Kumamoto oyster

Huître kumamoto

What it is

It reached Seattle in 1946 by accident: Japan could not fill an American order for Pacific oyster seed and made up the shortfall with sikamea from Kumamoto. By 1994 researchers believed the species extinct in its home waters, until it was found again in the Ariake Sea in 1996 and confirmed by DNA.

In the kitchen

The cup is deep and the shell brittle, so enter at the hinge and twist there — levering at the lip shatters it into the meat. Serve it in that deep half with all its liquor and skip the mignonette: vinegar buries the melon note that is the entire reason to buy it.

Goes with

Lemon Cucumber Fleur de sel de Guérande Shallot White wine vinegar Dill Champagne vinegar Apple

Same species

Dried oyster

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