Shucking 2,000 Oysters A Day At Hog Island

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Oh it's up! Wait, go up. I'm only 5'7", you can only reach so far. My name's Anthony Rizzi. I'm an oyster shucker. I work at Hog Island Restaurant in the Ferry Building San Francisco. I shuck anywhere between 1,500 and 2,000 oysters a day. We're actually the only restaurant in San Francisco that also has a farm. What I love about oyster shucking is it combines front of the house and back of the house. You get to talk with people, but you also get to deal with food. We're headed over to the Ferry Building, Hog Island Oyster Company. We're gonna get some raw oysters, maybe heckle the shuckers a little bit. I'm not shucking today, so I'm on the other side of the bar, which is nice for me every once in a while. It's not just about shucking the oyster, you know, you're surrounded by people. And at Hog Island you'll see, the oyster bar is the focal point of the restaurant. So you're talking with people from all over the world, you're teaching them how to shuck oysters, you're converting people who previously didn't like oysters. Dispelling myths about oysters because the shucker's right in front of us, non-stop shucking. You're putting your head down and you're just pumping out oysters. Six dozen, two dozen, four dozen, doesn't matter but yeah, it doesn't stop. If we stop, they go hungry. Anarchies will ensue. So we're getting four of six different types of oysters right here. Started with the sweet waters and the Atlantics. These are the two oysters that we grow on our farm over in West Marin in Marshall. We got up at 5 a.m. We're out here coming out to Marshall, California in West Marin to harvest some oysters. This is the gorgeous Tomales Bay, basically the Mecca for oyster growth in northern California. So we're about to head out on a boat with a crew of four people to Hog Island's oyster beds. Pull some oysters out of their beds for harvest. These guys do this everyday. And 40 racks is, is about how many oysters? Well, it's about, you know, 800 oysters per rack, so anywhere between you know, 35,000 to 38,000, give or take. 800 per rack. 800 per rack. Okay. 40 racks. Right. Are they leaving us behind, or Nah, they're, Hector? Yeah. Hey, Anthony. Nice to meet you, man. Nice to meet you. So, I can help you guys if you need, get in the water. You bring gloves with you? I don't have gloves. Should I get some gloves? Right behind us, if you look to my right, we have Hog Island. This is the island that gave the oyster company its name. We're gonna show you just how natural an oyster farm is. It's basically oysters sitting in the bay. Every single morning these oyster farmers go out and they're pulling oyster racks right out of the water. Each rack has about 800 oysters and then throwing them on to the boat. I should have brought my shucker so I can taste one right out of the water. Is there a shucker? Yeah. So you can sample? Mm, yeah. Try one? Yeah. Maybe, I'll pay for it later. So how many oysters total are, are being harvested at this moment? Yeah. Let's see, 16? 16 million? Oysters. Yeah. That's a lot of iron. One, two. This is the rack and bag system, they call it. You have the metal racks right here, then the bags that are attached to them. The bags protect the oysters from any sort of sea critter or creature that would eat them. But the holes are small enough that the oysters don't fall through, but large enough to let water come in and provide the nutrients, the algae, and the phytoplankton for the oysters to feed off. Sometimes we get a little extra. It's about 7:00 a.m. and I haven't had breakfast, so. Got a little snack. To me it sounds a little weird, but kinda reminds me of eating a sharp cheddar cheese. You get that like, right here, start salivating in the sides of your mouth. But I think it's great just as is, right out of the water. Do you guys eat oysters? Yeah, a lot. Yeah, how many can you take down in one sitting? One sitting, like 50 oysters. 50 oysters, and those are all, you don't have to pay for those, right? No. Yeah, just take one of these racks home, right? It's like a lunch box. Yeah. Okay, one, two. So we're pulling up racks right now, I would say at least 100 pounds. This guy thinks they're only about 60, but I mean his arms compared to mine. One, two, three. Are anybody else's fingers numb, or just me? Just you, man. These oysters are getting loaded up on this truck, and then we're gonna drive them down to the farm where they'll get sorted, sized out accordingly. Some will go back into the bay where they'll grow a little bit larger, the other ones that are to size will go into our wet storage tank and then they'll get shipped off to our restaurants. They're basically hand-sorting these guys, right. This is a medium, so that's an oyster that we're just going to shuck the meat out of and use for the po'boy sandwich. That's a small oyster, we're gonna barbecue that. They've been in the water for 10 to 12 months. So you can feel by their weight they've got a good amount of liquor inside, a good amount of meat. We just picked up a bushel of 50 oysters and now the fun begins, we start shucking them. Let me show you how to shuck a perfect oyster. Each oyster has a top shell and a bottom shell, you can tell. The bottom shell is the rounded part. We call that the cup. And where the two shells adjoin at the base, it's called the hinge. And that's where I'm gonna insert the knife, right here, this here oyster knife. You have different styles, you know? In France, they'll use a sharper knife, right? They'll come in bill side. Most people go in from the hinge. So I'm gonna take the knife, give it a little gentle pressure. And then my buddy calls this the lollipop test right here. So if the, the shucker is far enough in the oyster where it can support the weight, right, of the oyster, but not too far as to puncture the actual oyster. That would be a rookie move. So we are gonna turn it like a key, either clockwise or counter-clockwise. And we'll open up. What I like to do at this point, is, I get it eye level, and I'll work my way across the right side of the oyster. And what you want to do is gently peel away the meat, detaching it from the top shell. Then you have a beautiful oyster right there. Now, the last thing we need to do is just detach it from the bottom, and it should be good to go. Let's give her a go. Taste the taste the liquor. Right? You don't wanna dump that out. That's as pure of a food as you can wish to consume. So tonight we're going to have a little fun. I've invited some friends over from the restaurant and a few other people, and we're going to have an oyster-themed dinner. We'll have raw oysters, we'll have some cooked oysters, we'll do a little surf and turf, a little clam fried rice with lemon grass. It's similar to a dish that I had in central Vietnam. What I like to do when I travel is pick up different recipes and then take them back to San Francisco. I think oysters are a great representation of the way that I view food. I love to cook. I love to entertain for people, and if I'm having people over, if I'm even cooking for myself, I'm not gonna make something if it's not the best it can be. I'm known for having quite an array of animal fats. Shallot oil. I cooked some duck confit a few weeks ago. Bacon fat right there. So I have basically a pot of fat. I haven't been able to eat pasta for the last month. How are you? I'm good, how are you? Would you eat a burger? Oh, yeah. You guys wanna test it out with me? Oyster-themed cocktails. Are those big enough for your cocktail? Yeah, for these are gonna be basically just on the rocks. We've got an oyster michelata that we're making. So my lovely girlfriend has a pacifico, a little bland soy sauce, Worcestershire, a little old bay rim, and then this is the clamato. We're going to do an oyster and its liquor. So as you remember, retain all the liquor. that's, there it is. Big smooth. Oh, here we go. We like to do theme dinners. Wow, that's definitely spicy. What was the last theme dinner we did? So Anthony has decided that Mason jars are out, and cans are in, so. Cans. Cans are in. Mason jars are out. 2012. What did he do with the stuff in the can? Did he actually use everything? It's in Tupperware in his refrigerator. That was my question. You should see how much coconuts we have. There we go, oh hello. Oyster shucking is an ideal job for me, because it combines two of my interests and two of my passions. I love to cook for people and entertain people. So when you're at the oyster bar, you're surrounded by people, right? There's no escaping that. But also, at the same time, you have food in your hand, and you're dealing with food, which I love, which I'm all about. That's a wrap. Yes. Everybody go home. Actually not. Let's drink more. I'm done cooking. Let's have fun.
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Channel: Munchies
Views: 2,469,795
Rating: 4.8260207 out of 5
Keywords: how to, cooking, Munchies, Munchiestv, food, drinks, eating, chef, restaurant, VICE, al-kee-hol, VICE eats, being frank, chef's night out, action bronson, documentary, interview, interviews, culture, wild, world, exclusive, independent, underground, travel, funny, journalism, vice guide, vice presents, vice.com, vice, vice mag, vice videos, vicevideos, healthy food, oyster, shuck, shucking, hog island, how to shuck an oyster, tomales bay, grilled oysters, oyster farming, oyster farm, san francisco
Id: bIlVyZFVWso
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Length: 9min 41sec (581 seconds)
Published: Fri Feb 06 2015
Reddit Comments

FUCKING LOVE Hog Island Oysters! Thanks for the post!

👍︎︎ 2 👤︎︎ u/anarchosyn 📅︎︎ Aug 21 2015 🗫︎ replies
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