Oyster Sauce (蚝油)

Oyster Sauce, (蚝油, hao you) is one of the most frequently used ingredients in Cantonese dishes. And it is in many of your favorite takeout dishes. It is the magic ingredients to add umami to stir fry sauces such as brown sauce, and make your fried noodles extra fragrant.

Let’s explore this unique ingredient and learn how to use it to enhance all of your favorite Chinese recipes.

What is oyster sauce?

Oyster Sauce (蚝油, hao you) is a thick, dark brown liquid condiment commonly used in Chinese cooking. It has a sweet, salty, and deeply savory flavor. It is made from oyster essence or oyster extract, with a few other ingredients, such as sugar and cornstarch. It has an umami flavor with a strong resemblance to seafood, and is a great flavor enhancer in cooking.

How is oyster sauce made?

Oyster sauce is traditionally made by simmering oysters slowly in water. The oysters release their juices as they simmer, and the water takes on a rich, oyster-like character. It would eventually be strained and reduced to a concentrated sauce with tons of umami.  

Nowadays, a similar process is used, though with some shortcuts enabled by modern technology. The idea is the same, though – capture as much oyster flavor as possible and put it in a convenient sauce. Salt and sugar, and sometimes MSG and preservatives are commonly added.

What does oyster sauce taste like?

Oyster sauce has a deep savory umami and tastes subtly of the sea.

How to use oyster sauce

Oyster sauce is commonly used in Chinese cuisine, especially Cantonese. It is widely used in salad, stir-fry, noodles, soup, and dipping sauce. Its flavor goes well with practically every savory ingredient, including vegetables, tofu, mushroom, seafood, beans, meat and poultry.

Oyster sauce gives a huge, irreplaceable depth of flavor to many dishes you know and love. Such as the marinade for char siu pork and stir-fry sauce for chicken and broccoli.

You can make a really simple and delicious veggie dish using oyster sauce. Simply steam or blanch some Asian greens, such as baby bok choy or gai lan, and dress it with oyster sauce. To experience the full beauty of oyster sauce on green veggies, see my recipe for Chinese broccoli. 

Tips when using oyster sauce

Keep in mind:

• Oyster sauce will lose its umami if cooked for too long. Always add it at the end of braising or cooking soup.
• Do not cook oyster sauce over high heat – it will lose its flavor and turn bitter.
• Using oyster sauce to marinate will eliminate fishiness from meat and seafood, as well as enhance its flavor.
• Oyster sauce is quite salty. You can reduce or eliminate salt when cooking with oyster sauce.

How to shop for oyster sauce?

The best places to shop for oyster sauce are your local Asian market and online, though some regular supermarkets stock good oyster sauce these days, too.

As far as brands go, Lee Kum Kee invented oyster sauce and they’re still my default choice. Their premium oyster sauce has a rich flavor and is made without preservatives.

Another great oyster sauce is made by Megachef in Thailand. Their sauce is made from fresh oysters which are smoked before being made into sauce. The flavor is the best of any oyster sauce I’ve tried, and they achieve this without using MSG.

How to store

Always keep your oyster sauce refrigerated once you’ve opened it. And once you’ve opened it, you should use it within 6 months for the best flavor, though it can last longer than this. 

If your oyster sauce has been open a long time and you’re not sure, take a look at it before adding it to anything. If the color is dull or the aroma is gone, your sauce may be past its prime.

Substitutes for Oyster Sauce

If I’m being honest, there isn’t really any true substitute for oyster sauce. Hoisin sauce is thick and gooey and sweet, but it’s too sweet and doesn’t have the same depth of umami. Fish sauce has some of the umami but it is much, much saltier and doesn’t have the thick consistency.

But if you really have no choice but to substitute other ingredients, I would say you can use a combination of hoisin sauce (50% of the required amount of oyster sauce), a touch of dark soy sauce for color, and dash of fish sauce. It won’t be the same, but you can get a similar effect.

You can also use vegan oyster sauce (aka vegetarian stir fry sauce) as a substitute – more on this below.

Frequently asked questions

Are hoisin sauce and oyster sauce the same?

No. They look similar but the flavor is totally different. See above for substitution tips.

Can oyster sauce serve as a substitute for fish sauce?

Oyster sauce can make a decent replacement for fish sauce, depending on the recipe. If you’re making a stir-fry, soup, or sauce that calls for fish sauce, you can use a similar amount, up to 50% more, of oyster sauce. It won’t be identical, but you’ll still get some umami.

Can I use oyster sauce instead of hoisin sauce?

For the most part, yes. Oyster sauce won’t give you as much sweetness as hoisin would, but it will give you more umami. You might need to reduce the amount of salty ingredients and add a touch of sugar to get a similar balance. Let your taste buds guide you.

Can oyster sauce replace soy sauce?

It can, though and oyster sauce is much thicker and a little sweeter than soy sauce. So you may need to add a touch of water to thin it out, or reduce the sugar, as the situation may require.

I need to watch my sodium intake. Can I still use oyster sauce?

Yes! You can either reduce the amount of oyster sauce, or reduce the amount of salt (if the recipe also includes salt). There are also lower-sodium variants of oyster sauce available on the market.

Recipes using oyster sauce

• Beef with Oyster Sauce (蚝油牛肉)
• Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce (蚝油芥蓝, Gai Lan)
• 15-Minute Pork Fried Rice
• Chicken and Broccoli (Chinese Takeout Style)
• Drunken Noodles (Pad Kee Mao)
• Chinese BBQ Ribs
• Bok Choy and Mushroom Stir Fry
• Chicken Chow Mein (鸡肉炒面)
• Beef Pan-Fried Noodles
• Char Siu Bao (Steamed BBQ Pork Buns) 叉烧包
• Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork, 叉烧肉)

What about gluten-free oyster sauce?

Both the Megachef and Lee Kum Kee Panda Green Label oyster sauces are gluten-free.

Is there a vegetarian or vegan alternative to oyster sauce?

There are vegan versions of oyster sauce widely available on the market these days. They are very close in terms of consistency and sweetness, and they replace the oysters with shiitake mushrooms. The flavor is not exactly the same but you can still use it to make great-tasting dishes. I have a vegetarian oyster sauce recipe. It does not have the smooth texture like the bottled oyster sauce, but it has a great umami flavor. 

Lee Kum Kee and Wan Ja Shan both make good vegan oyster sauces.