Oyster Aguachile

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Aguachile can be described as firewater flavored by serrano chile, cucumber and lime. Oysters with aguachile attain a lovely culinary balance to the briny, somewhat creamy oysters.

Raw oysters are commonly accompanied with slices of lemon but us Mexicans enjoy a little kick of chile and zing of lime; something more complex than a spritz of lemon.

This recipe comes by way of the other aguachile appetizer recipe I have previously published (Click here). Aguachile can be paired with shrimp, octopus, scallops or fish. If you like sashimi, you’ll love aguachile oysters. Won’t eat raw fish? Try my baked aguachile recipe especially created for the less courageous. Click on Baked Aquachile for this recipe. Aguachile by it’s nature is chile-hot but not in this recipe.

The essence of eating raw oysters is a connection to the sea. To honor that fresh sea salt flavor of the oyster this recipe only uses a touch of chile heat so not to overpower the taste of the oyster. Finish your oyster tasting with a shot glass of good sipping tequila. Let’s get started.

Ingredients

3 persian cucumbers (any variety works)

1 fresh serrano chile pepper

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon water

1 dozen shucked oysters

Preparation

Peel and cut off the ends to the cucumbers

Cut the serrano pepper in half, scrape off the veins (the soft pulp) and set aside. Discard seeds.

Flatten the pepper and cut very very thin slices (as shown above) of about 1 inch in length and set aside for garnish.

In a small blender or molcajete (motar and pestle) blend cucumber, lime juice and water and process until smooth. Next, add and process small amounts of Serrano pulp until the aguachile attains that slight zing.

Plating

On a serving plate, garnish each oyster with overlapping slices of serrano chile strips then pour with 1 teapoon or more of aguachile firewater over each oyster.