Survivor Cowra ...or I just really wanted some seafood

Out here in the wild wild west, your survival skills and hunting acumen are honed. You realise you have to kill to eat and its a rough world but its all a matter of survival. Well its what I kept telling myself when I was faced with killing a bowl of hapless oysters.

I had never killed a living thing other than ants, small spiders ( I relate to Garfield) and the 2 pet terrapin I forgot to feed when I was about 6 years old. Until I came to Cowra that is. Sometime the year before (2003) when I looked at the Fishman's menu it said Live Mud Crabs.So I happily ordered a half kilo one. I was really surprised when the guy just handed it to me in a bag. It's claws had been tied up but it stared at me with its beady looking eyes, as if willing its claws to free itself and bite me. "Err aren't you supposed to kill it ?" I asked trying not to appear like the city bumpkin that I was. " No mate," he said cheerfully, "tastes much better if its killed just before cooking. Have a go love! Try it boiled and chilled with some seafood sauce." Well, actually I was dreaming more of Singapore chilli style or grilled with butter and freshly cracked pepper like how my dad does it. I carried my pet dinner home gingerly and presented it to my husband. He didn't fancy seafood even when it was filleted and deboned and shelled for him so I couldn't imagine he would be of much help.

I was surprised when he thought it was all very interesting (still had no idea of course) so I picked up the phone and talked to my mum and dad (should have paid more attention to how they did it in the past). They gave the advice to turn the crab on its back and drive a chopstick into the area at the apex of the "triangle" this is a weak spot as the triangle can be lifted up to reveal the gills of the crab. Then, quickly put into a pot of ready boiling water.Don't know if its true but they said that if you put it straight into boiling water, the crab panics and so the flesh is not as nice, also its more humane to kill it quickly first. Other tips were to put into the freezer so the crab becomes sleepy prior to stabbing it in the chest. A quick boil (10 mins) later, roughly break up the crab and my mum offered this recipe which was great! stir fry lots of ginger, garlic, chilli, soy and chinese wine and add the crab pieces with smashed shells so the flavour can absorb into the meat. It was a really tasty dinner and the previous thoughts of killing a hapless creature were soon forgotten.

We also visited the Cowra Smokehouse when it first opened. This deli features a fully functional smokehouse and trout farm so the trout are smoked fresh. It also smokes duck, chicken, salmon and offers sundried tomatoes and local marinated sheeps cheese. (Hmm so many details... I'll do a post on it sometime) Anyway, you can catch trout of your own from the tank for $6 each successful fish caught. It took me a while but I finally caught my own !

The owner Tim helped us to gut the fish and we went home to cook it. We took his suggestion and wrapped one in foil and grilled it with lemon and tomato in its belly. I fried the other and doused it with soy and mirin mmm both were yummy in their own way.

The main crux of today's story (yes I'm finally back to the oysters) is that yesterday, I walked past a pub where the blackboard read "3 dozen Batemans Bay Oysters $15" I had been having oyster cravings for a while now and I thought a few fresh oysters would hit the spot. I could ask them if they would sell me a dozen. I tried looking into the bottle shops refrigerators trying to see the tasty beauties. I asked the girl behind the counter about the oysters and felt the familiar sensation of ACK! when she lifted a damp towel up from an ice cream tub and showed me a bag of 36 closed, unshucked LIVE oysters. I squeeked "Oh I thought they would've been shucked" She explained that it was fresher that way out here and they could still be kept for another few days in the same cool damp conditions if I didn't plan on eating them all at once. I gulped and thought "How badly do I want these babies?" "OK I'll take them!" I also bought a bottle of McGuigans Traminer Riesling from them for good measure.

I got home and surveyed my prey. The label in the bag said they were Clyde River, Batemans Bay Sydney Rock Oysters. I swigged half a glass of Riesling and proceeded to try attacking one with a butter knife. I felt the oyster tighten and decided to give up. I could always try to grow an oyster farm in my bathtub ... Richard said," Where are you going to get the seawater from?" I took another swig and got him to try and call Casey and Clare. They would surely know how to open an oyster ! They could hunt and spear abalone and fish. If anyone could shuck an oyster, it would be them! All I got was an answering machine ... Richard looked it up on the internet and we found a handy video of a man opening Maryland oysters. Great! I knew we had to wash and scrub them first! We were getting somewhere ...

I went back to my pets dinner and proceeded to give them a bath and knock the excess hard stuff off them. I felt them tighten some more and I felt so bad I wanted to give up, but I convinced myself they were playing their part in the food chain. They still didn't look like the ocean type oysters but at least I could see where the hinge was now (in rock oysters they are in the pointy end) I also went to look for my trusty Victorinox camping knife where the main blade has a sharp end that rounds off to both sides. It looked more like the shucking knife the man was holding, rather than the harmless butter knife. It was a pretty amazing feeling to feel the hinge loosen as I pushed the pointy end in, and then I carefully slid it all the way aroundthe perimeter to prise the flat side open.

In the picture, I am not using the red checked teatowel. But this is only for dramatic license. It is dangerous to shuck without a towel as a safeguard in your hand while holding the oyster. Also, don't try this at home kids, but loosening it actually felt like loosening a tooth before extraction!! I was right at home after that and opened a dozen quickly. I ate them with a dash of tabasco sauce but for Richard, I popped them in a shotglass and topped it with mirin and some grated ginger. Ahh heavenly how it slides down ...the sweet mirin, the salty smooth oyster and the spicy ginger. We had it done this way at the local gourmet restaurant Neila and never forgot how it tasted. Today .... we could have some in our own home at less than a $1 per shot. I had always preferred pacific oysters but after tasting how really fresh rock oysters were, I think all oysters are yummy in their own way ... especially those you can open yourself. Oysters 3 dozen $15
Ikea star shaped ice cube tray $1.20
McGuigans Traminer Riesling $9.99
Learning how to shuck your own oysters- priceless