Thursday, June 24, 2010
Food In Singapore 11: Oyster Omelette

Today, I will be blogging about a popular dish in Singapore, Oyster Omelette.

Oyster Omelette
Oyster Omelette is a dish that originated from Teochew. It is a popular dish in particularly Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia.

Do note that the oysters used to make Oyster Omelettes are small oysters and not the big oysters with shell that westerners like to eat.

Interestingly, there are many variations to the name of the dish. In our area, (Malaysia and Singapore), the name of the dish is called 蚝煎.



Inside the Oyster Omelette
Oyster Omelette is made of small oysters and starch, particularly potato starch. However, egg can also be added to the dish as some people do not like the potato starch and the taste of the dish will be enhanced.

For the process of making the dish, the potato start will be mixed together with the egg batter, and the mixture, together with small oysters, will be fried into Oyster Omelette. Pork lard is commonly used to fry the omelette.

Hawkers of some region may choose to add a savoury sauce on top of the omelette. However, we don’t do that in our region. Instead, hawkers in Singapore and Malaysia oftenly serve the dish with a small amount of chilli sauce.



Personal Opinion
When I was young, I used to think that the big oysters I saw on TV was the one that I was eating in my Oyster Omelette. And now I'm wondering, what made me not realised that the difference in size is too great to be true.

Anyway, the first thing that I dislike about this dish is that sometimes the hawker puts too much potato starch into it. Too much potato starch not only ruins the taste of the dish, but it also makes it difficult to swallow, and it gives you a sick feeling like "can i stop eating this? i had enough". It's really hard to descibe, but sometimes the taste is just there, and I just can't finish my plate of Oyster Omelette. My solutions? Either I tell the hawker to put less potato starch and more egg (but sometimes you'll have to pay more) or I just go to a stall that I have previously patronised, then I will know if I get the sick feeling.

The last bad thing about this dish is not a dislike, but rather a complain. Ever since the economic crisis last year (or some time around that period), the amount of oysters in oysters omelette has decreased to a pathetic number. Sometimes you only get 3 oysters in a plate of $4.00 Oysters Omelette. This leaves you feeling stupid/cheated, doesn't it?
Then the only solution is to ask for more oysters when ordering! (But be willing to fork out more money if you do so)

Food for Thought

Oyster Omelette’s potato starch may cause some people to have a feeling like “I’m sick of this dish”. It may also make you feel bloated. Have you experienced the feeling before?

Credits:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fried_oyster
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z193/liannekang/foodrepublic0.jpg
http://www.grampianspyreneespcp.org.au/Image/Agency%20Logos/Food%20For%20Thought%20Logo%20Reversed.jpg