Chinese Oyster Soup
Fresh oysters are aplenty and cheap in Taiwan. I bought a small tray of oyster meat (150g) at a local supermarket for NT$58 to make this super quick & fresh Chinese oyster soup (蚵仔湯). This soup is clear and light, amplifying the natural goodness of fresh oysters.
See Also:
Oysters cook very fast. Don’t overcook them or they will become shrunken and chewy. So this oyster soup can be made in 15-minutes flat (from start to finish), with only a few basic Chinese cooking ingredients.
This is the tray of oysters I bought from the local PX Mart. On the top right of the packaging is a recipe (in Mandarin) for oysters soup. I followed the recipe and it works! I filled in the weight of the ingredients and cooking time which is lacking in the instructions, and this is how this recipe come about. Back home, without fresh oysters at the markets, one can easily substitute with thawed frozen oysters to make this soup.
Chinese Oyster Soup Recipe
Oysters cook quickly in boiling water. Overcooking will result in the oysters becoming shrunken and chewy.
Ingredients:
- 500ml water
- 150-300g fresh or thawed frozen oysters meat rinsed and drained
- 5 thin ginger slices
- 1 tbsp rice wine (or sake)
- 3 tbsp chopped spring onions
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt to taste
- 1/8 tsp white pepper powder to taste
- few drops sesame oil to garnish
- 2 slices ginger julienned (short thin strips) to garnish
Directions:
- Make the oyster soup. Bring water in a pot to boil. Add oysters and ginger slices. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, or until the oysters are just cooked. Add rice wine and spring onions and turn off the stove. Season with salt and white pepper.
- To serve, ladle soup into serving bowl(s). Drizzle a few drops of sesame oil and garnish with julienned ginger.