Jump to content

  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Oyster Sauce

budrichard

By budrichard
in Kitchen Consumer

 Share

Recommended Posts

annachan

annachan

Posted
Posted

Just picked up some Megachef oyster sauce and fish sauce at the store. Haven't opened the bottles but hope they're good. The oyster sauce was quite cheap ($3.99 for 600ml, ~20oz). The LKK premium was over $7 for a smaller bottle. Can't believe how much Amazon is charging for Megachef.

  • 4 years later...
mthmchris

mthmchris

Posted
Posted

That Siu Yuk one's a great thread. 

 

Siu Yuk's actually an interesting one. For ours we used the home-cooking method that's going around the Cantonese language internet: (1) poke holes into the skin (2) blanch, shock, dry, then poke more holes (3) overnight vinegar bath for the skin/marinade for the lean (4) 3 hour dry (5) salt bake (6) poke even more holes in the skin (7) blast for what seems to be a crazy long time under a broiler.

 

I think the salt baking method, like the vodka method, is able to draw out the moisture from the skin. What I would've liked to see in OP's recipe is more puncturing of the skin - this allows the lard from the pork belly to bubble up and fry the skin, giving it its characteristic 'crisp' (not crunchy) texture and the classic orange color from roast pork belly.

 

The kicker though? From our recipe we've gotten a ton of reports of failures, which is super fucking frustrating. The only other reports of success? Other people with little halogen ovens like us. No clue what's going on there.

 

 

I'm thinking of cross-posting here every once in a while when there's something that this sort of forum might be interested in - I won't inundate the place with weekly threads or whathaveyou. This place's giving me a heavy dose of nostalgia from the old Chowhound forums, I just'd love to share with some people that really know their stuff.

 

  • Like 2

Chinese Cooking Demystified (written recipes on Reddit in /r/cooking)

 

TicTac

TicTac

Posted
Posted

That is quite the detailed post.  Kudos.

 

You will fit in quite nicely with the lot here!

 

Take some shots of the process next time, would love to see it (sadly, we do not consume, nor will I ever attempt this recipe as my wife is allergic to shellfish).

 

 

  • Like 1
mthmchris

mthmchris

Posted
Posted

Sounds good, next time I'll toss some pics in, been a while since I've been on forums and am a bit too used to Reddit on that front haha.

 

Next one I'm thinking of sharing here is an old-school ketchup-less sweet and sour in a couple weeks. Uses Shanzha and I'm working with playing around with subs using Western fruits... currently playing around with a apricot/cranberry/lemon juice combo. I'm all ears though if anyone here has any ideas for it.

  • Like 1

Chinese Cooking Demystified (written recipes on Reddit in /r/cooking)

 

  • 5 years later...
Shel_B

Shel_B

Posted
Posted (edited)

I found this old thread this evening while doing some more searching for oyster sauce as I was cleaning out the fridge and realized that the sauce within needed replacement.  Since I started this thread 10 years ago, I felt I should bookend it.

 

Megachef is pretty darned good, and has become one of my go-to sauces.

 

Koon Chun, which I found at the local Ranch 99 Asian market, is also quite good, and I will be looking for another bottle of that briny elixir on this coming week's trip to the market. It's definitely better, to my taste, than LKK.

 

I'll take a look at Dragonfly when next I visit Berkeley Bowl, but my inclination is to avoid it as just this evening I watched a test and review of oyster sauces on Pailin's Hot Thai Kitchen and she was very disappointed with the product.  Maekrua didn't fare well, either.  Over the past ear or so, I've found that I tend to agree with her taste assessments more than not.

 

 

 

Edited by Shel_B
Correct an error (log)
  • Like 1

 ... Shel


 

liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted

I have nothing to add to what I said years ago. Although LKK are said to have invented the stuff, others have certainly improved it. The brands I could recommend are probably not availabe in the USA.

 

I don't have any oyster sauce at the moment; like most people in China, I seldom use it, but I do have this which is a fine alternative. Again it may not be available where you are.  

 

AbaloneSauce.thumb.jpg.be2e31ceafc7edc65301071154750fef.jpg

 

No connection to HP Sauce.

 

 

  • Like 1

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

  • 1 year later...
Shel_B

Shel_B

Posted
Posted (edited)

I enjoy oyster sauce. For years, Lee Kum Kee Premium was my goto choice. And then I discovered Megachef, the third bottle of which I just received. When I first experienced Megachef I was stunned as it was so different, so much more oyster-like in flavor (based on my memory of oysters), that it didn't even seem to be the same product as the LKK.

 

Megachef.jpg.c164fc1f5765bda577f2d162513d2d2b.jpg

 

Yesterday, I was introduced to a couple of other sauce varieties from Japan. I'll order one or two soon and report back. They were compared to Megachef as Megachef was to LKK. We'll see ...

Edited by Shel_B (log)
  • Like 3

 ... Shel


 

Shel_B

Shel_B

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:


I've heard good things about Yangjiang Extra Pure Fujian Oyster Sauce from China but haven’t tried it yet. 

It's interesting to me that they mention Megachef as an alternative to their sauce, although they claim it to have a somewhat different flavor profile.

 ... Shel


 

Shel_B

Shel_B

Posted
Posted
53 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:


To be clear, the “they” who wrote that blurb is someone from the US retailer, Mala Market, which also carries Megachef Thai oyster sauce. 

Useful to know, not to suggest that it may not be a valid comparison. Thanks for the info.

 ... Shel


 

liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted (edited)

There are any number of "artisan" oyster sauces around,, many of them excellent. Unfortunately (or maybe not) the  majority are very small scale and only made in limited amounts. Same with anything genuinely artisan.

 

Lee Kum Kee doesn't come anywhere to those. They are much better options.

 

LKK is a massive industrial company churning out around 300 different products in multiple factories, mostly in mainland China, although their HQ is in Hong Kong. Most of their output is exported. They don't have a good reputation where they are made.

 

They do say they invented oyster sauce, but many companies have improved it dramatically. That said, oyster sauce isn't used in most Chinese food in China. Largely Cantonese.

 

 

Edited by liuzhou (log)

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

Shel_B

Shel_B

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, liuzhou said:

There are any number of "artisan" oyster sauces around,, many of them excellent. Unfortunately (or maybe not) the  majority are very small scale and only made in limited amounts. Same with anything genuinely artisan.

 

Lee Kum Kee doesn't come anywhere to those. They are much better .

 

 

Did anyone suggest that LKK was an artisan or high end product? Did I miss it somehow?[8

 ... Shel


 

liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted
16 minutes ago, Shel_B said:

Did anyone suggest that LKK was an artisan or high end product? Did I miss it somehow?[8

 

No. Nor did I suggest anyone did. 

 

 

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...