Hoy Tod

Ingredients

The shellfish

• 400 gmussels
• shelled, or in the shell and cleaned
• or 300 g shucked oysters
• small ones
• drained and patted dry

The batter

• 100 grice flour
• not glutinous rice flour
• 60 gtapioca starch
• or cornflour
• 1 tablespoonplain flour
• optional
• half a teaspoon salt
• a quarter teaspoon white pepper
• about 220 ml water
• cold
• 1egg, beaten into the batter
• optional

For the pan

• 6 tablespoonsoil
• or more, generously
• 2eggs, beaten separately
• for the top
• 200 gbean sprouts
• 2spring onions, sliced
• 2 clovesgarlic, finely chopped
• optional

To serve

• sriracha sauce
• the Thai kind, sweeter and thinner
• white pepper
• coriander leaf
• lime wedges
• pickled chillies in vinegar

Directions

1. Check the label carefully. Whisk the flours, salt and pepper together. Whisk in cold water gradually. Whisk until completely smooth. It should be thin, like single cream.
2. Let the batter rest twenty minutes. Rice flour needs time to hydrate. Whisk it again before using it. Mussels must be alive when cooked. Discard any that stay open. Discard any with cracked shells. Do not gather from unknown shores. Pull off the beard, towards the hinge.
3. Steam them briefly to open them. Two or three minutes in a covered pan. Discard any that stay shut. Pick the meat out of the shells. Do not overcook them at this stage.
4. Use small oysters for this. Drain them thoroughly. Pat them dry with kitchen paper. Use more oil than feels comfortable. A dry pan gives a pale soft pancake. Heat the oil until it shimmers. It should be genuinely hot.
5. Pour it in and let it spread. It should be a thin layer. Scatter the mussels or oysters over. Press them lightly into the batter. That keeps it tender. Pour the beaten egg over the top. Let it set for a minute.
6. Break the pancake up with a spatula. Cut it into large rough pieces. Turn those pieces over. Fry the pieces for two or three minutes more. Press them down to crisp them. Add more oil if the pan is dry. Scatter them over and toss briefly. Bean sprouts need almost no cooking. Toss them through and take it off the heat. It softens within minutes.
7. Grind white pepper over generously. Scatter coriander leaf. Serve lime wedges. Serve pickled chillies in vinegar. Hoy tod does not keep at all. Whisk it hard before using it. Prepared shellfish keeps a day refrigerated.

Technique

• Rice flour crisps and tapioca starch gives the chew. Together they produce the two textures the dish exists for — crisp lacy edges and a soft chewy middle — and neither flour alone gets there. Cornflour substitutes for tapioca at some cost in stretch.
• Do not use glutinous rice flour, which gives a sticky gummy result and is sold in near-identical bags to plain rice flour.
• Keep the batter thin, like single cream. A thick batter gives a heavy pancake and no lacy edges.
• Use more oil than feels comfortable. This is shallow frying, and the oil is what crisps the edges — a dry pan gives a pale soft pancake.
• Add the shellfish after the batter has set at the edges, not at the start. It only needs to warm through, and shellfish cooked twice through goes rubbery.
• Steam mussels only just enough to open them, since they cook again in the pancake. Frozen cooked shelled mussels work perfectly well and skip the step.
• Dry the shellfish thoroughly. Wet shellfish releases water that stops the batter crisping and makes the oil spit.
• Break the pancake into large rough pieces with a spatula and turn those. A whole pancake is hard to turn and cooks unevenly; breaking it exposes more surface and gives more crisp edges. That is the street method.
• Bean sprouts go in for the last thirty seconds only. Overcooked they go limp and release water into the pan.
• Buy mussels alive — closed, or closing within seconds when tapped — and discard any that stay open, any with cracked shells and any that fail to open when steamed. Buy from a fishmonger with a known source, since filter feeders accumulate biotoxins that cooking does not destroy.
• Shellfish allergy is common and can cause anaphylaxis. Say plainly what is in the dish.
• Thai sriracha is thinner, sweeter and more sour than the American kind, and it is what belongs here. Sriraja Panich is the classic brand.
• Serve it the moment it leaves the pan. The crispness goes within minutes and there is no reheating it.

Substitutions

• Frozen cooked shelled mussels replace fresh and remove the steaming step.
• Small oysters replace mussels and make the version often called or suan.
• Cornflour replaces tapioca starch, giving crispness with less chew.
• Beating an egg into the batter gives a richer, softer pancake; egg on top alone is equally common.
• Any chilli sauce serves if Thai sriracha is unavailable, though it is a different thing.
• A version with no shellfish at all, just batter, egg and sprouts, is sold as a cheaper option.

Variations

• Or suan is the oyster version, often softer and less crisp.
• O-a-tsian in Taiwan is the closest relative, using sweet potato starch.
• Orh luak and orh jian in Singapore and Malaysia are the Teochew versions.
• Hoy tod served with a sweet chilli sauce rather than sriracha is offered by some vendors.
• A crisper version, fried longer and served flat, is made to order on request.
• Khai jiao, the Thai omelette, is the plain everyday relative.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hoy Tod?

Hoy Tod is a street food from Thailand: crisp-chewy batter fried with mussels or oysters and egg, served with sriracha.

How long does Hoy Tod take to make?

Hoy Tod takes 20 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Hoy Tod?

Yes, within limits. Frozen cooked shelled mussels replace fresh and remove the steaming step. Small oysters replace mussels and make the version often called or suan. Cornflour replaces tapioca starch, giving crispness with less chew. Beating an egg into the batter gives a richer, softer pancake; egg on top alone is equally common. Any chilli sauce serves if Thai sriracha is unavailable, though it is a different thing. A version with no shellfish at all, just batter, egg and sprouts, is sold as a cheaper option.

What is the most important thing to get right in Hoy Tod?

Let the batter rest twenty minutes. Rice flour needs time to hydrate. Whisk it again before using it. Mussels must be alive when cooked. Discard any that stay open. Discard any with cracked shells. Do not gather from unknown shores. Pull off the beard, towards the hinge.