Serious Eats
In Season: Oysters
[Photo: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt]
Raw, fried, baked, stuffed or made into a sandwich, oysters are always satisfying. The bivalves are available all year, but they're best eaten in the colder months from September to April. While a long-standing myth says oysters should not be eaten during months that do not contain an "R" (May through August), oysters generally are thin in the summer because they devote their energy to reproducing.
When buying oysters, avoid ones that are open or don't close right away after you lightly tap them on a surface. That means the oysters are dead. Make sure live oysters smell like the sea (or whatever body of water they were harvested from). If you don't know how to shuck an oyster, check out Kenji's video on the topic.
Recipes
- Sunday Brunch: Fried Oysters and Lemon and Balsamic Vinegar
- Baked Oysters With Fresh Thyme and Sweet Garlic Butter
- Dinner Tonight: The Best Oyster Po' Boy Outside of New Orleans
- Oyster and Sausage Stuffing
- Gourmet's Smoked-Oyster Sticky Rice Stuffing in Lotus Leaf
What's your favorite way to eat oysters?
