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Old Virginia Fried Oysters
Make a batter of 4 tablespoonfuls of sifted flour, 1 tablespoonful of olive oil or melted butter, 2 well-beaten whites of eggs, 1/2 teaspoonful salt, and warm water enough to make a batter that will drop easily. Sprinkle the oysters lightly with salt and white pepper or paprika. Dip in the batter, and fry to a golden brown. Drain, and serve on a hot platter with a napkin under them, and pass slices of lemon with them.
A light egg-white batter for deep-fried oysters, written for a cook who already knows how deep fat behaves. The original gives no temperature, no timing and no yield, so those are the gaps worth filling.
- The hinge: keep the frying briefShucked oysters need only 1 to 2 minutes in fat hot enough to set the batter at once. Longer and they shrink and turn rubbery inside a shell of crust.
- Fat temperatureThe original gives none. A deep-fat temperature in the region of 365-375F suits battered oysters: much cooler and the batter absorbs grease before it sets, much hotter and the coating colours before the oyster warms through.
- Batter consistencyFour tablespoons of flour with two egg whites and "warm water enough" gives a thin coating batter; the recipe's own test is that it should drop easily from the spoon. Add the water a spoonful at a time; a batter thin enough to ribbon off the spoon will slide off the oysters. No yield is given, and how far the batter goes depends on how thickly the oysters are coated.
- Beaten whitesThe recipe calls only for "well-beaten whites." Beating them well and combining them lightly, rather than stirring them hard into the flour, keeps some of the air that lightens the coating.
- Dry the oystersDrain shucked oysters well and blot them; surface liquor thins the batter at the point of contact and makes it slide. Standard shucked oysters, not smoked or canned, are what this calls for.
- Olive oil in the batterThe tablespoon of oil or melted butter is for tenderness in the crust, not for frying. Use a neutral oil with a high smoke point for the frying fat itself.
- Serving and yieldNo yield is given. The napkin under the oysters was standard service and would absorb fat; a folded paper towel beneath a platter liner does the same work and is easier to change.