Oyster Sauce

Oyster Sauce was first created in China in 1888 and is made, unsurprisingly, with oysters.

However, there is a vegetarian Oyster Sauce that is made with mushrooms, usually Oyster Mushrooms. Oyster Sauce is a dark brown viscous sauce that is used for flavouring in many Asian dishes and frequently used in stir fries. This type of flavour is described as Umami and is considered as the 5th flavour.

Oyster sauce is widely available commercially, hardly anyone makes their own, but many of the Brands contain preservatives and flavour enhancers as well as caramelized sugar to give the colour and they are thickened with starch. True Oyster Sauce is made by boiling oysters in water and reducing the resulting broth until the water becomes caramelized and thick. Nearly all commercial Oyster Sauce contains MSG (Monosodium Glutamate) but there are a just a few MSG free types available.