Introduction to Shucking Oysters
Shucking oysters is a life skill that requires patience, practice, and the right technique. Ari Kolender, owner of two seafood restaurants, Found Oyster in East Hollywood and Queen’s Raw Bar & Grill in Eagle Rock, knows oysters. His restaurants serve tens of thousands of oysters a week, and he has sold well over a million oysters. Kolender is the perfect person to ask about how to shuck oysters properly.
The Importance of Shucking Oysters
The quality of the shuck is important, says Kolender. He explains that everyone thinks they should dig in with as much force as possible, but it’s not about pressure, it’s about leverage. You’re trying to separate these two shells that open naturally. Kolender emphasizes that the process is intimidating, but if you know what you’re looking for, it can be easy.
Choosing the Right Oysters
Firstly, look for fresh and clean oysters. Always ask when they were harvested. Oysters can live a really long time, but they start to lose their infrastructure, or their liquid, after a week. You want closed oysters. If an oyster is open and stays open, it’s dead and should be discarded. If its liquor has spilled onto other oysters, just rinse them off.
The Shucking Process
To shuck an oyster, consider the anatomy of the oyster. An oyster usually has a cupped side and a flat side. The cup of the oyster should be facing down. The hinged side of the oyster comes to a point in a “V.” The purpose here is to pry open the hinge, then free the oyster meat from the top and bottom shell, which is connected by its adductor muscle.
Using a Kitchen Towel
Use a kitchen towel to hold your oyster. It’s the safest way to be, says Kolender. Put the kitchen towel flat on a surface. Though Kolender prefers to hold the towel in his hand, he says placing it on the counter — with the oyster resting on it — is the best way for beginners to get into the physics of shucking.
Opening the Hinge
Make sure the oyster’s hinge is facing you. Your knife is designed to fit into a hinge very well, says Kolender. The hinge might not be in the exact same place every time. Run your knife along the “V”-shaped end of the oyster, and it will tell you where it needs to be. Determine how it feels comfortable. Press down on the oyster to keep it still, with a tiny bit of pressure and then move the knife in a rocking “U” motion along the hinge.
Releasing the Adductor Muscle
Release the adductor muscle that attaches the meat to the shell. It goes straight through the top and bottom of the oyster. Your job is to release the oyster from the top and bottom shell and leave it there for serving. Run the tip of the knife down the side of the shell so that you can open it slightly — enough that you can see the oyster and identify its adductor muscle.
Extra Tips
Remember to clean your knife as you go. And wipe any debris away from the shell that holds the oyster. Serve the oysters flat on ice. Kolender serves them on pebble ice, because it’s nice and light and you can really nuzzle your oysters into the ice so they stay flat, not tilted, so none of their liquid spills out.
Conclusion
Shucking oysters is a skill that requires practice and patience. With the right technique and a little bit of knowledge, you can become a pro at shucking oysters. Remember to choose fresh and clean oysters, use a kitchen towel to hold your oyster, and release the adductor muscle that attaches the meat to the shell. With these tips, you’ll be able to shuck oysters like a pro.
FAQs
Q: What is the best way to hold an oyster while shucking?
A: The best way to hold an oyster while shucking is to use a kitchen towel. This provides a safe and stable way to hold the oyster.
Q: How do I know if an oyster is fresh?
A: You can tell if an oyster is fresh by checking if it is closed. If an oyster is open and stays open, it’s dead and should be discarded.
Q: What type of ice is best for serving oysters?
A: Pebble ice is the best type of ice for serving oysters because it’s nice and light and you can really nuzzle your oysters into the ice so they stay flat, not tilted, so none of their liquid spills out.
By Betty Hallock, Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES — Ari Kolender knows oysters. His two seafood restaurants — Found Oyster in East Hollywood and Queen’s Raw Bar & Grill in Eagle Rock — serve tens of thousands of oysters a week. Between them they’ve sold well over a million oysters, splayed in platters over ice, tucked into towers of seafood, served raw, grilled or fried (even occasionally buffalo-fried).
So if you want to learn how to shuck oysters properly, who better to ask than Kolender?
Yes, “the process is intimidating,” says Kolender. “You have a sharp knife. You have something fighting against you. Do I use a glove? Do I use a towel? All this stuff. How do I get this hinge to open?
“It’s not easy, but if you know what you’re looking for, it can be.”
“Everyone thinks they should dig in with as much force as possible,” says Ari Kolender, of opening oysters. (Stephanie Breijo/The Los Angeles Times/TNS)
The quality of the shuck is important, Kolender says. He’s standing in the L.A. Times’ test kitchen, equipped with an oyster knife and thick kitchen towel, about to open a couple of dozen Hayes (West Coast) and Norumbega (East Coast) oysters.
“Everyone thinks they should dig in with as much force as possible,” he says. “It’s not about pressure, it’s about leverage. You’re trying to separate these two shells that open naturally.”
Here are Kolender’s tips for perfectly shucking oysters:
Firstly, look for fresh and clean oysters. Always ask when they were harvested. “They can live a really long time, but they start to lose their infrastructure,” or their liquid, after a week.
You want closed oysters. If an oyster is open and stays open, it’s dead and should be discarded. If its liquor has spilled onto other oysters, just rinse them off.
More oyster-opening tips: Use a kitchen towel. Don’ t think of the oyster knife as a chef’ s knife. Pebble ice is the best ice for serving oysters. (Stephanie Breijo/The Los Angeles Times/TNS)
OK, let’s shuck.
Consider the anatomy of the oyster.
An oyster usually has a cupped side and a flat side. The cup of the oyster should be facing down.
The hinged side of the oyster comes to a point in a “V.” The purpose here is to pry open the hinge, then free the oyster meat from the top and bottom shell, which is connected by its adductor muscle.
Use a kitchen towel to hold your oyster. “It’s the safest way to be,” Kolender says.
Put the kitchen towel flat on a surface. Though Kolender prefers to hold the towel in his hand, he says placing it on the counter — with the oyster resting on it — is the best way for beginners to get into the physics of shucking.
Make sure the oyster’s hinge is facing you. “Your knife is designed to fit into a hinge very well,” he says. The hinge might not be in the exact same place every time. Run your knife along the “V”-shaped end of the oyster, and “it will tell you where it needs to be. Determine how it feels comfortable.”
Open the hinge. Press down on the oyster to keep it still, with a tiny bit of pressure and then move the knife in a rocking “U” motion along the hinge. That creates friction and leverage between the top shell and bottom shell, which opens it up.
Release the adductor muscle that attaches the meat to the shell. It goes straight through the top and bottom of the oyster. Your job is to release the oyster from the top and bottom shell and leave it there for serving.
So you’re going to run the tip of the knife down the side of the shell so that you can open it slightly — enough that you can see the oyster and identify its adductor muscle. “This is not your chef knife. You’re not slicing the meat off of the shell. You’re actually pushing the meat off of the shell.” So keep the knife against the top of the shell and push to scrape the meat off. It’s surgery; it’s just the tip of the knife
