Food: How To Open An Oyster? The World Is Your Oyster!

My hand, my glove and an opened Fine de Claire
Image from Locky's English Playground

We know oysters taste spectacular, we know we can have them freshly from the shell or cooked, with lemon juice or with cocktail sauce, but lucky for most people who can spend on such delicacy, we need not worry about cracking the shell. I used to think cracking the shell as an exhausting procedure, but now that I have learnt the techniques and discovered the hidden tricks, it's like shooting fish in a barrel!

I have made a video of my own for this, do check it out!

Here's a summary of my tips and tricks:

1. A strong oyster knife will save you much energy
2. An oyster holder also multiplies your strength
3. If an oyster on the oyster holder isn't giving you a good angle, then just put the oyster on flat surface
4. It's twisting and rotating your knife before leveraging, not the other way round.
5. Cut the scallop and your oyster will release the shell.

And here's the oyster anatomy for your reference:

Oyster Anatomy
Image from pearlmagpie.co.uk

If you still think my video isn't good enough, well then, learn from my oyster shucker teacher, Suki, from Taylor Shellfish Farm in this episode of Dirty Jobs by Mike Rowe. Trust me, it is great fun to watch!

So, once you have learnt the skills and tricks, the world is your oyster!!!

Unwanted oyster shells are actually good for the environment?
Image from Ari Brown

Do you know that unwanted oyster shell can actually clean the sea? No? Check out my article back in May 2009.

Not enough info? I will write more about oysters next time if chances arrive.


Vocabulary:
shooting fish in a barrel -- (idiom) see TV & Vocabulary: Mythbusters & English Idioms
shuck -- (vb)[T] to remove the shell or natural covering from something that is eaten:
the world is your oyster -- (idiom) if the world is your oyster, you have the ability and the freedom to do anything or go anywhere


Resources:
How To Open An Oyster @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/z5pdpd0XmbQ

Dirty Jobs - Clam Shucker @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwrFHgiwJFg

Taylor Shellfish Farm
http://www.taylorshellfishfarms.com/

Dirty Jobs by Mike Rowe
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/dirty-jobs

Science & Environment: How Sea Shells Clean Water @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2009/05/science-environment-how-sea-shells.html

TV & Vocabulary: Mythbusters & English Idioms @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/11/tv-vocabulary-mythbusters-english-idioms.html

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/shuck?q=shuck
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/The+world+is+oyster