Capiz Oysters

Best "come home to mama" food! Fresh oysters from Capiz!

The island of Capiz in the Visayas is famous for their seafood. They sometimes refer to Capiz as the seafood capital of the Philippines.

My favorite seafood in the world is oysters. I have tried oysters from all the places in the world. I've tried oysters in Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Hawaii and San Francisco. They're generally bigger and meatier than our local oysters. They all taste the same when they are fresh. It's just the size and the degree of saltiness that differs.

I loved oysters so much that I even  stole 5 pcs of fresh air flown oysters from France when I was an apprentice in Prince Albert at the Intercon. They were having a french seafood festival at the Prince Albert. My Sous Chef, Chef Stephane Chambon instructed me to go to the receiving area and personally take delivery of the air flown oysters that were picked up form the airport. I immediately proceeded to the receiving area.  I got it and brought it to him. We both opened the crate and VOILA! (naks, fumefrench na) There they were, covered in seaweed, oysters from Provence. There were about 3 dozen worth inside.  He opened one  to check the freshness. He chucked it open, smelled the oysters and slurped it! Then he told me to open them and place them on the ice carving on the buffet. And I did, but I had to make sure that they were fresh, so I tried and inspected 5 pieces or 1 for every 6 inspected oysters. Early on, the safety of our guests always come first so I had to make sure that the oysters were still ok!

Locally, I love the oysters from Capiz. The oysters from Cavite, Pangasinan or nearby waters close to Manila is a tad too salty. I can't explain why. They still taste good and retain the "seawater" taste but its just saltier.

The ones from Capiz taste more fresh and there's a great number of those big and plump ones. In Tagalog, "mas mataba" yung oysters from Capiz.

I love eating oysters raw but our driver who is from Aklan (City in Capiz) taught us how the Aklanians do it. They clean the oysters first. After they thoroughly clean the oysters they dunk the oysters in boiling water in just a matter of seconds. Then you just dip it in a calamansi vinaigrette. Simple but very good.

 Not bad. I also feel safer eating local oysters slightly cooked.

Food Tip for the Summer. When in the beach, grill oysters in the beach while drinking at night. Build a fire, put a simple grill top you can buy from the "palengke". Grill and wait for it to open. Dip in calamansi vinaigrette or simple tabasco sauce.  Serve with a cold white wine. So good and so sexy!!