A Taste of Spring
By Daniel Rose
How to shuck an oyster:
Deep-fried Oysters with Green Asparagus & Asparagus Vinaigrette
Ingredients
Vinaigrette
- 50 mL sherry vinegar
- 50 mL veal jus (to make 2.5 liters depending on veal quality: 1 breast of veal (6kg), 3 cups white wine, 250g butter, 2 kg shallots, grape seed oil, 1 veal foot)
- 50 mL olive oil
- 50 mL juice from the oysters (see below)
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- Juice of 1 pink grapefruit
Asparagus & Oysters
- 8 very large green asparagus
- 5 or 6 round red radishes
- 8 large, meaty oysters
- As needed olive oil
- As needed chopped parsley
- A dash lemon juice
- Pinch sugar
- 50 g flour
- 2 eggs
- Panko bread crumbs, as needed
- Oil for deep-frying, as needed
- Vinaigrette (recipe above), as needed
- Coarse sea salt, as needed
- Fine salt, as needed
- Maldon salt, as needed
- Grey sea salt, as needed
- Cameroon white pepper, whole, in a grinder, as needed
- Sarawak black pepper, whole, in a grinder, as needed
Instructions
Servings: 4
For the Vinaigrette
Make a vinaigrette by whisking the vinegar, the veal jus, grapefruit juice and the olive oil. Whisk in the oyster juice through a fine-meshed strainer, and mix in the shallot. Set aside.
For the Asparagus and Oysters
Clean, peel and trim the asparagus, removing the fibrous part. Cut off the scales with the tip of a knife. Cut the tip end of each asparagus at a length of 15 cm, leaving 5 cm of stalk end. Peel the stalk ends and cut them into thin matchsticks.
Boil the asparagus tips in salted water for about two and a half minutes, then immerse them in ice water and drain. Pat them dry with paper towels and do not refrigerate them if you can help it.
Clean and trim the radishes, slice them finely and set them aside in iced water.
Open all the oysters, discarding their first water. Keep the shucked oysters in a bowl, in their own juice.
Lightly grill the asparagus tips on one side in a frying pan or on a plancha with a drop of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Place 2 asparagus on each plate and add 2 oysters.
Drain the radish slices and mix them with a little chopped parsley, a dash of lemon juice, a drop of olive oil, a pinch of sugar, salt and pepper.
Bread the 4 remaining oysters for deep-frying: roll them in flour, dip them into beaten eggs, and then roll them in panko. Heat the oil to 350 °F and deep-fry the oysters for 1 minute. They should be a nice golden brown. Drain on paper towels, season with fine salt and add a drop of lemon juice.
Spoon the oyster vinaigrette onto each plate. Decorate the asparagus with seasoned radishes and raw asparagus matchsticks, and dot with a deep-fried oyster.
Photograph by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for The New York Culinary Experience.
