Oysters and Thai food

Two of my favorite SC foods are steamed oysters and Thai food. I had both last weekend and am currently hungry..so that is what I am writing about. The steamed oysters are very SC, and Thai food is not...but we never had Thai until we moved here and now we eat it a bunch..so that counts for today.

I seriously never touched oysters until we moved here. I was terrified of them. I was convinced that all food poisoning was from eating "bad oysters" and that I would die from the grotty texture. I couldn't have been more wrong. They keep pretty well for up to 4 days after coming out of the water if kept in the right conditions, taste just just like the ocean, and are an awesome vehicle for any type of cuisine you wish to dress them up as.

All the above being said, I don't eat them raw. That is just too much. I need enough heat to stabilize the texture and make the shell open just enough to get the knife in. You can totally ruin them by overcooking them even a little. Chewy little hockey pucks. Undercooked is better than overcooked..just like steak. Shucking an oyster is a hysterical process..not like steak..trying to get yourself a steak from the animal would not be awesome.. You are trying to open a shell that's only job in life is to not let you in. It's really half the fun. The other half of the fun is figuring out what should go on them. You can make them bbq on the grill with a sweet and sour sauce; make them high class with the Rockefeller action; garlic butter is pretty awesome; but I love the old standby...old school. On a saltine or in the shell, cocktail sauce, lemon, hot sauce. Always a varying combination of the above, but always all in one bite. You can't two bite and oyster, that's just asking for trouble on several levels. You also shouldn't chew it a bunch, it's just a weird choice. It's not Laffy Taffy, it's barely a solid.

The whole activity is a very communal thing. Our friend was in Charleston and went to the pier to get them..we didn't realize how many she was getting. "A bushel" doesn't really sound like 50 pounds when you say it...it is when Jake drags them up the stairs like freaking Santa Claus. It was unreal how many we got. We could have done it a little more smartly, but then what's the fun? So anyway, we got a bunch of folks around a table, fixed really easy sides that you could eat with your hands, dumped the oysters out in big bowls on a table covered in newspaper, and got to shucking them. It's a messy, wonderful scavenger hunt for the biggest oyster as the shells pile up. The only unfortunate thing about shucking your own is that the clean up is a disaster unless you are eating outside. Doing it in an apartment is a terrible idea...but we did it anyway..that is how we are.

I talked so much about the oysters that I am freaking starving and so Thai food is not going to get any attention. It is my favorite because it has hot and sweet together in all sorts of combinations, and Jake always orders it "Thai Hot"..which is code for "Stupid Hot" and the Thai guy taking the order always laughs at him, and them comes back and laughs at him more later as we all watch him sweat all over his bald head!

If you had told me two years ago that my two favorite food in South Carolina would be oysters and Thai food, I would have never believed you. I think that this has been a wonderful adventure as Jake and I have no security blankets here, and therefore no reason to NOT try anything. We are also the instigators around here with our friends. We introduce people to these things that we have come to love (or at least tolerate) and that is a totally different type of fun. So, when we come back and invite you over for oysters or out for Thai food, just come along...it's probably going to be a good time.