Oysters for Beginners | How to Shuck and Serve Oysters | Food Wishes

[@stevenlewis6781]

I live in the middle of Kansas. About as geographically far away from oceans as possible. I love love love love seafood. I feel like a mariner born in a farmer’s body. We can get good seafood here but not the best seafood and certainly not fresh oysters. Whenever we get to the coast I feel like I’m on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Fresh oysters are the ultimate, most pure thing I’ve ever eaten. Thank you Chef John for that lovely video as always

[@judiesuh6858]

This is nice comment🎉

[@macprofire]

I love oysters. Two oysters that is. Everything beyond is too much, but these two are a mouthful of ocean I‘ll happily come back to every once in awhile

[@VillPom]

This is exactly my take on oysters 😂

[@babounous]

I once had a 'personal tutorial' (so to speak) on shucking oysters from an old man at the 'oyster bar' at Hyman's Seafood restaurant in Old downtown Charleston, back in 1999. He was super-fast though, so I really couldn't see his technique very well, even though he was talking about it. Your video, Chef John, is far superior. Thank you! :)

[@David-qd3ff]

I love oysters. I once ate 6 dozen in PEI. Love them.

[@Pack.Leader]

Never had one but it does sound worth the try.

[@cmccullough12C]

They must have been the Malpeque oysters. My mother loved them.

[@psidvicious]

@@Pack.Leader Try them with a saltine at first. It just helps give a little texture. For the uninitiated the slippery texture can be a little off putting. Decrease the cracker as you get more used to it. 🤷‍♂

[@ijustwannaleaveacommentony6511]

but do you chew em?

[@LoveDoctorNL]

I don’t enjoy oysters, but still thoroughly enjoyed the video until the end chef.

[@paulwagner688]

I love love love oysters, and when they're on sale for a buck each, I'd love to get some. Chef, you've inspired me to get an occasional half dozen for a special treat

[@didisinclair3605]

My lovely neighbors have invited me to their full on, traditional French Christmas eve dinner... oysters included. Heaven. And a friend holds her 'Oysterpalooza' each fall, with 4 different East Coast oysters.. that's something to look forward to!!! Thanks for this, I have more confidence in opening an oyster now, should the opportunity arise!!

[@Heartwing37]

This is crazy! I made fresh oysters for the first time last night and now this shows up in my feed from my favorite chef less than 12 hr later!!! 😮❤

[@skeery_guy]

He hears your thoughts.. 🤯 🤣🤣

[@psidvicious]

Be careful, we saw that other thing you did too. 🫣

[@2listening1]

Good morning, Chef John! 🙋🏻‍♀️

[@caesarsalad77]

I think I asked for this very video a couple years ago. Thank you for the Christmas present! Almost as good as a couple dozen fresh oysters.

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

What a great video idea. Merci beaucoup.

[@michaelj38]

Love the oysters! Never tried mignonette sauce, usually just lemon or hot sauce. I'll give it a try. Thanks

[@desertdragonworksaz]

I have never thought I'd want to try oysters, but you've made them look delicious. Thank you for giving me a bit of courage to try them!

[@kaymcmahonclay7127]

You won't be sorry!

[@psidvicious]

A little saltine cracker helps with the uninitiated.

[@RyanCoomer]

OH I WISH FOR THIS FOOD THAT IS MY FOOD WISH

[@watchthebeveragedude]

3-4 drops of tequila is REALLY good on an oyster. Mescal might be good too but i've never tried it.

[@loripiontek]

I like oyster juice in some of dishes, though i detest them alone. Thank you for this informative presentation!

[@LouTiel]

Interesting. My parents grew up on a creek with oysters. Dad worked in a "processing" plant of sorts in high school. They taught to go at the oyster from the other end. Wiggle the knife between the shells, (flat side up) twist the knife to open the shell, then with one motion circle the oyster to separate it from the shells. Remove the flat shell if you want to eat it on the shell, or just drop it a container. The juice is called "liquor" where they were from. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. :)

[@ptittannique5621]

Interesting! I don't shuck oysters that way at all... Part of it is probably due to the variety of oysters I usually eat. Chef John's are referred to as "flat oysters", where I'm from--the oysters I tend to eat are concave on the top even at the hinge, so the (always flat, I'd never seen a curved one) shucking knife aims to slice the muscle at the opposite, rounded, end of the shell. I also discard the oyster's initial water; it'll make more and firm up between shucking time and eating time. Also, I've never even HEARD of anyone cutting the adductor muscle at the shucking stage... Really cool to see a different method!

[@lindainparis7349]

We don't use CJ's or your method either, different oysters, we attack the middle of the inside curve. We do, like you, not cut the muscle at the bottom and I also discard first water for oyster to make more. When we eat it we touch the edge of the oyster itself with our knife, it should flinch, proving it's still alive. Then we cut the muscle and eat it, usually with squeezed lemon. we eat giant oysters and whatever happens, we don't take the knife out once it's in. Otherwise the oyster clamps shut and is impossible to open. I also use a chain mail glove and several cloths to pin the beast to the counter top. also use a flat thin blade without guard. Happy Hols!

[@sakke877]

This is the method Almost all chefs/restaurants use

[@lindainparis7349]

@@sakke877 It might be that different countries or areas have different types of oyster requiring different methods of opening...

[@sakke877]

@@ptittannique5621 I worked in different countries

[@epearc]

I grew up in the south and always had gulf oysters. I liked them...until my trip to Boston for work. Atlantic oysters made me scoff at gulf oysters. I order them from time to time and are shipped to my door. Also in the south, we traditionally ate them with cocktail sauce, horseradish, and a lemon squeeze. When I was northeast is when I first experienced the minuet. That is also my preference. Anyway, glad you covered this fantastic food.

[@KM-ol5bs]

Coldwater shellfish are just better. I get a little queasy eating warm water oysters because I worry about bacteria levels in the Gulf.

[@appo9357]

Only put the tip in. Got it. 👍🏼

[@Akira42]

...and only for a minute

[@appo9357]

@ that’s all it takes 😉

[@psidvicious]

They make a thing for that I understand.

[@ianknights7602]

I love oysters. I serve them with a sauce which is equal parts horseradish sauce and tomato ketchup. Delicious!

[@mike_adams]

And don’t forget the Tabasco

[@HTLGoodFoods]

This chicken stew looks perfect for a cozy winter dinner!

[@BHaha-n2q]

Have worn a Kevlar glove on the “holding” hand since a freak accident where the knife slipped & blade went 3/4” into base of thumb. Lemon wedges, pips removed, NOT blood, are my condiment of choice. Box of 25 std Malpeques f CA$13 make a lovely treat.

[@realnlyp]

Very useful as the first step for making oyster sauce ! Thank you, Chef John ! 😊

[@johngraves8105]

New favorite video of yours👍🏻

[@taylorvanbuskirk8040]

I watched it until the end, and I STILL don't like raw oysters. However, I can't help but watch every Chef John video until the end, because he taught me how to cook, and for that, I am enternaly grateful.

[@Heartwing37]

Make a little tinfoil boat, add in some butter and garlic with a dash of barbecue sauce. Pop it on a grill and when the butter melts pop in your oysters. Cook them until you like the texture (some people like them somewhat firm) and you’ll have a delicious dish! Add some cayenne or Cajun seasonings for New Orleans style barbecue grilled oysters!

[@icholi88]

Or just put on some lemon juice and salt and enjoy

[@smokindauberdoo4208]

Just throw them on the grill The oysters that opened are good Then pour the garlic butter over them in the shell & serve 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊🎉

[@kbpets418]

I dont enjoy oysters, but when I do its watching Chef John shuck em.

[@TheLadyLuck523]

I'll eat the occasional oyster but I definitely prefer clams. So much so that I learned how to shuck them. I wish clams were as easy to open as oysters! Thanks for the tutorial! I may try my hand at oysters. Happy holidays Chef!

[@psidvicious]

Clams have at least that one little “textured” spot. Oysters are slippery all the way through.

[@srthomp420]

I highly recommend a pair of oyster shucking gloves (cut resistant). They're not very expensive, and far less so than an ER visit.

[@FAMarlowe]

I love oysters and I loved this video! Could you please do a video on shucking clams?

[@edwilderness]

Love them! One drop of Tabasco is great, also. If you have them at a sushi bar, they come sitting on a rice ball that is wrapped horizontally, along with the oyster with nori. I call it an oyster boat. Uni (sea urchin roe) as well as scallops are served the same way, although scallops can be served as nigiri.

[@davidcarbone3385]

I read only buy raw oysters that are alive; raw oysters are supposed to be alive when you buy them with the shell fully closed, but if the shell were open you're supposed to tap the shell and if alive the oyster will quickly clam up :) I'll have to give raw oysters another go; the last time I tried them, I didn't like the texture. Good to know how to shuck an oyster and make the sauce. btw, the homonym menuet is a short, elegant, French dance as portrayed in the Abbott and Costello 1946 classic, The Time of Their Lives.

[@gearldcline3615]

I love the cocktail sauce myself. Streight up lemon, hot sauce or the vinegar mix is okay, but cocktail sauce is the way to go!

[@windwatcher11]

Yum. Now i have to try with the sauce. I ❤ how he ate up all 5 in like, 30 secs.

[@keithwillson2019]

I neither enjoy oysters, nor am I able to eat anything with raw shallots in it, so I would never eat this. BUT I loved learning about the technique. I'd love to see more videos about techniques.

[@Moewenfels]

Non-Oyster eaters, but Chef John enjoyers REPRESENT.

[@BarackObama592]

Reporting my comments? Hmmm even more of a coward.

[@SandyF_trouble]

???

[@stevenrodriguez9655]

Present

[@kudahman52]

Love oysters but here i am

[@reach4thesports897]

lol what kind of drama was going on under this comment

[@stars0716]

Hi john, can we get an oyster stew recipe? Thank you😊

[@Xani13]

I've never gotten to experience a raw oyster myself but - now that I know where to find them - I might just try that soon. :D

[@qozmiq]

Wow amazing timing

[@elliemayormaynot]

I grew up on and around the Gulf coast. I learned to open oysters with a church key (can opener). I didn't know oyster knives existed for years.

[@thaisstone5192]

Oysters were a favorite of mine when I was living in NZ. I'm too feary about them because I live in Montana now.

[@tom_something]

In addition to presentation, flipping the oyster in the shell is a nice little indication of, "this one's good to go".

[@tjvtm]

With the recent reports of vibrio and norovirus with consuming raw oysters, I’d love to see a great steamed oyster recipe for folks who want to be more on the safe side. 🙏

[@elizabethscott354]

Best video eeevveerrr!❤

[@santauxia]

Love Oysters, being a North Westner Spaniard its almost a must. LOL We eat them with fresh lemon juice and wash them down with chilled Albariño or Ribeiro.

[@maryr5083]

My favorite mignonette and oysters. What kind of oysters are those, please?

[@alexandersinger9788]

Horseradish! Raw grated horseradish and then optionally a tiny squirt of lemon juice, that's my favorite way to eat them! Never tried shucking them myself before, thanks for the tutorial! Question: how do you if you have a bad one that should be thrown out?

[@testingmysoup5678]

I've always wanted to try buerre blanc with shellfish

[@NeganSmith-bb1fr]

Not a fan of oysters, but I would enjoy to learn how to cook them some day!

[@KorraTransPhoenix]

Never had em. But I would love to try!

[@HanaHime29]

I live in Japan, and I am so lucky to enjoy fresh, fried, and even large ones the size of an adult's palm (from Hokkaido).

[@McCulleyJr]

My dad was born in 1918 at age 13 dropped out of school and had a job shucking oysters. He'd take his bicycle to the seafood market and get a burlap bag filled with oysters; he'd put it on the handlebars go back to the store and shuck them. He said his hands stung horribly from the brine because he had small cuts. He never ate an oyster the rest of his life!

[@mickster1780]

love oysters on the half shell. gotta see if i can find some "unshucked"

[@albertozaffonato1325]

You are the goat 🐐

[@ForeverInBetweenBand]

Do clams next! My hot take is that clams are better than oysters

[@iwillfindu1]

thanks you for the sauce recipe, a long with the proper way to shuck a oyster.

[@TheWibbo]

Do you recommend the mignonette for rocky mountain oysters as well?

[@MissBabalu102]

Thanks, it's never occurred to me to buy oysters at the grocery store and eat them at home. I think I'll start, along with my new love, herring. I wonder how much they cost at Whole Foods or Sprouts? Mignonette sauce to remember.

[@debbiezullo7056]

Delicious🥂

[@johnblicharz5658]

Gotta give this oyster review and especially the minion sauce, 10 out of 10🎉

[@PaulCapello]

Helps if they are ice cold, like shucking little neck clams. Been eating them raw since i was a kid living in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. 😊

[@Kwippy]

Wonderful Chef John! And which antibiotic would you recommend to go with that?

[@ddinah]

it's like you read my mind!

[@ebinom8112]

Thanks for the lesson. You've made it look so simple! Have you ever tried fried oysters? 😋😊

[@tanyathigpen9902]

I’ve never eaten oysters, maybe I’ll try it

[@rickybryan1759]

You decide, you are after all the chief foister of your oyster

[@misc0615]

Love oysters. Could eat a load of them any time

[@coolcanoechic]

Did you save any for Michele?

[@christianlassen1577]

out here near the Chesapeake, you buy oysters by the gallon, already shucked. Raw oysters are as good as the sauce. Oyster stew is ok Grilled oysters from North of San Francisco are good. But nothing beats Fried Oysters. Mmmmmmmm

[@doltsbane]

I don't know if flipping your shucked oyster over makes it look any better, but it certainly can't make it look any worse.

[@MikeListon-tk8ir]

Putting oysters in boiling water for about 20 seconds softens the hinge muscle and they pop open much easier. They'll remain alive, cold and slightly firmed up. It's OMO the easiest and best way to open oysters, especially if you have a lot of them.

[@ohsohologramic]

The title implies the existence of expert level oysters

[@amandashamanda9479]

Freshly grated horseradish and a squeeze of lemon is fantastic. Not prepared horseradish

[@theplatitudefromouterspace]

01:54 😮

[@bionicsjw]

I love oysters but have a hard time shucking them. My favorite condiment is a little wasabi and a few drops of Ponzu or soy sauce.

[@gp-ht7ug]

Excellent recipe! Thanks and merry Christmas Ps it seems like there is no more that awful automatic translation and I can her your original voice 👍

[@rbrtplly]

So you just buy them shuck them and eat them? No rinsing, cleaning, inspecting for dead ones? I love oysters but not sure how to buy and what to do before the shucking. Any ideas?

[@fordeko21]

Chef, I cracked open an oyster which had a sea worm in it, how do I proceed?

[@Grellibe]

I don't eat seafood. But I enjoyed the video anyway! Opening the oysters kind of looks like lock picking.

[@deniseharrell1591]

Now, how to batter and fry oysters and make a sauce with the juices. And, Battered and Fried Salmon and Chips with a Sauce, please!❤❤❤

[@keithwilson6060]

Do you chew or just swallow whole?

[@marilynsnider8183]

Thanks for the lesson, but I prefer them cooked.

[@begood4919]

Will this be the largest food wishes mass casualty event since the mandolin video ?

[@barryhaley7430]

The only thing I would add is to thoroughly clean the oysters with a fingernail brush to remove any mud trapped in the grooves of the shell.

[@readytogo3186]

No oysters for me, thanks, but I always enjoy Chef John's videos.

[@cherio01]

Ditto

[@pandoraeeris7860]

Aww shucks.

[@PapaRich3165]

Eww... but thanks anyway! Merry Christmas to you n fam and ty for all the Food Wishes! (Mine is to never eat mollusks :-)

[@allistrata]

Are you supposed to chew raw oysters or just swallow them whole? I've never had one.

[@kam7056]

❤❤❤

[@kiraward1125]

I am sure raw oyster is lovely, but is steaming like a clam an acceptable method of opening?

[@sakke877]

Steamed clams?

[@TotallyTurnip]

Oysters are one of my least favorite mollusks to eat, but good technique nonetheless. In case anyone is going to request the Rockefeller recipe, John already made one twelve years ago; it also included the how-to of shucking.

[@VillPom]

Buck a shuck fridays at whole foods! $1 for oysters, $2 if you have them shuck em for you

[@stephaniebray3983]

I don’t eat oysters but I used to shuck them. I never got very fast and we always went in at the other end

[@CologneCarter]

For some strange reason I prefer my food already dead and at least somewhat cooked.

[@gregorykelley5555]

The most delicious raw oysters I've ever had were served with slushy mignonette granita at Cibo in Monterey, CA

[@TheRAMBO9191]

Help chat: can I do this with fully closed oyster in grocery store I want to try slurping

[@yvonnerogers6429]

👍🏻

[@morrismonet3554]

I saw Julia Child use a butter knife and even an old can opener (Church Key) to open oysters.

[@tmurphy1000]

He said, “you decide,” but this time, did not remind us that we are, after all, the Alexander Graham Bell of how we make our oyster shell.