Fried Oysters and Cucumber Wasabi sauce

A total treat last night - Oysters! Sweet, succulent, briny gems encased in an ugly hard shell. A definite perk of living with someone obsessed with fishing and works in that industry- fresh seafood. One of his friends offered us some oysters that he dug himself that morning. Yay! Now, what to do with them?...

Honestly, I have only had oysters a few times at my favorite sushi restaurant, never at home. I certainly couldn't recreate the way they make them at Tokyo Japanese Restaurant [Las Vegas, NV], baked in the half shell with their house Yum-Yum sauce. So, other options.... Slide them right down raw with a squeeze of lemon and Tabasco? No, that's a waste of a good oyster- no time to savour the taste. Grilled? Hmmm, maybe. Fried? Now we're talking!

Using a flat head screwdriver in place of an oyster knife, we carefully extracted the meat. Shucking an oyster really isn't as hard as it seems- don't let that intimidate you. With the flat side of the shell up, and a little elbow grease and leverage at the base joint, cracking open the shell is rather easy.

Next, simply drain and pat dry the oyster meat. Salt and pepper the meat, then roll in bread crumbs and fry them like you would anything else. We found 3 minutes per side was absolutely perfect. The only thing I would have done different was to coat them in an egg batter before breading, and maybe add a little paprika along with the salt and pepper. The breading I used was a mixture of Panko, fresh parsley (chopped medium fine), and dried dill. Also, squeeze a little bit of lemon juice on top of the oysters to enhance the flavor before serving.

As you can guess from the title of this post, I made a Cucumber Wasabi dip to go along with the fried oysters. Let me tell you, it was the perfect compliment for this dish. Yes, it is a rip-off version of the TGI Friday's sauce served with their green bean fries. Lord, I can't get enough of that dip! If you can't either, here's a close-enough version you can make at home (based off an article from Yahoo! Answers):

Cucumber Wasabi Sauce

1/2 cup Ranch Dressing (Hidden Valley brand for authentic taste)
1/4 cup Cucumber, peeled, large diced
1 tbsp. Milk or half and half
2 tsp. Wasabi 
1 tsp. Horseradish (the creamy prepared kind)
1 tsp. Cider Vinegar
dash Salt
dash Cayenne Pepper

Put all ingredients into a blender, and blend until smooth. Let sit for at least half an hour in fridge to thicken.