The cool weather brings “kakiyaki” (oysters grilled in the shell) season to the Ariake Sea, just across the road and railroad tracks from where we live.  Oysters are one of the well known delicacies of our town…along with crab and mandarin oranges.  Until a few days ago we hadn’t indulged in the pleasure of “kakiyaki” yet this year.  Unexpectedly, we had the opportunity to eat oysters three meals in a row!  First, we were treated to kakiyaki at Satomi’s parents’ house.  Truthfully, it was my first experience. Satomi’s mother started the grill and we grilled and grilled and grilled.  The technique is simple.  Take an oyster and put it over the coals flat side down.  When it pops open and the water from inside the shell starts to drip out you just flip the oyster over on to the rounded side to finish cooking.  Why bother paying attention to the orientation of the oyster on the grill, you ask?  The answer is painfully simple.  If the flat side is down when the shell pops open the boiling water goes down into the hot coals.  If the rounded side of the shell is down the shell pops open, hot water volcanically erupts and flies in all directions.  If you happen to be hovering over the grill, tending to your oysters you risk permanent scarring.  Even when you have the shell properly oriented there is still the danger of a scalding but the danger is much less and much less danger is part of the fun.

As we were leaving our oyster feast, one of the neighborhood ladies gave us a bag of oysters that she had collected from the sea herself and shelled for us.  We put them in our miso soup the next morning.  They were amazingly delicious, by the way, but the most impressive part of her feat is that she is in her 80s.  Add to that, that the temperature was close to freezing when she trudged across the mudflats to gather the oysters.  The woman is amazing.  See the picture to see her mode of vehicular transportation.  She still grows and harvests oranges by herself too.  When it is time to sell them, she drives her tractor, loaded to the gills with crates of mandarines, to the co-op to sell.  It’s quite a sight to see her, bent into an L-shape by osteoporosis or hard work (or probably both) driving down the road stoically at ten miles per hour or so while gigantic trucks barrel past her going much at more than  fives times her speed.  It’s even more impressive to see her slinging forty pound crates of oranges around.  I hope that I have some semblance of her energy when I approach that age.

Our third oyster feast was at one of the local Kakiyaki Restaurants that line the roads around here in the cold months.  It’s a fun time.  When you get to the restaurant you are greeted by a small shellfish market.  In addition to oysters, there were crabs, clams, sea snails, and a few other things.  You buy what you want to grill and take it to one of the tables.  In the middle of the table is a grill.  It costs about three bucks for the charcoal.  Next, grill to your hearts content.  Come visit us in the winter and enjoy the fun.

-The Green Tea Dreamer