Oyster Sauce

Oyster sauce is a staple for much Chinese family-style cooking. The sauce originated in southern China, where cooks use it as a seasoning, drizzling it over simply cooked vegetables or mixing it into a meat and vegetable stir-fry. Oyster sauce can also be served as a dipping sauce for roasted meats. It is commonly used in noodle stir-fries, such as chow mein. It is also found in popular Chinese-American dishes such as beef with stir-fried vegetables. Oyster sauce can also be used as a topping for some dishes. Since its early stage of development, oyster sauce has been widely popular with Cantonese chefs as a traditional umami rich condiment. Dishes that may use oyster sauce include Crab in oyster sauce, Kai-lan, Buddha's delight, Hainanese chicken rice, Cashew chicken, Lo mein (Chicken Lo Mein, Beef Lo Mein, Pork Lo Mein), Cha siu baau, Har gow, Kai yat sai, Wonton noodles, and Daikon cake.

Oyster sauce was invented by accident by Lee Kum Sheung in Nanshui, Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, China, in 1888. He ran a tea stall that sold cooked oysters. One day, Lee was cooking oysters as usual, but he lost track of time and left them to simmer until he smelled a strong aroma. Lifting the lid of the pot, he was delighted to find the normally clear oyster soup had turned into a thick, brownish sauce with an astonishingly delicious taste. Soon he started selling his newly invented seasoning which turned out to be a hit with the locals. He founded Lee Kum Kee to promote oyster sauce and other Chinese sauces and condiments to all corners of the world.

"True" oyster sauce of good quality should be made by condensing oyster extracts, the white broth produced by boiling oysters in water. This opaque broth, similar to the colour of clam juice found in supermarkets, is then reduced until a desired viscosity has been reached and the liquid has caramelized to a brown colour into a thick, intensely flavourful sauce. No other additives, not even salt, should be added to the sauce, since the oysters should provide all the savoury flavour. However, this method is prohibitively expensive. Many modern oyster sauces are thickened with cornstarch, flavoured with oyster essence or extract and darkened with caramel.

Oyster sauces today are usually made with a base of sugar and salt and thickened with corn starch. Oyster extracts or essences are then used to give flavour to the base sauce. Other ingredients, such as soy sauce and MSG, may also be added to deepen the flavour and add colour. The quality of the oyster sauce will greatly affect the flavour. Avoid the least expensive products, as they lack a rich oyster flavor. Once opened, oyster sauce should be stored in the refrigerator.

Chinese Oyster Sauce Brands

- Lee Kum Kee Double Deluxe
- Lee Kum Kee Premium oyster sauce is quite good (must be the Premium kind or the Original kind, others are not so good)
- Lee Kum Kee Panda - do not buy
- There is another brand of which the English name I don't recall (in Chinese it is something called Goon Yak Wah Kee) that is also quite good.

Thai Oyster Sauce (Nahm Man Hoi) Brands

From http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/

"Borrowed from the Chinese, this richly flavored, dark brown sauce made from oysters with salt and water, thickened with cornstarch and color-enhanced with caramel or burnt sugar, is extensively used as a seasoning for stir-fried vegetable, meat, seafood and noodle dishes.

Thai brands of oyster sauce in general taste different from the Chinese brands available in American Chinatowns. The Thai sauces are less salty and have a more pronounced oyster flavor. Oyster sauce is used extensively to flavor stir-fried vegetables (Stir-fried Asparagus, Oyster Mushrooms and Shrimp in Garlic Sauce) and as a flavor ingredient in meat, seafood and noodle dishes. Refrigerate after opening to retain fresh taste; it will keep for up to a year refrigerated.

I recommend the Dragonfly brand Super Premium Flavored Oyster Sauce. Dragonfly makes a less expensive "Premium" brand as well that is also excellent. Both are made without any preservatives or monosodium glutamate (MSG) whatsover."

- Dragonfly Super Premium. The sweetness is subtle, and you can definitely taste the oysters. It's not too salty, and doesn't mount a full frontal attack on your tastebuds like so many others.