Shrimp with Lobster Sauce: A Taste of the Sea
Shrimp with lobster sauce is one of the most popular dishes at Chinese restaurants. This classic Cantonese dish is always on the menu, but did you know there’s no lobster in it? This dish cleverly uses everyday ingredients to mimic that lobster flavor, and it does so quite well. The lobster-less lobster sauce can be used with lobster as well, but the shrimp version is much more affordable and does a lovely job of bringing out the sea-like essence of the shrimp.
The Secret of the Sauce
The light sauce, which is made using Shaoxing wine, chicken broth, oyster sauce, sugar, salt, and white pepper, is mixed with ground pork and beaten eggs. The sauce is quite mild but surprisingly complex. The purpose of the sauce is to build a subtle umami foundation for the shrimp to stand on and shine. You can appreciate the depth of flavor, but the shrimp never get overpowered. A slurry of cornstarch and water is used to thicken it up, giving it a richer mouthfeel and helping it stay hot longer.
Affordable Luxury on Demand
While the dish has quite a refined taste, it’s quite easy to make. You might not believe that it takes less than 20 minutes to make it from scratch. That’s faster than takeout can arrive at your door, and you likely have all the ingredients needed to make shrimp with lobster sauce in your pantry right now.
How to Shop for This Dish
Choose good shrimp of an adequate size, preferably de-veined for a cleaner flavor. I prefer headless shrimp for convenience, but if you’re able to keep the heads on and devein them, you’ll get an even bigger explosion of shrimp flavor. And don’t forget the frozen peas and carrots – also super convenient as you won’t need to do any peeling, chopping, or blanching. With some dishes, fresh peas and carrots make a big difference, but here it’s less important.
Cooking Process
This one is super easy to make. All you have to do is: There’s a bit more to it, as you’ll see in the recipe, but that’s the gist of it.
How and When to Serve Shrimp with Lobster Sauce
The dish is so simple and accessible that I love to serve it as a one-skillet meal, since it has everything I need. It’s great over steamed white rice but you can also serve it on top of boiled noodles (or even toast!) to soak up all that delicious sauce. Shrimp with lobster sauce is also an excellent dish to make for company. Because it’s so simple, you won’t spend much time in the kitchen. And because it tastes so luxurious, it will definitely impress!
Make it a Feast by Pairing with These:
4-Ingredient Baby Bok Choy Stir FryEasy Swiss Chard Stir FryCantonese Broccoli with Oyster SauceEasy Chinese Cucumber Salad
More Yummy Chinese Shrimp Recipes
Sichuan Shrimp Stir Fry Salt & Pepper ShrimpShrimp & Snow PeasChinese Chili Garlic Shrimp
Lilja Walter is a part of the Omnivore’s Cookbook team and worked closely with Maggie to develop and test this recipe.
