Oysters with chili garlic lemongrass sauce
Spicy, tangy and subtly sweet. Shucked oysters (blanching is optional) are tossed in a sauce made with calamansi juice, chili, garlic, lemongrass, cilantro stems, fish sauce and sugar.
Servings 3 people
Ingredients
- 18 to 20 shucked oysters
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
Sauce
- 1 stalk lemongrass peeled and finely sliced
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 small onion peeled and finely chopped
- 1 bird's eye chili finely sliced
- 6 cilantro stems chopped
- 2 tablespoons calamansi juice lemon or lime juice may be substituted
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
Clean and blanch the oysters
- Place the oysters in a bowl, add the starch and enough water to cover. Stir to dissolve the starch. Leave to soak for five minutes.
- In a pot, boil enough water to reach a depth of three inches.
- Drain the oysters, rinse, drain, rinse and drain again.
- Slide the oysters into the pot of boiling water, stir and leave for 10 seconds.
- Scoop out, dump into a bowl of iced water, leave for a minute, pour the contents of the bowl into a strainer, and set the oysters aside.
Make the sauce
- Mix together all the ingredients for the sauce. Make sure the sugar is fully dissolved.
- Stir in two tablespoons of boiling water.
- Taste and adjust the balance of flavor according to your preference.
Assemble the dish
- Dump the oysters into a bowl.
- Add half of the sauce and toss gently. Taste. Add more sauce, if needed.
Serve the oysters
- Ladle the oysters and sauce into small bowls. Optionally, garnish with cilantro leaves.
- Serve any remaining sauce on the side.