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Taiwan, Asia · Oyster Omelette (Taiwanese O-a-tsian)

Okonomiyaki-Style Oyster Omelette

Taiwanese meets Japanese: the oysters and chewy sweet potato starch of o-a-tsian in an okonomiyaki cabbage batter, with sweet sauce, mayo and dancing bonito flakes.

ServingsServes 2
Total cooking time30 min
DifficultyMedium
About servingsBuy very fresh oysters from a reliable source and cook them through. Pregnant women, young children, older people and anyone with a weakened immune system should be especially careful that they are fully cooked.

Method

  1. Sprinkle the oysters with the salt and toss gently with your fingertips for 1 minute, rinse 2 or 3 times in cold water, pick off any shell and drain on paper towels.

    Add in this stepSalt (for cleaning the oysters) 1 tsp

  2. Whisk the flour, sweet potato starch, cooled dashi and egg in a bowl until there are no lumps, then add the cabbage shredded 5 mm wide, the sliced spring onions and the finely chopped pickled ginger and fold lightly from the bottom to keep air in. You make one per serving, so divide the batter and oysters by the number of servings.

    Add in this stepAll-purpose flour 50 gSweet potato starch 20 gDashi, cooled 100 mlEggs 2Cabbage 140 gSpring onions 2Pickled red ginger (beni shoga) or sushi ginger 10 g

  3. Heat a 20 cm · 2× pan (the number after × is how many you make) on medium heat, add part of one omelette's share of oil, spread the oysters evenly inside an 18 cm circle and cook for .

    Add in this stepNeutral oil 1¼ tbspSmall fresh shucked oysters 160 g

    medium heat

  4. Spoon one portion of batter over the oysters, shape it into a round 2 cm thick, turn down to medium-low heat, cover and cook for . Don't press it down or it will lose its fluffiness.

    medium-low heat

  5. Drizzle a little more oil around the edge, flip it in one go using two spatulas, cover again and cook for . It's done when a skewer pushed into the centre comes out with no wet batter and the top feels springy.

    Add in this stepNeutral oil ¾ tbsp

  6. Flip it back so the oysters face up, slide it onto a plate, spread with the sauce, zigzag thin lines of mayonnaise over it and finish with the bonito flakes and aonori. Serve hot; the bonito flakes will dance in the heat.

    Add in this stepOkonomiyaki sauce (or tonkatsu sauce) 3 tbspMayonnaise 2 tbspBonito flakes (katsuobushi) 4 gAonori (green seaweed flakes) 1 tsp

Cook's tip

The finer you shred the cabbage, the better the batter holds and the more tender it cooks. No dashi? Dissolve a little instant dashi powder in water. You can stir the oysters into the batter, but laying them on the pan first gives them a toastier flavour.

Cooking it at camp

Keep the oysters in a cooler full of ice and use them the same day; shred the cabbage at home and bring it in a zip bag. A camp griddle or plancha works well, with foil instead of a lid. Put up a windscreen to keep the heat steady.