What is oyster sauce like?!


Question:

What is oyster sauce like?

i am making a stir fry tonight and the recipe says to add oyster sauce but ive never had this. what is it like? mild or strong? does it taste like oyster??!!


Answers:
If you are talking about oyster paste, then it is very strong tasting and only a small amount is needed, too much and all the other flavours will be masked. It is only used as a flavouring and not as a main ingredient.
It is not as strong and as pungent as fish sauce, and much of the flavour is cooked out leaving a milder taste.
There are several verities of oyster (cook-in) sauce that are not as strong, but these are usually used for oyster sauce dishes, and have a mellow slightly dry flavour with a hint of sourness. these are often served with lemon or lime.

Source(s):
Amateur chef

it smells strong (and nasty), but when cooking asian, it blends right in and enhances the dish. you'd never know that nasty smelling stuff in the bottle is even in your dish!

Oyster sauce is prepared from oysters, brine, umami flavour enhancers such as MSG, and typically contains chemical preservatives to increase its shelf life.

ABSOLUTELY MINGIN...SORRY!

You've never had oyster sauce????
Sounds a bit fishy to me!

It's fine.
Like most of these oriental sauces it comes in quite small bottles and you don't need much.

We use it on stir fried mushrooms. It's not a fishy smell - just slightly reminiscent of the Orient.

Bon appetit - or whatever they say in Beijing

It has a slight fish flavour, but not as strong as you would imagine, with a good saltines and rich taste. Use carefully to avoid overpowering the dish.

Imagine eating an uncooked mollusc by slurping it down from its shell! At least with oyster sauce, it is properly cooked and bottled. You can buy it from any good chinese supermarket in Chinatown. If you are put off by 'oyster' you can buy vegetarian 'oyster' sauce made from mushroom - no mollusc. It tastes almost the same. BTW, if it smells dank, it's gone off. Fresh ones should smell no worse than Worcester sauce, and definitely better than Stilton!

It's dark brownish and thick textured, while the taste and smell depends on the type/brand.

I've tried some really thick, really smelly and really salty ones (the label said it was 'special' and it was a bit more expensive than the other brands). But if you're lucky, you'll find one which smells okay and tastes nice. The smell normally disappears after you cook them.

It's best used in Asian dishes. You can make veggie stir fry with nothing else but garlic, butter, and oyster sauce. As with most Asian spices though, it contains flavour enhancer.

Go out and buy some at once. it will do wonders for the dish, but start off slowly, it is always possible to add more, but if you overdo it you are stuck with it. I use it all the time, as we say in Nottinghamshire... It's chozz

It's a thick, dark paste that tastes strong by itself, sweet and salty. When you add it to stir fry, it's delicious.




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