Lobster sauce is a type of sauce used in American-Chinese and Canadian-Chinese cuisine. It is also sometimes found in Polynesian-influenced Chinese food. It is a type of "white sauce" within Chinese cooking, meaning that it is of a mild flavour, and based on meat stock, as opposed to soy sauce. Cantonese shrimp with lobster sauce

The sauce itself does not contain any lobster, and may vary in preparation method from place to place or restaurant to restaurant. It can contain

chicken broth Broth, also known as bouillon (), is a savory liquid made of water in which meat, fish or vegetables have been simmered for a short period of time. It can be eaten alone, but it is most commonly used to prepare other dishes, such as soups, ...

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...

green onions "Green Onions" is an instrumental composition recorded in 1962 by Booker T. & the M.G.'s. Described as "one of the most popular instrumental rock and soul songs ever" and as one of "the most popular R&B instrumentals of its era", the tune is a ...

fermented black beans ''Douchi'' () or ''tochi'' (also known as fermented black soybeans, Chinese fermented black beans (), salted black beans, salty black beans, or just black beans) is a type of fermented and salted black soybean most popular in the cuisine of ...

, and

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, and is thickened with starch. Some recipes incorporate pork mince and soy sauce. The colour varies from being pale white to brown, or to a yellow, depending on the quantity of

soy sauce Soy sauce (also called simply soy in American English and soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermented paste of soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and '' Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''Asp ...

used and how the eggs are incorporated into the sauce. Lobster sauce in most of

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

, where it is a thicker, brown sauce, is the exception.

Origin

"Lobster sauce" was invented in North America by Chinese restaurateurs inspired by a method of preparing lobster in

Cantonese cuisine Cantonese or Guangdong cuisine, also known as Yue cuisine ( or ) is the cuisine of Guangdong province of China, particularly the provincial capital Guangzhou, and the surrounding regions in the Pearl River Delta including Hong Kong and Maca ...

where ginger, green onions, and soy sauce were used as stir-fry seasoning. The seasoning mixture was made into a sauce that was used in cooking lobster. Due to the cost of serving lobster for restaurateurs and their customers,

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

was eventually substituted in the recipe resulting in a dish commonly known as "Shrimp with Lobster Sauce" ().

References

{{Reflist Sauces American Chinese cuisine Canadian Chinese cuisine