Oyster Omelet,a Unique Flavor
2 min readMix evenly the eggs,put in a large amount of fresh oysters,and then fry both in hot oil until they are shaped into the form of the pancakes,then it is ready for the patrons to enjoy in combination with the indigenous sweet and spicy sauces local to Xiamen.The freshness of the oysters,the rich flavor of omelet and sweetness and spice of red pepper sauce all together just make a perfect match. The sight at this dish would impress the patrons a lot even before they lift up the chopsticks,and drool would have already dropped too much to reach the table end when they finally bring the dish to their mouth.
As to the origin of this snack,there goes a funny anecdote.As the story goes in the folk life,in the year of 1661,while Netherlands sent a troop to invade Tainan Area of Taiwan Island,Zheng Chenggong led his army to break into the Netherland garrison at Lu’ermen in an attempt to retrieve the lost territory.Zheng’s troops defeated the Netherlands with irresistible forces.As a result,the angry Netherlands troops concealed all the grains,trying to disrupt the supplies to Zheng’s army. However,the Zheng’s army came up with an idea in emergencies that they took the Taiwan specialty Oyster,sweet potatoes and water as raw materials to cook pancakes,which was a creative cooking method that unexpectedly was passed down generation by generation to become the most popular snack throughout the province.
Another grounded version goes differently.The oyster omelet was introduced to Taiwan Island with the immigration of Zheng’s troops and many Fujian residents, and now it has become the favorite cuisine of the people livings at both sides of the Taiwan Straits.At the East Triangle of Fujian(Quanzhou,Xiamen and Zhangzhou), cooking oyster omelet is one of the necessary dishes to test the cooking skills of thewomen.Although the recipe is rather simple,it is difficult to cook well this dish to some degree,as different people would cook different flavors out of the same recipe. For the newly married women,they have to prepare this dish in the first meal that is dedicated to the parents-in-law,who would regard their daughter-in-law with special respect at a nicely-cooked oyster omelet. .
