Southern Fried Oysters
I love oysters. Fried Oysters, Oysters Rockefeller, Grill Oysters, Smoked Oysters…<Insert Forest Gump Sound Bite Here> 🙂 List goes on and on…Yet, I have to say Southern Fried Oysters are the winner in my book and every other a very close second 🙂 
When you take something as beautiful as an oyster and decide to fry it in hot deliciousness we become instant winners at the dinner table.
The entire world loves to fry food and everyone does it excellently. Oysters are known for their many interesting properties like being an Aphrodisiac, Tasty & Healthy. The healthy levels of Oysters are numerous
Let’s talk about what makes Southern Fried Oysters Great!!!… There are a few things to think about when frying. First would be freshness. When you fry food the oil creates a barrier wall around the food you’re cooking keeping the oil out. If your food isn’t really fresh when frying seafood any little off-putting smells or sent will be increased from the cooking process. This happens because of the perfectly sealed wall that’s created around the oyster keeping oil out, but the un-freshness sealed “Inside”
Do the Sniff Check – Your Seafood Should Smell Like The Beautiful Sea
- Next thing to be concerned about is the temperature of the oil. Under 300 degrees and the oil will start to leach inside creating mushiness.
- Over 375 degrees will cause discoloration and be moving into burnt flavors territory
- Be sure to wash the Oysters – No Exceptions
- Marinade in buttermilk or whole milk, minimum 30 minutes
- Do not use All Purpose flour – See Recipe Below For The Magic Flour type
- Fry If you can please Fry with Peanut 100% of the time for maximum flavor. Peanut Oil has a very high smoke point.
- High Smoke Point helps the oil not become oxidized and burnt in flavor
Serving – When you’re working with fresh oysters that you shucked by hand. A good rule of thumb is these are great oysters to serve raw. When your laying out your food to be served be sure to add at least one dozen raw oysters on the half shell. This offers your family and friends a clear message of how fresh your Oysters really are…
Chef Tip: If you give using Lime instead of Lemon next time you’ll never use lemon on raw oysters again. Yes, Lemon with Fried Oysters. No to RAW Oysters…Promise you’ll be amazed.
One of Natures Natural Beauty’s
On Mother’s Day, I was fortunate to be with my Mom on Mother’s Day. She loves Fried Oysters, so I just had to make them. She rates these Oysters at the top of her list – Soon to be your Oyster recipe… Recipe Below…Please Enjoy 
Bonus Recipe Oysters Rockefeller
Perfect Oysters Rockefeller
Ingredients
- 16 oz Oysters Everywhere sells them a little different, that's OK, the flouring mix works for all amounts
- 2 Cups "Cake" Flour Magic Ingredient - Or Use 2/3 AP Flour & 1/3 Corn Starch
- 2 Cups Cornmeal
- 1 T Creole Seasoning Tony's or Ol Bay or to taste
- 1 T Garlic Salt
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 1 tsp Dried Oregano Crush in the palm of your hand to release the natural oils
- 1 tsp Dried Thyme Crush in the palm of your hand to release the natural oils
- 1/4 Tsp Black Pepper
- Salt To Your Taste
Marinade
- 1 Cup Buttermilk or Whole Milk
- 2 T Hot Sauce
- In Refrigerator for 30-40 minutes
Instructions
- Rinse off Oysters under cool running water. Place rinsed Oysters into bowl and cover with the marinade mix of Buttermilk/or Whole-Milk and into the refrigerator for 30 to 40 minutes, longer is ok. Not overnight, the natural acids in the milk will break down the Oysters' texture to much.
- Mix all dry ingredients in a clean bowl. Chef Tip: Taste the flour mixture. Does it taste too much like flour? Add more seasoning based on what you think it needs. You can always cook a small test batch and then adjust. the seasoning. This is how restaurant chefs balance out dishes. Test, Test Test...
Oil
- Use peanut oil if possible. The high smoke point of peanut oil means less oil smoking and a cleaner flavor.
- Add enough oil to cover the Oysters, Oysters need to be in the Oil, not floating on top of the Oil. Three to Four (plus) Inches. You are deep frying the Oysters. If you're low on oil use a pot that isn't as wide and deeper.
- Preheat to 360 degrees, testing with a candy thermometer. The temperature will drop as soon as the first batch goes in, so keep an eye on the frying temperature. This is why we start at 360 and not 350.
- Chef Tip: Test fry a few Oysters to see if the oil temp looks just right, and for taste testing.
- Then TSA ( Taste Season & Adjust....)
- Sprinkle the Oysters with salt after coming out of the fryer.
Ingredients
- 1 dozen Oysters
- 1 cup Bread Crumbs
- 4 slices Bacon cooked
- 1/4 cup Celery Leaves chopped
- 1/4 cup Chervil chopped
- 1/4 cup Parsley chopped
- 1/4 cup Spinach
- 1 Lemon juiced
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 tbsp Creole Seasoning
- Rock Salt
- 1 tbsp Pernod optional
- Parmesan Cheese optional
Instructions
- In a heavy round ovenproof baking dish spread enough rock salt to make a 1-inch layer. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a small bowl combine bacon, celery, chervil, green onions, parsley and spinach. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with lemon juice and optional Pernod. In another bowl combine bread crumbs with oil and Creole seasoning; season with salt and pepper.
- Carefully open oysters and discard top shell. Drain liquid, loosen oyster and remove any grit or sand. Push oyster shells firmly into the rock salt. Top with greens mixture, then with bread crumb mixture. Bake 10 to 15 minutes until bread crumbs are lightly browned. Serve immediately, directly from baking dish.
Other Seafood Recipe Ideas
Red Quinoa Crab Salad w/Avocado Crema – So Good & Healthy
How To Clean Crab Fine Dining Style
Chef Steven Pennington
Content Creator
Le Cordon Bleu Chef sharing food adventures from around the world with a style of cooking rooted in southwestern flavors using French culinary technique.
Loved ’em! im from SC Coast and they were the crispiest Ive ever had. Thank You! Served with homemade mayo with a dash of Tobasco
Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Looking forward to trying this recipe!
Can you recommend a recipe or cooking tips for frying soft shell blue crabs? Thanks!
Oh my soft shell crabs. Such a wonderful treat when done well. I would suggest frying them in peanut oil. The peanut oil has a higher smoke point and helps with keeping the oil flavor clean.
A recipe. I like the idea of using some cornmeal, corn starch, and all-purpose flour as the base.
1 Cup Cornmeal
1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Corn Starch (helps with a lighter texture)
You could play around with the measurements.
I would add some old bay seasoning and a touch of Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning.
Tony’s has a good bit of salt already. So I wouldn’t add any more.
Once out of the fryer sprinkle with salt.
I hope that helps out Chuck.