Oysters in crispy tempura batter with apricot purée

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Chris Horridge serves up a crispy tempura oyster recipe, sweetened with apricots and served on a bed of rock salt - simple, but endlessly impressive. This is a wonderful dish to try at home that requires surprisingly little effort and is perfect for a romantic evening or a dinner party with friends.

First published in 2015

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Oysters

  • 12 oysters
  • 20g of cornflour
  • 1000ml of oil

Tempura Batter

  • 50g of cornflour
  • 50g of rice flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 50ml of vodka
  • 50ml of water

Apricot purée

To plate

Equipment

  • Deep fat fryer
  • Blender
  • Oyster knife

Method

1
For the apricot purée, chop the apricots and mix with the salt and sugar. Put in a pan and cook to a thick chunky purée. Blitz in a blender adding some orange juice to thin it if required
2
For the tempura batter, put the ingredients in a blender and blend for 10 seconds to make a light batter. If it’s too thin then add more flour. If it's too thick add a little more water
  • 50g of cornflour
  • 50g of rice flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 50ml of vodka
  • 50ml of water
3
Remove the oysters from their shells and put aside. Sterilise the oyster shells by scraping away the excess oyster from inside the shell and boiling them in water for 5 minutes, then plunge them into cold water
4
Heat a deep fat fryer filled with the oil. Lightly dust the oysters in the remaining cornflour. Dip into the batter and deep fry for around 2 minutes or until crispy. Drain on kitchen paper
  • 20g of cornflour
  • 1000ml of oil
5
To plate, spoon some rock salt onto a tile or plate. Sit the sterilised shells on it, spoon some apricot purée into each and put the hot fried oysters on top. Serve immediately
First published in 2015

Chris Horridge is a master of balancing unusual flavours to great effect, working at various Michelin-starred restaurants around the country and earning his own star for his kitchen garden-driven food. He is a passionate advocate of nutritious, ‘free from’ food, choosing and pairing ingredients based on their effect on the body as much as flavour.

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