Oysters with a pickled ginger and shallot dressing

Felicity Souter: Painting the plate. Prestel Verlag. Munique 2023. pp. 14-17

 Oysters with a pickled ginger
and shallot dressing

Much like the later work of Odilon Redon, this a French classic with a subtle, Japanese-inspired twist.

Serves 3-4

For the dressing: 

- 1 echalion shallot (banana shallot)

-1 tablespoon drained pickled ginger slices

- 75 ml (5 tablespoons) rice vinegar

- 1/2 [half] teaspoon cracked black pepper

- Fine salt

12 fresh oysters

For the dessing, very finely chop the shallots and pickled ginger and put them in a small bowl with the rice vinegar, pepper and a pinch of salt. Stir and have a taste. Some pickled gingers are sweeter than others, so adjust with additional salt and/or vinegar to get it to your liking. Cover the dressing and put it in the refrigerator to allow the flavours to intensify for at least 2 hours and for up to 2 days before using.

Carefully shuck the oysters with an oyster knif. Fold a tea towel lengthways into a thick rectangle. Put an oyester, curved-side down, on one end, and wrap the redt of the towel around your hand to protect it as you hold the oyster in place.

Using an oyster knife, put the tip at the base of the hinge. Push down and then twist to pop open the shell. Slide the knife down the length of the top shell to separate the oyster and remove the top shell. Detach the oyster meat from the bottom shell.

Tos erve, lay the oysters over ice with the dressing in a small bowl with a spoon.