Where to Find Oyster Sauce in Grocery Store?

Originally posted on December 21, 2021 @ 7:48 am

What are you looking for oyster sauce and finding oyster sauce in grocery store or supermarket online?

If you visit any Asian countries, you need to take a tour to Asian Street Food to experience the cultures. There are tons of great food choices, and we highly recommend you to try stir fry dishes. Stir fry is famous for its fresh ingredients and flavor in Chinese culture. This dish is cooked by mixing your favorite meats and vegetables together with a sauce.

What makes this dish become famous is their special brown sauce, which is called the oyster sauce. Now, you may ask where to find oyster sauce in grocery stores? This article is here to tell you all the information about oyster sauce, and some tips to help you find it easier.

What is Oyster Sauce?

Oyster sauce is made by the juice extracted from oysters. The traditional way is to simmer oysters until they caramelize. Nowadays, producers use a base containing sugar and salt. To add the thick skin to the sauce, the producers use corn starch. To deepen the flavor, people can also add soy sauce and MSG (monosodium glutamate).

The origin of oyster sauce is from a Chinese food stall operator named Lee Kum Kee. He found the recipes by chance after the act of cooking the oyster sauce  until it caramelised. Nowadays, Lee Kum Kee is a famous oyster brand.

The grocery gives you additional options choosing oyster sauce besides traditional ones. For example, the sauce is made for vegetarian users, with mushroom extracts and no oysters containing. The extraction materials can be the oyster mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms. Nowadays, you can also find the Non – MSG oyster sauce, which is called Kikkoman Oyster sauce.

What is Oyster Sauce Used For?

Oyster sauce is used especially in Chinese cuisine as a coat to add a savory and glossy appearance into the dish. Moreover, it can be served as a sauce in Asian barbecue or vegetable steamed dishes. There are many great dishes using this sauce like Wonton noodles, Crab in Oyster sauce, and Cashew Chicken.

The way to cook oyster sauce is to pour straight from the bottle. To make a perfect stir fry dish, you should add other condiments like mirin, soy sauce, brown sugar in the meats and vegetables. After that, you will add a little amount of the sauce and continue adding more until you are satisfied with the flavor.

A lot of people when buying Oyster sauce for the first time, they often get confused with Hoisin sauce. These two sauces all have the same brown paste with thick texture. The difference is that Hoisin sauce is a vegan version of oyster sauce made from fermented soybeans. Then, garlic, sugar and spice powder will be added to improve the taste.

The Nutrition of Oyster Sauce

The oyster sauce does not contain a lot of calories or cholesterol. Therefore, it is a healthy dressing coat to your daily dish.  It also does not contain vitamins or minerals. The protein in the oyster sauce is quite low,  only 0.24 gram. Due to its low level of protein level, you should use oyster sauce with high protein foods like tofu, chicken or fish to ensure you have enough energy for a day. Sodium has the highest quantity in oyster sauce, so it is explained why the sauce is salty. For 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce, it contains 492 mg sodium.

Where to find oyster sauce in grocery store or supermarket?

The international food aisle (Asian section) and vegetable aisle in grocery stores are places that you should look first to find oyster sauce in grocery store.

The oyster sauce has two storage methods, which are in bottle or can shape. Before buying, take a look at all the ingredients on the sauce bottles to check on MSG.

In the next part, we will give you some ideal places to look for oyster sauce if you do not often go to the grocery stores.

What Grocery Store Sells Oyster Sauce?

• Amazon: it is an online shopping place with trustworthy sellers. You can search for keywords like Vegetarian Oyster sauce, or search for brands like Lee Kum Kee to buy oyster sauce. Amazon will bring your orders safely to your house.
• Asian markets: since it is a place selling all ingredients to make Asian food. Therefore, you will have a higher probability to find oyster sauce in these places with cheap price.
• Walmart: Check out for the store locator on websites before buying oyster sauce. In there you can also check the status of the sauce, or brand name. The oyster sauce is often in the condiment aisle.
• Kroger: there are lots of options for you to choose like Wei Chuan Mushroom Oyster.

What can I use as an oyster sauce substitute?

 If you run out of the oyster sauce in the pantry, there are some sauces that you can replace as condiment.

1. Fish sauce: both fish sauce and oyster sauce have a brown color. However, the fish sauce paste is thinner than oyster sauce. This sauce has the main ingredients of fish that are fermented.
2. Sweet sauce Kecap Manis: its origin is from Indonesia. The flavor maybe a little bit sweety so it is often used to replace oyster sauce.
3. Hoisin sauce: this sauce has lots of similarity with oyster sauce. The soybeans are used to make this Hoisin sauce. Then, you can add garlic, sugar or chili powder to the dish.

Exciting ways to use oyster sauce?

Oyster sauce is often used as a finishing coat for salad or Asian fried noodle dishes to give more flavor.. Here are some recipes that you can use as a reference.

1. Chinese broccoli beef: This is a famous Chinese style dish served in many Chinese-American restaurants. You cut the beef, and vegetables into small pieces. The vegetables can be anything from your fridge, including broccoli, pea, shrimp, pork that the oyster sauce goes well with. Next, create your own sauce using ginger, sugar, corn starch. The final step is pouring the Oyster sauce into the dish and you have a delicious dish.

2. Home-made sauce: You can make your own sauce by mixing the ingredients like sesame oil, Sriracha, mirin, rice vinegar with the oyster sauce. One tip is that you should add a small amount at the beginning and adjust until you find the perfect sauce.You can use the chicken stock or water to help you make the sauce easily. After that, cornstarch is added to help the liquid thicker. The final step is to add the oyster sauce to finish. These two sauces can be used in stir fry dishes  of Chinese restaurants.

3. The topping for a salad: it is an extremely easy recipe because using only some basic ingredients like soy sauce, vinegar and oil. Last but not least, some garlic for scent. Then add olive oil and oyster sauce to the mixture.

How to store oyster sauce at home?

The ideal storage method for oyster sauce is you should put in the cool area like a refrigerator. For the unopened oyster sauce, you can place it in the pantry in the temperature room for about one year. In case the sauce has already opened, then you should transfer into the jars to refrigerate. By this, you can keep the sauce for up to six months.

FAQs on find oyster sauce in grocery store

Does oyster sauce and fish sauce the same?

No is the answer one. The oyster sauce is made from oyster juice. For the brown color of sauce, the producer simmer the juice with water and sugar until caramelized. Additional condiments like soy sauce can be used to deepen the flavor. Cornstarch can also be used to help the sauce skin thicken. However, fish sauce is made from fish that  have been fermented and the color is reddish brown. Another difference is the skin of oyster sauce paste is thicker and sweeter.

Does oyster sauce have the same taste as fish?

The answer is no. The oyster sauce ‘s main ingredient is the oyster. However, the taste of the sauce do not like fish.

Does oyster sauce bring any benefits to your health?

Oyster sauce is a sauce, helping their user to lose weight and fat. It does not contain any cholesterol or fat. Other benefits of oyster sauce can be:

• It is used to clean your liver and enhance liver functions, helping to prevent indigestion or heartburn.
• The oyster sauce helps to enhance the dopamine level to boost your energy and affect the sex hormones
• The oysters have lots of vitamins and minerals to help with your concentration and memory.

Does oyster sauce have any risks?

Yes, oyster sauce can have bad damage to your body due to the quality of the oyster. When the environment of oysters is polluted, the oyster will have toxins and cause risks to your health when consuming it. Moreover, oysters are prohibited from heart diseases or high blood pressure patients due to high sodium level.

Conclusions

In brief, oyster sauce is the dressing coat worth trying if you are looking for a healthy sauce in your daily meals. If you want to have a clue on where to find oyster sauce in grocery store, you should scroll on to the Section 4 and 5 for details. If this is your first time buying oyster sauce, you can try the small size first and do not forget to check on the Internet before getting physically.

Finally, if you feel the article is helpful, don’t forget to share this article to reach more people.