Good Fish_ Sustainable Seafood Recipes From the Pacific Coast - Becky Selengut [21]
HOW THIS TYPE OF SEAFOOD IS RAISED OR HARVESTED: You’ll find wild oysters clinging to rocks or clumped together in intertidal areas, a product of what’s known as “natural set,” in which larvae naturally attach themselves to old shells or rocky surfaces. Cultivated oysters develop from larvae that are, for the most part, grown in hatcheries and then encouraged to attach to shells (known as cultch). Cultivated oysters are grown in a variety of ways: in bags; suspended in the water column in trays or lantern nets; tumbled (to create a deep cup and smooth edges such as in Kushi and Shigoku oysters); or simply spread on the beach, what’s known as bottom culture.
SUSTAINABLE SUBSTITUTES: While I’d love to say there is a type of seafood you can easily substitute for oysters, I think that would be a disservice to how unique an oyster is. If you’re craving oyster chowder, you can often find very high-quality oysters already shucked, in jars, that are great to use if you can’t find them in the shell. Can’t find shucked? Make a chowder with clams, geoduck, or razor clams.
Oyster spawn on a half shell? Not exactly something you want to pay a premium for, so it’s good to know what oysters look like during and after spawning so that you can avoid eating them. At this time, they are not at their best. Some oyster growers sell triploid oysters, which are essentially sterile. Triploids, or “trips,” are plump and juicy when the others are reproducing. When an oyster spawns, the oyster will be milky and mushy, and after spawning, the oyster meat will be skinny, gray, and watery. Mmm, I’ll take a dozen please! Typically this happens in the summer months, except for Kumamotos, which spawn during the winter, and of course the sterile trips.
oyster and artichoke soup
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 bunch green onions, thinly
sliced
2 ribs celery, thinly sliced
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground
pepper
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
(optional)
1 pint preshucked fresh oysters
2 (14-ounce) cans artichoke
bottoms, drained
1 cup clam juice
⅛ teaspoon cayenne
4 ounces (1 cup) medium-diced
oyster or button mushrooms
2 tablespoons cream sherry or
dry sherry
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ cup cream
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced fresh
tarragon (optional)
Last year, when my friend said she wanted to try a recipe for oyster and artichoke soup, I admit I wrinkled my nose. Some ingredient combinations can be truly terrible—others you nod your head up and down, a grin forming on your face because the oyster’s sweet, soft brininess is a seafood sister to artichoke’s creamy yet firm vegetal quality. If you use jarred high-quality preshucked oysters, the dish comes together really fast. It has become my new favorite soup.
SERVES 4 TO 6
Melt the butter in a stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the green onions, celery, salt, pepper, and dried tarragon (if not using fresh tarragon for serving). Sauté for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
Meanwhile, drain the oysters, reserving the liquid. Rinse them under cold running water, dry them on a paper towel, then roughly chop them. Set aside.
Purée one can of the artichokes with the clam juice in a blender or food processor until smooth. Pour the purée into a 4-cup measuring cup, add the reserved oyster liquor, and then add water to make 4 cups of liquid. Set aside.
Roughly chop the other can of artichokes. Add them to the stockpot, along with the cayenne and mushrooms. Sauté over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes, or until the mushrooms release their juices. Add the cream sherry, stirring to loosen any bits clinging to the pot, and then add the flour. Sauté for another 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the reserved artichoke purée to the pot and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the oysters, cream, and