Oysters Three Ways with Green Chilli Shatta

Method

1. Quarter the preserved lemon, run a small knife between the rind and the pulp, and scrape the pulp away.
2. Rinse the rind briefly under cold water, pat it dry, then dice it as finely as you can.
3. Stir the rind, shallot, olive oil, lemon juice, parsley and a pinch of pepper together in a small bowl.
4. Leave that bowl on the bench while you shuck, so the shallot softens in the acid.
5. Spread the ice or rock salt over a large platter, deep enough that a shell sits level without tipping.
6. Sit an oyster on the folded tea towel, flat shell up, hinge towards your knife hand, and hold it down through the cloth.
7. Push the tip of the knife into the hinge and twist it rather than shoving it forward, until the shell releases with a small crack.
8. Run the knife along the inside of the top shell to cut the muscle, then lift the lid away.
9. Slide the knife under the oyster to free it, keeping the shell level so the liquor stays in it.
10. Check the meat for chips of shell and lift any out with the knife tip.
11. Settle the oyster into the ice and shuck the rest the same way.
12. Divide the shucked oysters into three rows of eight.
13. Spoon a quarter teaspoon of green chilli shatta onto each oyster in the first row, into the liquor beside the meat rather than over it.
14. Stir the preserved lemon dressing, then spoon half a teaspoon onto each oyster in the second row.
15. Put three drops of caramelised balsamic on each oyster in the third row.
16. Finish that row with the cracked pepper and the snipped chives.
17. Tuck the lemon wedges around the platter and take it to the table straight away.

Dress them at the last minute, not the first

The dressings can all be made ahead. The preserved lemon and shallot one is better for an hour in the fridge and holds three days in a covered jar, and the other two are a jar and a spoon. The oysters are the part that will not wait. Shuck up to an hour ahead if the kitchen is against you, keep the tray covered on ice, and dress the shells as they leave for the table.

What is left in the jars has somewhere to go. Shatta lands on fried eggs, barbecued prawns and cold roast meat in a sandwich, the preserved lemon skin goes into a dressing, and the caramelised balsamic is thick enough to run over strawberries or a wedge of hard cheese. If chilli and seafood is the direction you liked, prawn linguine with Calabrian chilli pesto is the hot version, and there is more cold food in our Christmas canapes guide.

Common questions

What do you put on oysters?

Three things cover almost every tray: acid, an allium or a chilli condiment. Acid is a lemon wedge, and nobody objects to it. The allium version is a mignonette, finely diced shallot in vinegar, or the preserved lemon and shallot dressing above. The chilli version wants something raw and spoonable rather than a bottled hot sauce, because a cooked sauce coats the oyster and takes it over. Keep the quantity small in all three cases: a quarter to half a teaspoon per shell is a dressing, more than that is a topping the oyster has to fight.

How many oysters per person at Christmas?

Six each if they open the meal and other food follows, a dozen each if the oysters are the meal, and three or four each on a grazing table where people are standing up. Buy a few more than the count suggests, because one or two in a box will refuse to open cleanly or turn out to be cracked under the shell.

Can you dress oysters in advance?

Make the dressings in advance, dress the oysters at the last minute. Salt and acid start to firm the flesh as soon as they touch it, so an oyster dressed half an hour early is tighter and duller than one dressed on the way out of the kitchen. Shucking early is the manageable half of the problem: an hour ahead, kept level on ice under a damp cloth in the fridge, is fine.

The three jars sit with the rest of the Ottolenghi range and our condiment shelf, and shipping is free Australia-wide on orders over $100. Orders placed before 12pm on a weekday are dispatched the same day from our Corio, VIC warehouse, tracked with Australia Post. If you are buying for someone else's table, our Christmas hampers do the same job in a box, and what goes on an Australian Christmas table and when to buy it takes the wider view.