Sourced: The dual-purpose bivalves of Dragon Creek

As Leeds noted, the well (cup) of the 3¹ / ₂-inch oyster’s bottom shell is ample, like a sake cup holding a plump oyster and its plentiful liquor. To call that liquid a brine would be inaccurate, because its saltiness is faint: Hayden’s Reef oysters are grown in a low-salinity environment. (See the accompanying sidebar.)

On a boat tour around Nomini Bay, Wood recounted how he’d wound up in the oyster business. He came from a family of watermen on his mother’s side and grew up on Cobb Island, Md., across the river from Nomini Creek, where he fished as a boy. After retiring from a 30-year career in the U.S. Air Force and then working as a college professor in Texas, Wood returned with his wife, Barb, to the area he loved, buying the Nomini Creek house in 2001. (They also own a house in Alexandria.)

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He started growing oysters as a hobby, and with the health of the bay in mind. But within a few years of seeding his first 500 spat, or larvae, “there were a million oysters out there,” and Barb demanded he do something with them. Right after Leeds opened the first Hank’s in 2005, Wood approached her on the street, opened an oyster and asked her to taste it. “They were really good,” she said. “He explained that he was a small farmer, and I said, ‘Great! I’ll take 200 tomorrow!’ And we’ve had a great relationship ever since.”

The farming method is three-fold. First Wood lays a base of shells on the muddy bottom to create a place for wild oysters to attach. On top of that, he places rectangular wire cages holding 60,000 commercially produced spat, protected by mesh bags. Finally, in the spring, Wood transfers the spat, now grown into oysters about 1¹ / ₂ inches long, into floating cages. It takes Wood’s oysters between 12 and 15 months to grow to full size, about 3¹ / ₂ inches.

Now Wood has 50 wire cages and 50 floating cages that hold about 40,000 oysters (some are lost to attrition); he plans to expand the operation as soon as he gets a license to do so. Add in the oysters growing on the reef, either naturally or planted there, and there’s no telling how many are out there. With all the water his and the other farmers’ oysters filter, Wood knows he is making a difference.

However many oysters are growing in Nomini Creek, Leeds’s operation seems able to make them disappear. The two Hank’s locations combined serve and sell more than 1,200 of Wood’s oysters every week. They’re also available to retail customers of Hank’s for $2 each (order 24 hours in advance) and at BlackSalt Market in the Palisades for $1.50 each.

The Hayden’s Reefs are “meaty and mild, which makes them a really good starter oyster,” Leeds says. “They’re good for cooking. We use them for our barbecue oysters, good in stews, roasted oysters, grilled oysters.”

Bearing Leeds’s advice in mind, I envisioned roasting the deep-cupped beauties in a hot oven and using them as vessels for mini, on-the-half-shell portions of chowder. The first order of business was to taste one for salinity.

I reduced cream infused with thyme, bay leaf and garlic, then added bits of smoky bacon, shallots, carrots, potatoes and celery, all enhanced with a generous amount of chipotle-flavored hot sauce. I concentrated the seasoning of the chowder mix, taking into account that it would be commingling with a generous amount of oyster liquor.

The result was exactly what I’d hoped: a slurpy way to combine a soup and appetizer in one dish. These oysters are perfect for entertaining because the chowder mix can be made ahead of time and the oysters shucked, nestled on a foil-lined baking sheet and refrigerated, ready to pop into the oven for a last-minute roasting before being garnished with the warm topping.

The idea worked so well, I made another version with chopped Chinese watercress flavored with cream, lemon grass, ginger, Sriracha, scallion and cilantro. Serving the oysters on chargers filled with chunky rock salt crystals (they keep the oysters from tipping over) makes a simple, elegant presentation.

The Hayden’s Reefs meatiness inspired two other ideas: a quick, Korean-inspired kimchi broth with shiitake mushrooms, spinach and oysters; and cornmeal-battered oyster beignets with smoked oyster sauce. It’s difficult for me to resist getting my fry on when there are plenty of succulent, local oysters to be had. That they’re grown sustainably makes them all the sweeter.

RECIPES:

Chowdered Roasted Oysters

Roasted Cressed Oysters With Lemon Grass and Ginger

Kimchi Vegetable Soup With Oysters

Oyster Beignets With Smoked Oyster Sauce

Details: oysters and salinity.

Hagedorn will answer questions about oysters and more during the Free Range chat Wednesday at noon at live.washingtonpost.com.