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Fried Oysters

Oysters coated in cracker crumbs and cayenne pepper, fried in butter or butter and lard.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Fried Oysters

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the oysters

  1. Select the largest oysters and remove them from their liquor with a fork, rinsing off any shell particles.

  2. Dry the oysters between napkins.

Coat and fry

  1. Mix grated cracker with cayenne pepper and coarse sea salt.

  2. Beat the yolks of the eggs and add 1 tablespoon of thick cream to each egg.

  3. Dip each oyster in the egg mixture, then coat with the cracker crumbs.

  4. Fry the oysters in plenty of hot butter or a mixture of butter and lard until light brown on both sides.

  5. Serve hot.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,184 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  3. Oyster + eggtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,103 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Oyster + creamtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,886 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  5. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Large oysters
Provide the main filling, with a tender interior that cooks quickly in hot fat.
Eggs
Their yolks bind the cracker coating to the oysters so it adheres during frying.
Grated cracker
Forms a crisp, golden crust that browns in the hot fat.
Thick cream
Adds richness and moisture to the egg coating, helping it cling and stay tender.
Butter or mixed butter and lard
Frying fat that conducts heat for even browning and adds rich flavor.

The step that matters

Fry in plenty of hot fat. Enough very hot fat cooks the coating quickly so it browns and crisps before the oysters overcook. Cool or crowded fat soaks in and makes the coating greasy and the oysters tough.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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