Mignonette Recipes

A little bit of mignonette education from us to you:

Mignonette is a traditional sauce used to dress oysters. At it's core it's a piquant vinegar based sauce infused with shallot. The variations to mignonette are nearly endless, and making it can be as simple or involved as you choose! In the Oyster Saloon here at Hama Hama we always have multiple types of vinegar infusing with fruits, vegetables, or herbs in order to layer flavor into our rotating mignonettes. The recipes here are scaled down and slightly less complicated for the home cook. A blender or food processor can be used to make a blended version of any of these recipes, but it will be missing some of the texture and refinement of doing it by hand. Consider making mignonette an opportunity to work on your knife skills!

Stir all ingredients together and chill for an hour to infuse

Blend the vinegar and your choice of berry or mix of berries. Let the berry vinegar infuse for at least an hour in the refrigerator (overnight is even better!). Strain out the seeds and stir in the shallot and pepper. Chill for another hour to infuse.

• 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1 makrut lime leaf
• 1 Tbsp chopped lemongrass
• 1 Tbsp sambal
• ¼ cup finely minced shallots (1 medium sized shallot)
• 1 tsp coarsely ground black peppercorns

Heat the vinegar to a simmer, take off heat, and add the lime leaf and lemongrass. Let the vinegar infuse for at least an hour in the refrigerator (overnight is even better!). Strain out the aromatics and stir in the shallot, sambal, and pepper. Chill for another hour to infuse.

• 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1 lemon (zest & juice)
• 1 lime (zest & juice)
• ¼ cup finely minced shallots (1 medium sized shallot)
• 1 tsp coarsely ground pink peppercorns

Stir all ingredients together and chill for an hour to infuse

• 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
• 2 Tbsp finely minced shallots
• 2 Tbsp finely diced carrot
• 1 Tbsp Mae Ploy sweet chili sauce
• 1 tsp lime juice

Stir all ingredients together and chill for an hour to infuse

• 1/3 cup white wine vinegar
• 2 Tbsp finely minced shallots
• 2 Tbsp finely diced cucumber (peeled, seeds removed)
  
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 1 tsp coarsely ground black peppercorns

Stir all ingredients together and chill for an hour to infuse

• 1 shallot, finely minced.
• ½ cup fresh berries, picked from stem, strained to remove seeds & skins
• ½ cup champagne vinegar
• ¼ cup cava (or any dry sparkling wine)

1. Mix your berry juice & vinegar together, then strain using a sieve or metal coffee filter... this will make double sure you won’t be picking berry seeds out of your teeth later. 
2. In a small sauce pan, bring the berry mixture to a boil and then cool. 
3. In a small bowl, combine all ingredients and place in an airtight container for at least four hours (this will allow the shallots to pickle slightly) before serving alongside a tray of freshly shucked oysters.