How to Use Oyster Sauce

When cooking Chinese cuisine, you will soon discover the range of sauces that are integral to many dishes. Whether used as a marinade, dipping sauce, or to add a hit a flavour to a meal, sauces are used quite liberally in Chinese cooking. Soy sauce is probably the most widely known of these sauces, but another popular addition to any Chinese pantry is oyster sauce. You are probably less familiar with oyster sauce, in comparison to soy, so this guide will help to explain what this ingredient is and how it can be used in different recipes!

What is Oyster Sauce?

Oyster sauce, as the name suggests, is made from oyster extract. Despite the name, it does not actually taste like fish, as the oyster juices are caramelised and mixed with salt and sugar. It is a rich and syrupy sauce, with a dark brown-black colour. It can be used in a wide variety of dishes, both meat and vegetable, in a range of cuisine. As well as being used in Chinese dishes, oyster sauce is also widely used in Vietnam and Thailand.

What Does Oyster Sauce Taste Of?

Oyster sauce has some similarities to soy sauce, due to the saltiness, but it is also likened to barbecue sauce, due to the sweet, caramelised tones present in the sauce. Oyster sauce is somewhat of a combination between these two sauces and offers great complexity and umami flavour for dishes.

Uses for Oyster Sauce

There are a number of ways in which oyster sauce can be used, including:- As a sauce in itself,- Added to other sauces,- Drizzled over a dish as a garnish.Oyster sauce is popularly used in stir fry dishes, as the texture of the sauce adds thickness to the dish, as well as adding a glossy appearance to the ingredients. It is also very popular drizzled over broccoli.

How to Cook with Oyster Sauce

When cooking with oyster sauce, you should always add it bit by bit, with small amounts at a time. This is because oyster sauce has quite a strong flavour and adding too much of it can completely overwhelm a dish.When used as a garnish, or drizzled over steamed vegetables, the oyster sauce will be poured straight from the bottle over the dish and will not be heated further. However, if it is used in a stir fry dish, it is likely the recipe will call for it to be mixed with other ingredients first, such as soy sauce, rice vinegar, mirin and sugar. This sauce mixture will then be cooked for a minute or two within the dish.

What Type of Dishes is Oyster Sauce Used in?

Chinese cuisine covers a huge range of different dishes and cooking styles, with each offering a unique way of creating food. Oyster sauce is most commonly used in Cantonese-style cooking. This is because oyster sauce originates from a Cantonese fishing town and is a traditional condiment for adding umami to dishes in this area.Despite this, a huge variety of other cuisines in China have taken to using oyster sauce liberally in their dishes too, including in hot Sichuanese food!

What Can You Use in Place of Oyster Sauce?

As oyster sauce is made using the juices that come from cooking oysters, it is not suitable for vegetarians. If you are vegetarian, or simply cannot find oyster sauce in your Chinese supermarket , then you may need to use an alternative.One of the best alternatives for oyster sauce is to combine soy sauce with hoisin sauce, as this will create a mixture with a similar consistency and level of sweet-salty, umami taste as a classic oyster sauce. You can also find vegetarian oyster sauce made with shiitake mushrooms instead of oysters. What do you use oyster sauce for? If your cupboards are running low on flavourful supplies, then you can find a huge range of condiments and sauces available here at Oriental Mart. Image credit: Jules under CC BY 2.0