Oyster sauce describes a number of sauces made by cooking
oyster
Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not ...
s. The most common in modern use is a
viscous
The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its resistance to deformation at a given rate. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of "thickness": for example, syrup has a higher viscosity than water.
Viscosity quantifies the in ...
dark brown
condiment made from
oyster
Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not ...
extracts,
[The Times, 22 January 1981; ''Cook Accidentally on purpose''] sugar, salt and water thickened with
corn starch
Corn starch, maize starch, or cornflour (British English) is the starch derived from corn (maize) grain. The starch is obtained from the endosperm of the kernel. Corn starch is a common food ingredient, often used to thicken sauces or sou ...
. Some versions may be darkened with
caramel
Caramel ( or ) is an orange-brown confectionery product made by heating a range of sugars. It can be used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons, or as a topping for ice cream and custard.
The process of carameli ...
, though high-quality oyster sauce is naturally dark.
[BigOven Food Dictionary]
Oyster sauce
' It is commonly used in
Chinese,
Thai,
Malay,
Vietnamese, and
Khmer cuisine.
Production
Oyster sauce production began in China no later than the mid-1870s. Oysters were boiled in three iron basins for half an hour then removed for drying on rattan either by sun or over a moderate fire. The water from the basins was reduced in a fourth basin to "a blackish sauce". Sea-water, salt and/or soy could be added.
Today, many shortcuts have been made to create a similar flavor more quickly and at reduced cost. 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 flavor to the base sauce. Other ingredients, such as soy sauce and
monosodium glutamate
Monosodium glutamate (MSG), also known as sodium glutamate, is the sodium salt of glutamic acid. MSG is found naturally in some foods including tomatoes and cheese in this glutamic acid form. MSG is used in cooking as a flavor enhancer ...
, may also be added to deepen the flavor and add color. The quality of the oyster sauce will greatly affect the flavor.
Oyster sauce is made manually in the traditional method. Some oyster sauce manufacturers have improved the process to mass-produce oyster sauce with
automation
Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...
. The oyster extracts are mixed with
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or do ...
,
corn starch
Corn starch, maize starch, or cornflour (British English) is the starch derived from corn (maize) grain. The starch is obtained from the endosperm of the kernel. Corn starch is a common food ingredient, often used to thicken sauces or sou ...
, and the like, with the weighing and mixing processes powered by an automatic electronic system before uniform blending on the automatic
production line
A production line is a set of sequential operations established in a factory where components are assembled to make a finished article or where materials are put through a refining process to produce an end-product that is suitable for onward c ...
. The mixed ingredients are cooked in a sealed automatic production system at high temperature by a
computerized system. The cooked sauce is transferred to the filling system through sealed pipelines, and reaches the market shelves only after multiple rounds of inspection.
Culinary use
Oyster sauce adds a savory flavor to many meat and vegetable dishes. The sauce is a staple for much Chinese family-style cooking. 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
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding a ...
chefs as a traditional
umami rich condiment.
Applications are no longer restricted to
Cantonese cuisine. Be it the well-balanced
Shandong cuisine, the spicy hot
Sichuanese cuisine, or the
seafood and
red stewing-dominated
Jiangsu
Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with it ...
and
Zhejiang cuisine, oyster sauce enhances flavor. It brings out the
umami flavor.
Dishes that may use oyster sauce include
Crab in oyster sauce
, country = China & Indonesia
, region = East Asia and Southeast Asia notably: Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore
, creator = Chinese cuisine
, course = Main course
, served = Hot
, main_ing ...
,
Kai-lan,
Buddha's delight,
Hainanese chicken rice,
Cashew chicken
Cashew chicken () is a Chinese-American dish that combines chicken (usually stir-fried but occasionally deep-fried, depending on the variation), with cashews and either a light brown garlic sauce or a thick sauce made from chicken stock, soy sau ...
,
Lo mein,
Cha siu baau
''Char siu bao'' () is a Cantonese barbecue-pork-filled ''baozi'' (bun).Hsiung, Deh-Ta. Simonds, Nina. Lowe, Jason. 005 ''The Food of China: A Journey for Food Lovers''. Bay Books. . p. 24. The buns are filled with barbecue-flavored ''cha siu ...
,
Har gow
Har gow (sometimes anglicized as "ha gow", "haukau", "hakao"; ) is a traditional Cantonese dumpling served as dim sum.Hsiung, Deh-Ta. Simonds, Nina. Lowe, Jason. 005(2005). The food of China: a journey for food lovers. Bay Books. . p41.
Name
Th ...
,
Kai yat sai,
Wonton noodles, and
Daikon cake.
Difference from fish sauce
While oyster sauce and
fish sauce are both briny and may have related histories, they are different products. Fish sauce is watery, clear, and salty, whereas oyster sauce is made by reducing oyster extracts and therefore sweeter with a hint of salt and not as strong an aroma as fish sauce.
Varieties
"True" oyster sauce of good quality should be made by condensing oyster extracts, the white broth produced by boiling oysters in water. This
opaque
Opacity or opaque may refer to:
* Impediments to (especially, visible) light:
** Opacities, absorption coefficients
** Opacity (optics), property or degree of blocking the transmission of light
* Metaphors derived from literal optics:
** In lingui ...
broth, similar to the color of
clam juice
Clam juice is a broth derived from steamed clams, which can be drunk on its own or used as an ingredient in various dishes and beverages.
Preparation
Clam juice is typically prepared from the liquid obtained from steamed clams. Clam juice may be ...
found in supermarkets, is then
reduced until a desired
viscosity
The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its resistance to deformation at a given rate. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of "thickness": for example, syrup has a higher viscosity than water.
Viscosity quantifies the int ...
has been reached and the liquid has
caramelized to a brown color.
No other additives, not even
salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...
, should be added to the sauce, since the oysters should provide all the savory flavor. However, this method is prohibitively expensive.
Many modern oyster sauces are thickened with
cornstarch
Corn starch, maize starch, or cornflour (British English) is the starch derived from corn (maize) grain. The starch is obtained from the endosperm of the kernel. Corn starch is a common food ingredient, often used to thicken sauces or sou ...
, flavored with oyster essence or extract
and darkened with
caramel
Caramel ( or ) is an orange-brown confectionery product made by heating a range of sugars. It can be used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons, or as a topping for ice cream and custard.
The process of carameli ...
.
Vegetarian oyster sauce
Vegetarian oyster sauce prepared from
mushrooms, often
oyster mushrooms or
shiitake mushrooms, is also popular and generally lower in price. It may contain more
taste enhancers if less mushroom extract is used to reduce costs.
Non-MSG oyster sauce
Most of the oyster sauces available on the market contain added
monosodium glutamate
Monosodium glutamate (MSG), also known as sodium glutamate, is the sodium salt of glutamic acid. MSG is found naturally in some foods including tomatoes and cheese in this glutamic acid form. MSG is used in cooking as a flavor enhancer ...
(MSG). In recent years MSG-free varieties can also be found.
European oyster sauce
In 19th century French and English cooking, "oyster sauce" referred to a variant of
sauce blanche flavored with oysters, using a base of milk and melted butter rather than purely
reducing the oysters by cooking.
[Mrs Beeton's Household Management](_blank)
recipe 492 "Oyster Sauce", p. 224 (1861).[Ude, Louis Eustache]
The French Cook
p.293, Publisher Carey, Lea & Carey, 1829. The white sauce version was moistened with cream, whereas in brown oyster sauce, the cream was replaced with gravy. Common recipes using the sauce included "Steak and oyster sauce", documented as early as 1806, and "Cod and oyster sauce". This sauce was still being eaten in Australia in the 1970s.
Health
In 2001, the United Kingdom
Food Standards Agency
The Food Standards Agency is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for protecting public health in relation to food in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is led by a board ap ...
found in tests of various oyster sauces and
soy sauces that 22% of samples contained a chemical called
3-MCPD (3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol) at levels considerably higher than those deemed safe by the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
. About two thirds of these samples also contained a second chemical, called
1,3-DCP (1,3-dichloropropanol), which experts advise should not be present at any levels in food. Both chemicals have the potential to cause
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
, and the Agency recommended that the affected products be withdrawn from shelves and avoided.
The joint Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) said it had taken emergency action to amend its food standards code to set a limit for 3-MCPD in soy sauce of 0.02 milligrams per kilogram, in line with European Commission standards that came into force in the EU in April 2002.
See also
*
Fish sauce
*
Hoisin sauce
*
Duck sauce
*
Plum sauce
*
List of Chinese sauces
This is a list of notable Chinese sauces, encompassing sauces that originated in China or are widely used as cooking ingredients or condiments in Chinese cuisines.
Chinese sauces
These sauces are commonly used as ingredients for dishes in many Ch ...
*
List of sauces
*
Meat glaze
References
External links
{{Condiments
Chinese sauces
Chinese condiments
Philippine cuisine
Thai cuisine
Oyster dishes
Umami enhancers