Food: Kumamoto Oyster edit

edit About Kumamoto Oyster

Also known as Crassostrea Sikamea, the kumamoto oyster is a native of Ariake Bay in Kumamoto Prefecture, on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu. This Japanese import is one the most widely cultivated oyster on the West Coast of the United States. Because it comes from such warm waters, the Kumamoto doesn't spawn naturally in the colder waters of the Western coast of North America. As a result they are the sweetest and most flavorful in the summer months, which is when they get closest to spawning.

They were imported from Japan in the 1940s for testing and local growers found them to be very tasty and a good substitute for Olympia oysters. 40 years later, in the1980s, improper handling caused kumos stocks to drop and more could not be found in Japan as they were accepted as extinct there. A couple hundred kumos were found in the 1990s in an isolated area and were reborn into the industry.

Oysters are considered less appealing during spawning. In order to grow them, shellfish farms heat the water they are in to induce the spawn. Kumos take 3 years to reach market size. Typically smaller than other oysters, about 2-3 inches in length, Kumamotos, are round in shape with a deep cup and slightly scalloped shells. They have a sweet almost fruity flavor, sometimes also described as buttery. Given their size and milder flavors, they are a good oyster to try on the half shell for the first time.