Tempura Fried Oysters with Asian Dipping Sauce

Peggy Lampman | Contributor

If I'm incarcerated, for whatever reason, and am granted one last dinner, every course would include oysters — appetizers to desserts.

Perhaps not dessert, but you get the picture. This is a recipe my brother is fond of that he shared with me; I made it for the first time, and it was screamingly delicious.

Soda water is often used in place of water in recipe below, to keep the batter light in tempuras. I forgot to purchase soda water and replaced with tap water — the oysters were still delicious.

Yield: 3 dozen oysters
Time: 45 minutes

Asian Dipping Sauce

4 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon Asian chili paste
1-2 small hot chilies, diced, optional
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon grated ginger

Tempura Oysters

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg
36 oysters, shucked (small to medium-sized)
Vegetable or canola oil for deep frying

Directions

1. To make the sauce, combine lime juice, fish sauce and sugar. Stir in garlic, chili paste, chilis, if using, cilantro and ginger. (Can be made up to 24 hours in advance.)
2. To make batter, whisk flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt together. Whisk in 3/4 cups cold water and egg. 
3. Add enough oil to a heavy-bottomed pan or deep-lipped skillet to come up to 1 1/2 inches deep. Heat oil until a small piece of tempura batter sizzles when put in oil.
4. Pat oysters dry with paper towels then dip into batter to thoroughly coat.  Deep fry 1-2 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.  Drain on paper towels and serve immediately with Asian Dipping sauce.