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Hero shot of 6 Oysters with Tosazu Dressing 3 Ways.
Oysters with Tosazu Dressing 3 Ways
Prep Time
10 mins

Tosazu is a light Japanese dressing  made up of vinegar, soy sauce, mirin and bonito dashi stock. It is a delicious way to enjoy fresh oysters. Try three different toppings on Oysters with Tosazu Dressing.

Total Time does not include time required to make Tosazu but even if you make it from scratch, it takes only 5 minutes or so.

Recipe Type: Appetiser
Cuisine: Japanese
Keyword: dressing, Oyster, Tosazu
Serves: 4 Servings (3 each)
Author: Yumiko
Ingredients (tbsp=15ml, cup=250ml)
  • 1 dozen oysters in opened shells (note 1)
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • 4 tbsp Tosazu (for 12 oysters, note 2)
Spicy Topping (for 12 oysters)
  • 2 tbsp momiji oroshi (note 3)
  • 2 tbsp shallot/scallions , finely chopped (note 4)
Authentic Topping (for 12 oysters)
  • 4 perilla leaves
  • ½ tbsp grated ginger
Luxury Topping
  • 2 tbsp chives , finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp dried wakame seaweed , ground finely (note 5)
  • 20 g ikura (salmon roe)
Prepare Oysters (optional, note 6)
  1. Remove oysters from the shells and place the oysters in a sieve. Sprinkle salt over the oysters and massage gently several times with your hand.

  2. Rinse the oysters well under cold running water and drain well.
  3. Clean the shells, removing tiny broken shell pieces. Drain water well.
  4. Return the oysters back to the shells and place them on a large serving plate.
Oysters with Spicy Topping
  1. Pour 1 teaspoon of Tosazu over each oyster, then place ½ teaspoon of shallots on each oysters.

  2. Pick ¼ teaspoon each of momiji oroshi, squeeze slightly to get excess moisture out if necessary, and place it on the oysters.

Oyster with Authentic Topping
  1. Roll perilla leaves together and cut the roll to 1mm thick all the way through. Untangle the rolled strands.

  2. Pour 1 teaspoon of Tosazu over each oyster.
  3. Spread equal portions of perilla on the oysters, then place a small pinch of grated ginger in the centre of each oyster.

Oyster with Luxury Topping
  1. Pour 1 teaspoon of Tosazu over each oyster.
  2. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of chives on each oyster, covering half of the lip-side of the oyster.
  3. Sprinkle ground seaweed over the white side of the oyster.
  4. Place several ikura in the center of each oyster.
Recipe Notes

1. If you can only buy fresh oysters without shells, you can serve them together in a small bowl (see the photo in post).

2. Please see the recipe in my post Japanese Dressings and the revise the portion of dashi stock to 3 parts as described in my post.

3. Please see the recipe in Tuna Tataki (Seared Tuna) with Ponzu.

4. If stems are thick, cut in half lengthwise first, then finely chop them so that the chopped pieces are not too big.

5. I used a NutriBullet to grind the dried wakame seaweed. It worked surprisingly well and the wakame became almost powdery. I initially tried a mortar and pestle, then used a rolling pin to crush the wakame pieces. I even tried to chop them with a knife but neither method worked.

Instead of grinding them, you could rehydrate and place them as small sheets of seaweed.

6. Japanese people do clean oysters before eating. You will be surprised how dark the water gest when you clean them. If you are shucking oysters at home, perhaps you needn’t do this as you know they are clean and you don’t want to lose the oyster juice inside the shell.

7. Nutrition per oyster with authentic topping. Spicy topping is almost the same with marginal higher vitamins %. Luxury topping is a couple of % higher due to salmon roe.

serving: 56g calories: 45kcal fat: 1.2g (2%) saturated fat: 0.3g (1%) trans fat: 0g polyunsaturated fat: 0.5g monounsaturated fat: 0.2g cholesterol: 25mg (8%) sodium: 129mg (5%) potassium: 94mg (3%) carbohydrates: 3.2g (1%) dietary fibre: 0g (0%) sugar: 0.6g protein: 4.9g vitamin a: 2.7% vitamin c: 6.7% calcium: 0.4% iron: 14%