🍽️ Oyster Omelette

Oysters with tapioca starch and egg, crispy outside, soft inside, dipped in fish sauce.

Oyster omelette, or hao lao, is a pan-fried street snack common along Chaoshan's coast and especially popular in Shantou. Plump local baby oysters are mixed with a sweet-potato starch batter and beaten egg, then spread in a hot, oiled pan and fried until both sides turn golden and lightly charred—crispy at the edges, soft and tender in the middle. It is brought to the table with a dip of fish sauce or plum sauce, giving a crunchy-then-slip bite where the oyster's briny sweetness opens up. Compared with Taiwan's o-a-tsian, the Chaoshan version stresses the fried aroma of the batter and the pure taste of the oyster, often finished with coriander. Shantou sits at the Han River estuary with nearby oyster beds, so stalls use same-day catch. It is a popular beer partner at dai pai dongs and a seafood plate at family meals alike, and a signature of Chaoshan coastal flavors.