Oyster sauce – a well-known seasoning that adds aroma, color, and taste to countless delicious dishes in Chinese cuisine (especially Cantonese cuisine) – has quickly become a familiar ingredient in Vietnamese, Thai, Filipino, and many other cuisines.
Oyster sauce is a dark brown sauce, with a balanced flavor of sweetness and a hint of saltiness, creating an aromatic taste. The proportion of oysters in the sauce greatly affects its flavor.
Traditionally, oyster sauce was made from oysters; however, nowadays, this seasoning is also industrially produced, similar to other sauces and condiments, using extracts and additional ingredients such as starch, sugar water, and food flavorings.
1 Don’t add oyster sauce too early during cooking
Avoid adding oyster sauce too early as it helps to freshen up the dish. If exposed to high heat for an extended period, the oyster sauce will evaporate, resulting in a loss of flavor.
2 Resist the urge to add extra oyster sauce to enhance the taste
Doing so is not only ineffective but also counterproductive. It can alter the fragrance of fried dishes and distract from the main flavors of the food.
3 Avoid using oyster sauce in sweet or spicy dishes
While oyster sauce is a great seasoning, not all foods pair well with it. Especially when cooking dishes with prominent sweet and spicy flavors, refrain from adding oyster sauce to maintain the integrity of the dish’s original taste.
4 Don’t mix oyster sauce with MSG or seasoning powder
According to research, using oyster sauce in combination with MSG or seasoning powder can release a large amount of glutamic acid, which is not beneficial to health when absorbed in large quantities by the body.
5 Refrain from adding oyster sauce to sour dishes
For dishes that use a lot of tamarind or lemon, it is best to avoid using oyster sauce as it can create an odd smell or taste, often described as “burnt” in folk language.
There you have it! These are the five “don’ts” when using oyster sauce – a popular and beloved seasoning today. Hopefully, this information has provided you with interesting and useful insights.
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