There is one hawker treat among all the delicious Singaporean hawker foods that lives in my heart. Not even my mother who was an creative and accomplished cook in her time could make it.
Only Orr Luah Pek (Uncle Oyster Omelette), our neighbour hawker made fried oyster omelette like nobody else. I remembered Orr Luah Pek’s rusty tri-cycle, where his 3 foot cast iron skillet rested above a makeshift “wood-fired” stove which was fashioned out of an old 44 gallons oil drum. He would pour the magic batter-mix and with a couple of wrist movements, an almost translucence crepe appeared in the middle of the skillet. He would then crack a couple of eggs with his left hand and spread them evenly to form an omelette, and at the same time topping a handful of local oysters with a couple of splashes of fish sauce into it. In that incredible moment, one of the most wonderful aromas would float through the neighbourhood. Then in no time, there it was a thin round oyster omelette – his batter transformed into a crispy edge scattered with succulent oysters and garnished with fresh coriander treat.
Unfortunately,the dramatic repertoire of this exquisitely flavourful dish can only belong to Orr Luah Pek in the bygone era. But today, we can only walk down memory lane and try to reproduce this extradinary dish in our kitchen with some adjustments and our own imaginations.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup potato starch
1/4 cup corn starch
3/4 cup water
pinch of salt
10 pieces of fresh oyster
4 eggs
1 tbsp fish sauce or soya sauce
Oil
Instructions:
1. Mix the two starches and salt with water. Set this aside for now.
2. Heat up a large cast iron or non-stick skillet on medium-high heat, add some oil to grease the skillet
3. Add the oyster and stir fry a min. or two, until it’s almost cooked.
4. Add the starch water mix to the pan and spread thinly to cook until translucent.
5. Break the eggs directly on to the crepe and use the spatula to break open the
yokes and spread around
6. Flip the omelette over to cook the top side. Garnish with fresh coriander and
chilli sauce. ( We like Tabasco chilli sauce best for this dish)
