Oysters Escabeche
Serves 4 (3 oysters per person)
Ingredients
For the Oysters
- 12 oysters
- ½ cup Brut Cava dry sparkling wine
- ½ cup cava vinegar
- ½ cup grapeseed oil
- ½ oz rooibus tea with bergamot
- sea salt to taste
Tabasco Emulsion
- 1 large egg or 2 small eggs
- 1 cup canola oil
- 1 lemon, juiced
- pinch of saffron
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- 1 garlic clove, halved
- 2 tbsp water
- kosher salt to taste
- Tabasco sauce to taste
Garnish
- sliced chives
- cracked grains of paradise
- esplette chili
- herb flowers (arugula, chive, nasturtium, kale, borage, or Sicily)
How-to
Prepare Oysters & Make Escabeche liquid
- Shuck oysters into a bowl over ice and allow them to sit for 20 minutes, reserve shells
- Lift the oysters out, remove adductor muscle, strain the oyster liquid over the oysters. Repeat 3 times waiting 20 minutes in between strains to clean any dirt or shell pieces. Place into a 2 quart plastic container
- In a small sauce pot add cava vinegar, cava wine, and grapeseed oil. Bring to a simmer. Add the tea, and remove from the heat. Allow the liquid to steep with the tea for 10 minutes
- Strain the liquid over the oysters. Let cool. Store in the liquid overnight in the refrigerator
Make Wine Reduction, Poach Eggs & Prepare Aioli
- Put garlic and dry white wine, and grains of paradise into a pot. Heat and reduce by half
- While reducing, poach the egg(s) for 3 minutes, remove from water and put into a blender
- Add the wine reduction and a little sea salt and blend on medium speed for 1 minute while adding some of the oil in a thin stream
- Add saffron, tabasco, and lemon, then add the remainder of the oil while blending. Keep warm
To Plate
- Either use wet salt or ice on the plates to hold the shells. Place 3 shells per person on a plate. Put 1 oyster in each shell
- Put a small amount of the escabeche liquid in with the oysters. Top with some saffron emulsion, chives, grains of paradise, esplette, fried garlic, sea salt and/or lovage
- Garnish each one with a different flower, of mix of flowers