowl.

2. Spoon over fresh, just-shucked oysters on the half shell.

3. Serve.

_____________
Browse More:
Oyster Recipes
Herb Recipes

Pan Fried Oysters with Lemon Truffle Aioli

These fried oysters are superb – light, crispy & crunchy on the outside, soft & meaty on the inside, without being runny or chewy.  Dipping them in earthy, lemony truffle aioli blows the mind.

You’ll want to eat them like popcorn until you’re sick.  Consider yourself warned.

Drink Pairing: Chardonnay

Ingredients:                Makes One Serving, no matter how many oysters you use;)
2 Eggs, beaten
1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2tsp Black Pepper, freshly ground
Panko Bread Crumbs
Fresh Oysters (we used shucked live Virginica oysters)

Plus: White Truffle Lemon Aioli Recipe
Optional: Chive blossoms and/or fresh chives for garnish

Directions:
1. Make the aioli.

2. Chop the panko breadcrumbs in a food processor to break them into fine granules.

3. Mix the flour with the salt & pepper.

4. Set up a three-stage breading station – flour, egg, panko bread crumbs.

5. Heat 1/3″ of high heat oil (grapeseed, vegetable oil, etc) in a deep frying pan until it shimmers.

6. Toss the oysters in the seasoned flour, then dip them in the egg, then toss them in the breadcrumbs.

7. Test the oil with a few breadcrumbs.  When it’s hot enough to fry (the oil bubbles around the test crumbs), gently lay in the oysters.  Take care not to crowd the pan.

8. As each side of the oysters crisps and turns golden brown, turn them to cook the other sides.

9. When the oysters are done, move them to paper towels to drain off the excess oil.

10. Serve with the white truffle lemon aioli either spread on the plate or in a separate dish for dipping.  Garnish with chive blossoms & fresh chives if desired.

____________
Browse More:
Oyster Recipes
Truffle Recipes

Oyster Chowder with Bacon, Potatoes, Fennel & Chives

Drink Pairings: Chenin Blanc from Vouvray or Gruner Veltliner from Austria

A very light chowder (even if you include the cream) that showcases the fresh ocean flavor of oysters delicately cooked to that they are still incredibly tender.

Ingredients:         Makes 4 Servings
½ Fennel Bulb, halved & thinly sliced
1/8lb Shucked Pacific Oyster Meat (preshucked or from live oysters. Can add more if desired)
4 strips Mangalitsa Bacon, cut into batons (could substitute kurobuta, wild boar, or conventional bacon)
2 quarts Fish Stock
1 large Potato, large diced
1 Onion, small diced
1 Leek, small diced
2 tsp Meyer Lemon juice (could substitute conventional lemon)
1 cup Heavy Cream (optional)
Micro Wasabi to garnish (optional)
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Render the fat out of the bacon over low heat.

2. Once the fat has been rendered out, add the onion & sweat until translucent & softened.

3. Add the fennel and leeks.  Continue to sweat until tender.

4. Add the fish stock & potatoes.  Simmer until the potatoes are tender.

5. Reduce the heat to low and add the oysters and meyer lemon juice.  Cook until the oysters turn opaque.

6. Optional: Stir in the cream.

7. Taste for seasoning, then add salt & pepper.

8. Garnish with micro wasabi greens if desired. Serve.

___________

Browse More:
Oyster Recipes & Techniques

These baked oysters make a great easy appetizer or party food fresh out of the oven.  Bubbly and satisfying, the flavor of the oysters is augmented, not overpowered, by a smooth blanket of porcini duxelles topped with crunchy toasted breadcrumbs. 

If you need help opening your oysters, read our how to open an oyster tutorial with step-by-step photos!

Baked Oysters with Duxelles
Makes 1 dozen baked oysters

Ingredients:
1 dozen Live Virginica Oysters or Live Pacific Oysters
1 cup bread crumbs
2-4 sprigs fresh parsley (to taste)
salt & pepper to taste
kosher, sea or rock salt to fill the baking pan

Plus: Mushroom Duxelles – (we used Fresh Porcini Mushrooms)

Directions:
1.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2.  Make the wild mushroom duxelles and set them aside.
3.  Toss the bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and finely chopped parsley.
4.  Shuck the fresh oysters, loosen the meat from the bottom shell and lay them out on the half shell on a bed of rock salt or kosher salt in a small baking sheet.
5.  Top each oyster with a hefty dollop of the duxelles and a light covering of seasoned bread crumbs. 

6.  Bake the oysters in the oven until the crumbs have browned and the oysters are bubbly.

The same salt base can be reused for baking more oysters.

___________

Browse More:
Oyster Recipes & Techniques
Porcini Mushroom Recipes
General Mushroom Recipes

Plenty of people prefer their raw oysters on the half-shell seasoned with just a little lemon juice, vinegar, or hot sauce.  That’s fine for us in a pinch or on a picnic, but when possible a mignonette can’t be beat.

Basic Mignonette Sauce
1 tbsp very finely diced shallots
3 tbsp champagne vinegar

Directions:
1. Add shallots to champagne vinegar, and serve the completed sauce on your platter of fresh oysters, so people can choose how much they want.

Really, that’s it.  It’ll probably take more time to open the oysters (be sure to use a good oyster knife for your safety & sanity) than to make the sauce.  Of course, if you wanted to add more complexity to your mignonette, here are some suggestions:

Use a different vinegar: Sherry vinegar is a classic choice, although we like the clarity provided by champagne vinegar.  For really exciting flavors, try using one of Ritrovo’s Fruit Vinegars (though we’d recommend not using cherry for this, it’s very strong).

Add other flavors: Lemon juice, dry white wine, and freshly ground tellicherry peppercorns all work well in mignonettes.

If anybody has any other great mignonette recipes, we’d love to hear them (just leave a comment below!).

Other Oyster Content:
How to Open Oysters
Oyster Recipes & Techniques

Also Check Out:
Other Vinegar Recipes

Drink Pairing: Champagne

Ingredients:                Makes Enough for 2 Dozen Oysters
Borage Flowers or Micro Orchids
1 1/2 Gelatin Sheets
1 cup Sparkling White Wine (we used Cremant), at room temperature
Zest of 1/2 Lemon
1 tsp Fresh Lemon Juice

Plus: Fresh Oysters of Your Choice

Directions:
1. If using borage flowers, pinch off the fuzzy stems.  Rinse the flowers.

2. Put the gelatin sheets in a 1/4 cup of the wine in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.  Swirl the pan constantly, and heat just until the gelatin dissolves into the wine.  Remove from the heat.

3. Add the other 3/4ths of a cup of wine to the pot along with the lemon juice and a pinch of salt.

4. Pour the gelatin mixture into a small dish & move it to the refrigerator for about five minutes.

5. After five minutes, the gelatin will have begun to thicken.  Add the flowers and lemon zest to the gelatin and gently push the flowers below the surface with a skewer (may not be possible with the zest).

6. Check the gelatin again a few minutes later and again submerge the flowers.

7. Once the gelatin has set completely, shuck your oysters (how to shuck oysters).

8.  Scoop some of the flowers with a layer of gelatin around them and use to garnish the oysters served on the half-shell.

_____________
Browse More:
Oyster Recipes
Edible Flower Recipes

Raw Oysters with a Wasabi Mignonette Sauce

Wine Pairing: Daiginjo Sake or Muscadet

This delicious mignonette brings the bite of fresh wasabi root (far more complex and less powerful than the horseradish in fake wasabi pastes) to your next platter of oysters on the half shell.

Ingredients:
1 tsp fresh wasabi rhizome
1 sprig fresh chervil or other fresh herb
1 tbsp champagne vinegar
1 tbsp finely minced shallot

1. Finely dice the shallot, mince the chervil, and grate the fresh wasabi root as finely as possible (how to use fresh wasabi).

2. Let the fresh grated wasabi root rest, covered, for ten minutes (you can use this time to shuck the oysters).

3. Mix the fresh wasabi root, chervil, vinegar and shallot.

4. Serve atop shucked fresh oysters (Virginica oysters depicted).

___________

Browse More:
Fresh Wasabi Recipes
Oyster Recipes & Techniques
Root & Rhizome Recipes
Seafood Recipes

Though the old saying goes “Twas a brave man who first et an oyster” I maintain that the first man (or woman) who grilled an oyster was braver.

We thought we’d publish this little public service announcement to save you the unexpected (and potentially painful) excitement of exploding oysters that some of us (I won’t name names) have experienced in the past.

How to Grill an Oyster:

Remove the tops from the fresh live oysters (here’s our oyster shucking guide) and grill them on the half shell in their own juices.  They are done when the flesh is firm.  Squeeze on a little lemon and serve.

This simple (and safe!) method can be used for grilling Pacific Oysters, Olympia Oysters, Kumamoto Oysters, and Virginica Oysters.

___________

Browse More:
Oyster Recipes & Techniques
Seafood Recipes
Culinary Techniques