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Oyster Fritters

Fried batter-coated oysters served hot.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Oyster and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,103 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Oyster Fritters

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the batter

  1. Drain and dry the oysters. Season with salt if needed.

  2. Beat the egg yolks until thick.

  3. Stir in the milk and enough flour to make a batter that is not too thick.

  4. Add a pinch of salt and beat the mixture well.

  5. Whisk the egg whites until stiff and gently fold them into the batter.

Fry and serve

  1. In a pan of boiling lard, drop a small spoonful of batter, place an oyster on top, and cover with a little more batter.

  2. Fry until golden brown on both sides, then transfer to a dish and 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. Oyster + eggtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,103 recipes

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

  2. Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

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

  5. Oyster + milktop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,933 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Yolks thicken the batter and whites, whipped stiff and folded in, make it light and airy.
Flour
Gives the batter body so it coats the oysters and holds together in the hot fat.
Milk
Thins the batter to a pourable consistency and adds moisture for a tender interior.
Boiling lard
Fries the batter quickly, creating a crisp, golden-brown crust.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites. Whites beaten until stiff hold air that lightens the batter. Stirring them in vigorously knocks that air out, leaving a dense fritter instead of a light one.

“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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