Ingredients
- 24 oysters
- Vegetable oil, for deep frying
- Seasoned flour, for dusting
- [Honey and Black Pepper Dressing]
- 300ml cider
- 100ml rice vinegar
- 100g honey
- Juice of 1 lime
- I teaspoon cracked black pepper
- [Tempura Batter]
- 180g rice flour
- 18g cornflour
- 2g bicarbonate of soda
- Enough ice-cold sparkling water to make a paste
- [Melon Garnish]
- Half cantaloupe melon
- 1 red chilli, finely chopped
- 10g sugar
- Half a lemon - zest and juice
- Half a lime - zest and juice
To prepare the dressing
1. Pour the cider and vinegar into a non-reactive pan. Bring to the boil and allow to reduce by two thirds, it should be almost a syrup. The mix will burn easily when it gets to syrup stage, so keep a close eye on it. Take off the heat and whisk in the honey. Stir in the lime juice and pepper and leave to cool.
2. While the syrup is reducing, peel and cut the melon into long strips and lay out on a flat dish. Sprinkle the sugar, chopped chilli, zest and juice of lemon & lime over the melon and place in the fridge until needed.
To Prepare the oysters
1. With your fingers, mix the dry ingredients for the tempura batter. Mix in the sparkling water with your fingers until it becomes a lumpy paste, should be the consistency of double cream. Ensure you make this just before you are ready to fry the oysters as it does not hold well.
2. In a deep-fat fryer, or a large pan filled no more than one-third full, preheat the oil to 190C.
3. Dust the oysters in seasoned flour, then toss them in the batter and with a slotted spoon, gently lower the first batch into the hot oil. Fry only six or so at a time, if you overcrowd the pan you will lower the oil temperature. Fry until golden and crisp – approx. two minutes. Leave to rest on kitchen paper and continue with others.
To serve
Place some of the melon mix in the oyster shell, and serve the oyster tempura on top of that
Dress with your little honey and pepper dressing.
