Beer-Battered Oysters with Pickled Jalapeño Tartar Sauce

This recipe for Beer-Battered Oysters with pickled Jalapeño Tartar Sauce is from episode 1 of Fish the Dish starring Spencer Watts.

Serves: 5-8 as an appetizer

Ingredients

Oysters

• 2 litres Vegetable oil for frying
• 1 cup (250 ml) All-purpose flour
• 1 cup (250 ml) Cornstarch
• 2 tsp (10 ml) Salt
• Pepper
• 12 oz  of cold beer
• 20 large oysters, shucked, oysters removed and patted dry (Save shells for serving)
• Rock salt for serving

Jalapeño Tartar Sauce

• 2 Tbsp (30 ml) Red onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove of Garlic, diced
• 1 Tbsp (15 ml) Chopped fresh parsley
• 1 Tbsp (15 ml) Capers
• 4 to 12 Pickled jalapeño pepper rings, chopped (at least 4 for flavor, 12 for healthy spice)
• ½ tsp (2.5 ml) Dijon mustard
• juice of ½ a lemon,
• Splash of Tabasco sauce
• Salt and pepper
• ½ cup (120 ml) Mayonnaise

Directions

1. Place oil in a deep wok or pot suitable for deep frying.  Heat oil to 375˚F (190˚C)
2. Prepare tartar sauce by combining red onion, garlic, parsley, capers, pickled jalapeños, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, tabasco, salt, pepper, and mayonnaise in a bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
3. Prepare batter. Mix flour, corn starch, salt and pepper in a bowl. (Chill in the fridge until cool if you want extra crispy batter.)  Pour beer into flour bowl gradually, whisking continually. Toss oysters in batter bowl.
4. Lay oysters gently into fry pan of hot oil, about 6-8 oysters per batch. Fry for 2 minutes, until oysters are floating on top and golden brown.
5. Remove the oysters and transfer to paper towel-lined plate. Season them lightly with salt while they are fresh out of the oil.
6. Repeat with the remaining oysters, allowing the oil to come back up to 375˚F (190˚C) between batches. You may need to regulate the heat up and down as you fry.
7. Spread rock salt on a plate or platter. Lay oyster shells on salt, fill with tartar sauce, and top with fried oyster.
8. A fun (optional) tip for serving:
9. Fill droppers (eye/ear dropper) with beer and stick into each oyster. Inject beer into oyster just before eating.