Pan Fried Oysters with Anchovy Filet Sauce (Hàu Chiên với Cá Cơm Biển Phi Lê Sốt Dầu Ôliu)

A Japanese housewife is what my friend Akiko described me as when I was in Japan a month ago :-). I spent the first and last few days in Tokyo sightseeing, and of course tasting delicious food, but the majority of my time in Minamiashiga was spent grocery shopping, cooking and eating authentic Japanese food with my host family, their neighbor, and friends. I had an unforgettable time experiencing the life of a local and seizing the opportunity to learn the culture, custom, and culinary delights. I didn't leave, however, without introducing them to a few Vietnamese culinary flavors and teaching them how to cook a few of our favorite dishes. Despite the language barrier, we managed to understand one another through broken English, sign language and Google translator. What would we do without Google?

I posted most of my trip photos on my facebook page, but here are some pictures of food, shopping, and gathering when I was in Minamiashiga.

Phở - Vietnamese beef noodle soup

steaming rice cake for phở noodle

teaching these ladies how to make pork buns

bánh xèo - savory crispy crepe

introducing chè trôi nước  - sweet mung bean ball

I am learning how to cook miso soup 

oden - one of my favorite Japanese food

enjoying roasted sweet yam

One of the treasures I brought back was a recipe for oyster and shirako which I'd learn by observing Yuko's cooking. Now shirako is quite rare as it's the milt or sperm sacs of male cods. (Aren't you hungry now? Stay focus here). She pan-fried the oysters and the exotic shirako, then she cooked anchovy filet, smashed it into a paste and poured it over the fried oysters and shirako. It was mouthwatering watching her cook up this dish. I thought how my husband would really enjoy this dish with a beer or better yet some premium sake.

When I returned home, I tried to find shirako but it was impossible. I even attempted to text a head chef at a well-known restaurant in town to ask him to check with his vendor for shirako, but to no avail.  When pan-frying shirako, it needs to be coated with flour to protect its delicate and tender texture. The outside is crisps and golden brown while the inside is marvelously soft, and creamy - kinda like pork brain - which I love to eat it when I was a little kid. Little did I know how dangerous that could have been. 

shirako

So, with this recipe, there's only oysters.  If you're lucky enough to find shirako, you can prepare it the same way as oysters.  As exotic as this sounds, the flavor is in the anchovy.

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RECIPE: Pan Fried Oysters with Anchovy Filet Sauce

printable recipe

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Ingredients

1 glass jar oysters, small or medium size

1 slice  anchovy filet

potato flour

kolser salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

baby spring mix or rainbow mix

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Directions

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Preparing Oysters

Remove the oysters from the jar and let drain. Wrap the oysters in paper towel to draw out the excess fluid.  Sprinkle oysters with salt, and toss gently in the flour.

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Pan-Frying Oysters

Warm the pan, add oil and butter on medium-high heat.  Place the oysters in the butter and cook for about a minute until the bottom of the oysters are golden brown, gently turn them over and cook until golden brown.  Don't cook oysters too long as they will get dried out and tough. Remove the  fried oysters and let drain on a paper towel.

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Preparing Anchovy Fillet Sauce

In a small pan, cook olive oil and garlic over medium heat until fragrant, without letting it brown. Stir in the anchovy, and cook until anchovies are broken down, then turn off the heat.

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Preparing Baby Spring Mix

Arrange baby spring mix on a serving plate.  

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Presentation

Arrange oysters on a bed of baby spring mix. Drizzle anchovy sauce over. Serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over oysters. The lemon juice adds a robust acidity and concentrated floral sweetness to oysters.

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Eat well.  Stay healthy.