In the same pan, cook what feels like too many diced mushrooms (browns or shiitake are good oyster, too – I say “too many” because they shrink dramatically) in oil over a high heat until they start to soften and brown at the edges.Īdd a cup of fresh breadcrumbs or cooked rice to give it more body, return the onion mixture to the pan and throw in a good glug of Chinese rice wine for flavour.įry for a couple of minutes more, then add a generous amount of stock. When they’re coloured a gentle tan by the heat, add a dollop of doubanjiang (spicy fermented bean paste) and two-thirds of a jar of XO mushroom sauce (available in supermarkets). XO MUSHROOM SOUPįry some diced onions and carrots until soft, then add minced garlic and ginger. Simmer for five minutes, then ladle over sourdough toast placed at the bottom of each bowl.Ĭhicken is a great addition to soup. Skim and strain the stock, add the veg and a cup of frozen peas along with half the meat you’ve gleaned earlier (save the rest for tomorrow’s lunch). While this is happening, slowly fry diced carrots and a sliced leek until soft. Add any juices left in the bag, then simmer to intensify the stock’s flavour. Strip off the meat, then throw the skin and bones into a pot of chicken stock with a bay leaf or two, and four cloves of crushed garlic. I love those cut-price roast chooks you can find at the end of the day in the supermarket. To finish, I like to balance the flavour of the soup with fish sauce and a squeeze of fresh lime juice. Make sure you simmer long enough to totally soften these ingredients if using otherwise add some cooked white rice when blending. From Venice Beach to the San Gabriel Valley, here are the best spots to get oysters in Los Angeles this summer and beyond.Add stock and coconut milk and, if you feel you need it, add diced pumpkin, potato or sweet potato after you’ve fried off your paste to increase the bulk without overloading the soup with coconut cream. Whether you’re looking for dollar oysters, East or West Coast varieties, or fun toppings that enhance the bivalves’ naturally briny flavors, the options are plentiful. “A lot of folks enjoy a Muscadet or any crispy, dry white wine - highly acidic wines with a lot of minerality pair particularly well with East Coast oysters,” he advised, listing Bloody Marys and gin and tonics as great cocktail options. For Croxton, Champagne and oysters are a winning combination. “You get to see how they’re different and find what you like.”Īnd then there’s drinks. Joe Laraja, general manager at Virgil Village’s Found Oyster bar, recommends trying different toppings side by side. They can be slurped with a squeeze of lemon and a couple shakes of hot sauce, a vinegary mignonette, or baked or broiled Rockefeller-style with butter, bread crumbs and herbs. The beauty of oysters lies in their simplicity. Mark Reynolds, founder of Jolly Oyster, with locations in Culver City, Ventura and L.A.’s Sunday Smorgasburg market, likened the taste of oysters to a waltz, with the first step the development of saltiness, the second of sweetness, and the final step delivering flavorful, fruit-like finishes - especially for Pacific oysters, which Reynolds said, “instead of being mouth-wateringly savory, have more of a cucumber-like finish.” “That’s going to largely be driven by how close the oyster was to the ocean - the farther away, the sweeter.” Salty oysters can still be sweet, but proximity to the ocean is a good measure of salinity levels. “The spectrum from sweet to ultra briny,” Ryan Croxton, co-owner of Rappahannock Oyster Bar, explained. Rainwater and brackish water, in places such as Washington state, soften the saltiness, whereas East Coast oysters might have a higher level of salinity. What you’re tasting in oysters - the merroir that reflects where the oysters come from - is the level of salty ocean water that has filtered into the oyster. When it comes to flavor, terms like salinity and brininess get thrown around a lot. And thanks to refrigeration and rigorous regulations around oyster cultivation in the U.S, the old adage to only eat oysters in “months ending in the letter R” no longer applies, making oysters a treat we can indulge in all year long. Is there anything more alluring than a crown of fresh oysters on the half shell gleaming on a throne of crushed ice - especially in the summer? Luckily, here in Los Angeles, we’ve got easy access to Pacific oysters sourced from nearby Baja and as far north as Washington state, as well as coveted East Coast varieties that are flown in fresh daily.
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