Oyster sauce (耗油, hào yóu), as its name suggests, is made by condensing oyster extracts by slowly simmering oysters in water. It is a flavor enhancer that is often used with soy sauce and other ingredients to cook fried noodles, fried rice and simple vegetable dishes. Hoisin sauce might be the most popular Chinese sauce in the US, but I personally always prefer oyster sauce. Unlike hoisin sauce, which is made mostly with sugar, oyster sauce has a much more sophisticated taste and adds way more flavor to a dish. Over time I’ve received many questions about how to replace oyster sauce to make a dish vegetarian. The simplest answer is to buy a bottle of vegetarian oyster sauce, often known as mushroom-flavored stir fry sauce. Alternatively you can definitely make your own vegetarian stir fry sauce with just a few simple steps.
If you look at the label of store-bought mushroom sauce, the ingredients usually contain water, soy sauce, mushroom extract, sugar, salt, modified starch, glucose syrup, MSG, and preservatives. The homemade version is far healthier than store-bought sauce and made with wholesome ingredients. When I make this sauce, I blend in a few extra herbs and spices, such as ginger, garlic, miso paste and five-spice powder, to give the sauce even more fragrance.
The main ingredient of vegetarian oyster sauce is dried shiitake mushrooms, which cannot be substituted by fresh ones – because they have been smoked and dried, their taste is more potent and intense. To use dried shiitake mushrooms, soak them in plenty of hot water. The mushrooms will expand 3 to 4 times their original size once soaked.
The cooking process is extremely simple… All you need is to cook the mushrooms and aromatics, blend everything into a paste, and then mix in a few more flavor enhancers. If you do not own a blender, what you can do is mince the rehydrated mushrooms into very fine pieces before cooking. If you do this, cook them over a lower heat so you won’t burn the mushrooms.
The finished sauce has a rich aroma and a thick texture. With this sauce, you can make a vegetarian version of the pressure cooker pilaf, simple vegetable dishes like Chinese broccoli in oyster sauce, or this scrumptious Vegetarian Chow Mein. I found that not only does it work great in stir fries, it’s also delicious eaten raw. Please feel free to experiment with the sauce, like adding it into salad dressing, using it as a dipping sauce, or even spreading it on a piece of toast!
If you give this recipe a try or discover a new way to use the sauce, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.
