If you ever ask me what the signature dish of the Hokkien people is, I would answer this is it: the oyster omelette. All over the Min-language speaking regions (from the whole of Fujian province in China, the whole of Taiwan and the renegate Min-speaking Teochew community in Canton, to the Hokkien diaspora in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines), this dish continues to be eaten no matter where the Min people land up.
Shellfish is a staple of the Min people because these thrive all along the shallow rocky coastline of the Fujian province by the South China sea. Locals have a particular penchant for oysters, long before the French grew crazy about them. And they use them in another typical Hokkien dish, the Rice Vermicelli Soup with Oysters, that is now the national dish of Taiwan.
The recipe below is very much a Singaporean variation. The original recipe is not as complex, and is still made the same way in China and Taiwan. It is not so much the ingredients that are different but the way of preparing it is different, which I will explain later.