Small oysters fried in a sweet potato starch batter with eggs — crisp in places, soft and gooey in others.
What makes it oyster omelette
Small, fresh oysters.
A thin batter of sweet potato starch and water, fried until it's part crisp and part chewy.
Eggs beaten in and fried with it on a hot, greased griddle.
Where it comes from
Minnan street food, made with the small oysters farmed along the southern Fujian coast. Hokkien and Teochew emigrants took it to Taiwan and South-East Asia, and each place made it its own; the stories of where it first began don't agree.
How it varies
Taiwanese o-a-tsian
Softer and chewier, with leafy greens, under a sweet-sour red sauce.
Teochew orh luak
Crisper and flatter, fried in lard and eaten with fish sauce.
Singaporean orh luak
Starchy and eggy, with a sharp chilli sauce on the side.