Oysters are bivalve mollusks considered a delicacy. They are relatively expensive, and because of their value and taste are associated with wealth and luxury. The high cost of this product, in addition to its excellent taste, is also due to a reduction in the population of this species of living organisms.
Before turning to the question of how to cook oysters, we will talk a bit about how they look and where they live. As a rule, an oyster is a shell with a pearlescent color, with a clam and juice inside. As for the taste of oysters, it is very multifaceted and depends on many factors, in this it can be compared with wine. Depending on the area in which they were collected, they may be more salty, sweeter, may have a light smack flavor, and also have a mineral taste. The main habitat is the coast of the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean, the bulk of oysters are produced in France and England. In addition, due to their slow recovery of the population, oyster farms began to actively develop recently, where the product is grown artificially.
Before you figure out how to cook oysters, you need to know how to choose them. The main rule: they must be alive, and the shells must not be open. A very important point: if the leaflets are at least slightly ajar - it is strictly forbidden to use the oyster! In most cases, oysters are eaten alive. To determine whether the mollusk you have chosen is alive or not, you can: shake the shell near the ear, if a gurgle is heard - the mollusk is dead, if no sounds are heard, it means it is alive, because it holds well to the walls of the shell. Live oysters, as a rule, are not cooked, they are eaten raw or served with certain cocktails. And canned shellfish are added to salad or soups.
How to cook oysters? At the very beginning, it is necessary to very thoroughly wash the shells with running water in order to completely wash off all the algae. Then you need to very carefully, preferably with a special knife, open the clams. You can eat them completely raw, as already mentioned, as well as smoked, fried, stewed, canned, pickled, baked and cooked in a double boiler.
There are many ways to cook oysters, the main thing is to try to preserve all the useful substances of the product to the maximum. There are a lot of them, since oysters are rich in iron, copper, and B vitamins, and the oyster shine is not due to fat, as it might seem at first glance, but to a huge amount of glucose. It is for this reason that oysters are so useful.
The recipe for cooking them is quite simple. The most common way is steaming. To do this, put the oysters in a colander over boiling water and hold for about 10 minutes, until most of them are revealed. Those that for some reason did not open up should not be eaten. The secret of this preparation is that in the water that boils under the oysters you can add various ingredients, the taste of which will then affect the taste of the oysters. For example, you can add a little ginger, garlic, pepper, lemongrass, it all depends on desire and preferences.
Many rightly consider the oyster a storehouse of energy and health. And therefore, when the question arises of how to cook oysters, the answer suggests itself that cooking in relation to this product can kill all the best. That is why many true connoisseurs of taste and gourmets do not recognize any culinary treatments with respect to oysters. They eat a very fresh product, emphasizing the unsurpassed taste with only slices of lemon.