Oyster Po'boys with Harissa Remoulade
SERVINGS: 4
PREP TIME: 10 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 1 hour 40 minutes (including marinating)
COURSE: Main


Freshly shucked oysters, fried to golden-brown perfection. Homemade remoulade sauce with just the right amount of kick. Tender and fluffy brioche buns. This Oyster Po’boy recipe is what dreams are made of—perfect for summer nights, with a glass of sparkling wine (or cold beer!) alongside.
Ingredients
For the Po’boys:
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 2 Tbsp. mild harissa (or your favorite hot sauce)
- 36 freshly shucked oysters
- 1 qt. vegetable oil (or your favorite oil) for frying
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup cornmeal
- ½ tsp. sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
- ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)
- 4 Citarella Brioche Hot Dog Buns—tops split
- 2 cups shredded iceberg or romaine lettuce
- Sliced tomatoes
For the Remoulade:
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 Tbsp. pickle brine
- 1 Tbsp. mild harissa
- 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 2 Tbsp. small, diced pickles
- 2 tsp. chopped parsley
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the buttermilk and harissa. Add the oysters and marinate in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Prepare the remoulade by combining the mayonnaise, pickle brine, harissa, mustard, diced pickles, and parsley in a small mixing bowl.
- In a Dutch oven or heavy-bottom large pot, heat the oil to 360°F.
- In a shallow bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, salt, and cayenne.
- Remove the oysters from the fridge and dredge each oyster in the flour mixture. Place on a small rack set over a sheet pan and let the breading set for a few minutes in the fridge.
- Remove the oysters from the fridge and fry them in batches appropriate to the size of the pot being used (about 6-8 per batch). Make sure that the oil reaches 360°F each time a new batch of oysters is cooked. Once cooked (about 2-3 minutes; this varies on the size of the oyster), place on a clean rack set on a sheet pan and sprinkle with sea salt.
- Assemble the sandwiches: Spoon a healthy dollop of remoulade inside each split-top brioche roll. Place about ½ cup of shredded lettuce inside the slit of the roll, followed by a shingled layer of sliced tomatoes. Top with the fried oysters and serve.
Begin Each Recipe with the Finest Seafood
Citarella owner, Joe Gurrera has 7 rules when it comes to cooking seafood. The first rule is to begin with the freshest, highest quality ingredients. And at Citarella, we have been bringing in the best for over a century. Whether it’s right out of the Atlantic, fresh from the Pacific, or sourced from one of the world’s most principled seafood farms, if it’s sold at Citarella, it’s the finest seafood available on the market today. Period.







