Hangtown Fry - Finally!!!

[cjs]

Since my twenties, my mother was fascinated with the Hangtown Fry, but for some reason she never made the dish. I probably didn't help the effort much because in those days, I was not a fan of oyters as I am today. Having just gotten her old recipe books (clipped recipes and handwritten treasures) and going thru them, my interest was piqued and this morning I made the dish for the first time. I did a little research first to try to get as close to the authentic recipe as possible and I think, I found it. Here's a little of the history and lore of Hangtown Fry from Placerville, CA
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Hangtown Fry History

Hangtown fry could possibly be the first California cuisine. It consists of fried breaded oysters, eggs, and fried bacon, cooked together like an omelet. In the gold-mining camps of the late 1800s, Hangtown Fry was a one-skillet meal for hungry miners who struck it rich and had plenty of gold to spend. Live oysters would be brought to the gold fields in barrels of sea water after being gathered in and around San Francisco Bay. Such a meal cost approximately $6.00, a fortune in those days.

However it came to be, ordering a Hangtown Fry became a mark of prosperity for gold-rich miners, the status symbol of the day. The recipe swept the entire Northwest Territory, from California to Seattle, in the mid-1800s. A few drinks and a Hangtown Fry were considered a gentleman's evening.
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Start out the dish by frying two slices of bacon (for 2 servings), cut them in half and set aside keeping warm. Bread, eggwash, bread again 3-4 small oysters per person; fry these in clarified butter. Add two slices of bacon per omelet in the pan with the oysters, placing them like railroad tracks in the pan.



Mix together two eggs (per person again) with seasoning & a little milk and pour over the oysters and bacon. Cook slowly until eggs are set and lightly browned. During the cooking, lift the cooked eggs to let the uncooked part run underneath onto the hot pan.



To serve, fold in half and slip onto a hot platter. Serve French fried potatoes as an accompaniment. (Next time, I think I'll serve as a frittata, not folded, so I can get the effect of the beautiful fried oysters and the 'rail road' bacon strips.) This was wonderful and I so wish my mother was at a place she could have enjoyed this dish with us also. Hangtown Fry is a wonderful, historical dish.

[Gourmet_Mom]

Yummy Jean! That sounds like a wonderful meal. I know finding this recipe and executing it was a treasured experience.

[SmokeyJoe]

Ill tell ya what, that would make a hell of an action station for a brunch, you got a story to tell while your whipping stuff up. provided the brunchers like history. Set up a whole corner of the brunch room with antique western fare chicken fryin steak and what not, well never mind the bullock, I gotta try that. I love me some history in my ommelette.

[mark1]

And a little more history on a terrif historical dish, why Hangtown.
Before Placerville, in the mid 1800's the town was originally called "Old Dry Diggins", and changed to Hangtown the day that, as the old report was written, three "desperados" were hanged from the same oak tree the same day, and one of the legends is that the Hangtown Fry was created in the saloon of the El Dorado Hotel, right across the street from the hanging tree.
I love these stories and think there's plenty more of them from around the country.

[attie]

Well Jean, I don't know if my doctor would let me enjoy that, but it sure looks good.

[spiceguy]

So that's how it's done. I believe that I could eat that stuff everyday. I wouldn't be surprised if the recipe shows up on a certain "other" website.

[cjs]

[siksikaboy]

My grandmother, born in 1900, cooked this dish several times a year or as often as she got hold of fresh oysters so I have vivid recollection of it. My favorite dish is fried oysters which I date back to eating them before she omletized them as a kid. I added it to the menu of several venues.

[Max_Xavier]

reminds me of something ate in Taiwan.
but was oysters dusted in tapioca starch then sauteed in a pan with some green onion and chinese sausage then topped with scrambled raw egg and cooked till done. same idea

[romanticf16]

I can't imagine the original dish used clarified butter rather than drippings or lard? Or did the hotel have a gourmet chef?

[cjs]

Hmmmm, so you don't think Placerville could have had a top notch chef in those days???? Would be a good project to research, eh?

[IcyMist]

I use to love fried oysters but now wouldn't dare try and eat them. I loved reading the history and the dish does look very very good.

I bet it brought back a lot of memories while you were cooking that dish up.

[Richtee]

Holy CRAP that sounds good! Now if I could only get my family to eat oysters...hah!

[sophia]

Yum!

Yum! Yum!

Yum! Yum! Yum!

Of course, I'd have to have sliced tomatoes with it, and ruin the whole Western history thing.

But, thanks Jean. I heard the term but had never researched it. Will have to try it now.