History

Oyster omelette arrived in Taipei with Hokkien settlers from Fujian in the 1700s, evolving in Taiwan from a humble seafood dish into a night-market hero. The gummy texture comes from sweet-potato starch beaten into the egg. Tainan-coast oysters dominate, smaller and sweeter than Pacific varieties. Yuan Huan Bian at Ningxia Night Market has been frying them since 1965, the canonical Taipei version, slightly gooey rather than crisp.

Common allergens: Egg, Mollusc, Soy

Make it at home

Yield Serves 2Hands-on 15 minTotal 20 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 150g small oysters, drained
  • 3 eggs, beaten
  • 40g sweet-potato starch
  • 100ml water
  • 1 handful chrysanthemum leaves or baby choi sum, chopped
  • 30ml vegetable oil
  • Salt, to taste
  • Sweet sauce: 60ml ketchup, 15ml chilli sauce, 15ml miso, 30g sugar, 50ml water

Method

  1. Whisk sweet-potato starch with water until smooth.
  2. Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan over high heat. Add starch slurry and swirl to a thin pancake, 30 seconds.
  3. Scatter oysters on top, pour eggs around the edge and onto the oysters. Lift and tilt to swirl egg under.
  4. Add chopped greens, fold the omelette over, cook 1 minute more.
  5. Make the sauce: bring all sauce ingredients to a boil, simmer 2 minutes until thick.
  6. Slide omelette onto plate, glaze with sauce.

Tip from the editors. Don't beat the eggs into the starch; the layered texture of starch under egg is what makes the dish. Smaller oysters are sweeter and won't release water.

This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.

Where to eat oyster omelette

Oyster omelette in Taipei

More cities are in research. Want oyster omelette covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.

Browse all dishes →