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Oyster stew is a simple and hearty soup made with fresh or canned oysters, popular along the East Coast of the United States. It was once a poor man’s food due to the abundance of oysters. The stew is made by sauteing oysters in butter, adding milk or cream, and simmering until the oysters curl. It’s important not to overcook the oysters to prevent them from becoming rubbery.
Oyster stew is a simple and hearty soup with the main ingredient of oysters. It can be made with fresh or canned oysters, depending on what’s available, and the key to oyster stew is minimal cooking, making it very quick and easy to prepare. This dish is especially popular along the East Coast of the United States, although it can be found in other regions as well.
It might surprise you to learn that oyster stew was once a poor man’s food. In the early days of oyster stew, oysters were so abundant they were extremely cheap, and even the poorest families could afford a few dozen oysters, especially for a Sunday treat of oyster stew. The same was true of other now coveted seafood like lobsters and crabs, which were once much larger and more plentiful, before overfishing and an increased population of people made them scarcer and more expensive.
The beauty of oyster stew is in its simplicity. To make oyster stew, they cook by sauteing a couple of 12 ounces (340 grams) of oysters in butter, before adding a quart (a quart) of milk, cream, or half-and-half and more butter. The stew is simmered for a few minutes, until the oysters begin to curl, then removed from the heat and served in large tubs, classically with oyster crackers.
Most people like to add a pinch of salt to oyster stew, along with cracked black pepper and sometimes even paprika. Adventurous cooks can throw a few shallots or green onion slivers into the pan with the oysters as well, and in some regions, cooks may add sliced bacon as well. However, we don’t recommend too much interference with this milk-based soup, as the goal is to let the flavor of the oysters shine through, and the flavor can quickly be overwhelmed with added ingredients.
When cooking oyster stew, or any type of stew or sauce that uses shellfish, the important thing to remember is that shellfish become rubbery when overcooked. In the case of canned shellfish, the shellfish is typically already cooked, so your goal is simply to heat it up. With the right amount of cooking, the oysters will be tender and flavorful; too much cooking will turn them into gummy erasers, and pencil eraser stew isn’t usually a hit at the dinner table.
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