Tom Cooks 10: Kaki furai (panko deep-fried oysters)

Our fridge is usually filled with fresh ingredients, and those that stay good longer sometimes get neglected.

A jar of oysters had been sitting in the fridge for some time. Tom strategically put it at the very front of a shelf right at eye height, and he repeatedly mentioned that he wanted to eat kaki furai.
I listened, but there was always something else that caught my attention rather than the still-good oysters. Then I got busy with work – for days I was glued to my computer editing a 50,000-word translation.

And so, desperate, Tom made kaki furai himself.
Finally, he actually tried my instructions on how to make a non-greasy deep-fried dish, and carefully adjusted the oil temperature and what-not.

Before he started to deep-fry oysters, the sound of Tom cutting vegetables came from the kitchen. It continued for some time, and I imagined that he was trying to julienne cabbage to go with kaki furai.

After the sound of deep-frying started, I went downstairs to see how he was doing, and found a proud, happy Tom frying his last piece. It was a pretty big ball he had created out of broken pieces from several oysters.

I quickly searched for julienned cabbage, but there was none to be found. Instead, I discovered individual servings of chopped cabbage and radish on the table. From the smell of sesame oil, I could tell which recipe he had tried.

When we sat at the table, Tom pointed to the cabbage and radish dish and said, “I know what you want to say about this.”
He noted that the direction of slicing was wrong and came up with some excuse.
I thought, “Well, I don’t think so. The cabbage is simply not thin enough to be called julienned.” But I didn’t say anything. After all, he had made two new dishes. That alone is a big step.

Tom's first kaki furai was very good, and he seemed pretty impressed with how it turned out. I too was quite impressed with the result. See, my deep-frying method works!

As for the other dish, it was like roughly chopped coleslaw without mayonnaise. It needed to sit longer with salt only, because of the size of cabbage pieces. But not bad at all for the first try.
Keep going, Tom!

(The egg and asparagus dish was left over from the day before.)

Recipes for Tom:
Kaki furai (panko deep-fried oysters)
Hakusai to radisshu no gomaabura-ae (napa cabbage and radish with sesame oil)