Scallop Sauce

[Big Bunny]

The other day I came across a bottled sauce made with scallops at my local Chinese grocery.

Is this used like oyster sauce?

I haven't opened the bottle yet, but it looks good.

BB

[Yuki]

The other day I came across a bottled sauce made with scallops at my local Chinese grocery.

Is this used like oyster sauce?

I haven't opened the bottle yet, but it looks good.

BB

Is it like a blended sauce or one where you can see scallop pieces? I think it is probably made with dried scallop.

[Big Bunny]

"Is it like a blended sauce or one where you can see scallop pieces?"

You can see threads of scallop. The label says something about using it in cooking or as a table sauce.

I guess I'll just have to experiment.

BB

[Yuki]

Ahhh... my whole post just got erased.

I have something similar at home

Spicy Scallop Chutney - cheap imitation of XO sauce

- tasted like MSG (although it was not listed in the ingredients list)

XO sauce - I got a huge jar in my freezer and a smaller one in the fridge.

They are usually used for stir fried dishes, fried rice/rice noodles, mix in with noodles(without stock), or a dipping sauce. My sister likes to use XO sauce on Chinese turnip cakes and dumplings. I would not buy the scallop chutney again because it tastes like MSG and not as good as XO sauce.

[Big Bunny]

This isn't like XO. XO is complex, this is just scallops.

No MSG, by the way, but some preservative(the bottle is at home, so I am unfortunately forced to remember what I can.)

From the "outside", it seems like an alternative to oyster sauce.

I could imagine combining it with other flavors, though.

I don't remember seeing this before. Maybe it has been around for a while, but I never noticedd it.

BB

[torakris]

I found this a little while ago (at Costco in Japan)

It is oyster sauce with the addition of dried scallops, I really like this and use it the same way I use oyster sauce. it is the Lee Kum Kee brand but I had never seen it before....

[Big Bunny]

I can't post a picture. I have mislaid the cable that hooks my camera to the computer. Dumb!

Anyway, the ingredients in this stuff are "scollop" extract, yeast extract, starch and sodium benzoate. I haven't opened the bottle, because that means immediately putting into into an already-crowded fridge.

I'll just have to pick out a simple recipe that uses oyster sauce and give this stuff a try.

Thanks to both of you.

BB

[editted spelling]

Edited June 10, 2004 by Big Bunny (log)

[jo-mel]

Would you do a side-by-side taste test with the oyster sauce and the scallop sauce??

And then, of course, give us your comments? Please?

[Big Bunny]

Would you do a side-by-side taste test with the oyster sauce and the scallop sauce??

And then, of course, give us your comments?  Please?

That is a good idea! Can you think of a recipe that sort of "stars" oyster sauce, or one where the flavor difference between scallops and oysters would be highlighted.

Of course, until I actually open the bottle, I really don't know anything. See how much fun a $2 impulse buy can be?

BB

[jo-mel]

You can try this. (Just ignore the alternate sauce, which highlights hoisin sauce)

you could prepare the dish, but divide the sauce in half -- 1/2 oyster and the other - scallop sauce.

----------------------------------------------------------------

BEEF SLICES WITH ONION AND OYSTER SAUCE

Ingredients:

1 pound flank steak

Marinade: Seasonings:

-1/4 tsp. salt 1 tsp. minced ginger

-1 egg white 1 tsp. minced garlic

-1 tsp. oil 1 scallion sliced thin

-1 Tbsp. cornstarch

Sauce: Alternate Sauce:

-3 Tbsp. oyster sauce 1 Tbsp. sherry

-1 Tbsp. light (thin) soy sauce 2 Tbsp. dark soy sauce

-1 Tbsp. sugar ½ tsp. sugar

-1 Tbsp. sherry 2 Tbsp. hoisin sauce

-2 Tbsp. chicken broth 2 Tbsp. chicken broth

1 tsp. cornstarch

2 to 3 onions ½ tsp. chili paste with garlic (opt)

2 cups oil for velveting & 3 Tb. for frying

Preparation:

--Cut the flank steak in three long pieces (with the grain) --- Now diagonally cut across the grain in 1/8 inch thick slices.

--Mix the marinade well and add the steak. Mix and let sit 20 minutes at room temperature or up to 24 hours in the refrigerator.

--Combine the seasonings.

--Combine the sauce ingredients.

--Peel the onions and slice from top to bottom in inch wide slices.

Cooking:

~Heat wok and add the oil . Bring to 350’ (no higher)

~Mix the steak in its marinade and slide into the oil.

~Mix to separate the slices stir gently until red is gone – about 30 seconds.

~Drain the beef or remove from oil with a sieve.

~Heat Wok and add 2 Tbsp. oil.

~When oil is hot, add the onions and stir till translucent & crispy. Don’t let them burn.

~A couple of Tbsp. of water or stock will prevent burning, and help cook the slices.

~Covering the wok for a few moments may help, but don’t overcook. Think crispy!

~Heat wok and add 1 Tbsp. oil.

~Add seasonings and stir/fry until aromatic.

~Stir sauce, add to wok and bring to a boil.

~Add onions and heat.

~Add the steak and heat until all is bubbly.

[Big Bunny]

That looks good!

I might also try a Vitnamese recipe from Andrea Nguyen's site for asparagus with winter mushrooms and oyster sauce.

A lot depends on what is at the grocery this weekend.

Thanks, jo-mel.

BB

[jo-mel]

A couple of days ago, in an Asian grocery, I looked for a Scallop Sauce. There wasn't one, but there was an Oyster Sauce with Scallops. I didn't buy it, but I think I will the next time - just for the taste-test. The scallop used was dried conpoy, which I guess would add more salt, but I wonder if it would mute the richness of the oyster taste.

[Rachel Perlow]

I like blanched gailon (chinese broccoli) with a drizzle of oyster sauce. That would be a nice simiple preparation to compare the two sauces.

[Big Bunny]

First taste test.

This morning I tasted scallop sauce and Lee Kum Kee premium oyster sauce with blanched asparagus, blanched celery and simmered and pressed tofu - all cut to finger size. Between tastes, I ate plain blanched celery.

These are very different. The oyster sauce is "beefy" and complex - besides oysters there are sugar, msg and salt plus caramel color. The scallop sauce is light and simple - just scallop extract, yeast extract, and starch. It smells and tastes light, and sweetish - oddly like baked goods (the yeast?)

The oyster sauce is agressive - it brings a lot of flavor to the tofu; but the scallop sauce is bland on the tofu, and seems to enhance the flavor of the asparagus. Of course, I don't know how the character will change when used in a cooked dish.

I plan to try this with pork or some sort of fish.

As an experiment, I mixed the two sauces half-and-half. I imagine that that blend would would work nicely as a lighter oyster sauce.

Mainly, though, this is quite unique. It's time to ponder and browse my library for ideas. Scallop sauce is good, but doesn't fit easily into a niche in what Chinese cuisine I know - not, of course, that it HAS to fit there.

It is light and flavorful, but by itself it is cloying. The trick seems to be to give it some "oomph" without overpowering the taste.

BB

[Changed "oyster" to "scallop" in a key sentence.]

[spelling]

Edited June 14, 2004 by Big Bunny (log)

[torakris]

The scallop sauce is light and simple - just oyster extract, yeast extract, and starch. It smells and tastes light, and sweetish - oddly like baked goods (the yeast?)

so the scallop sauce doesn't actually have scallops?

[Big Bunny]

The scallop sauce is light and simple - just oyster extract, yeast extract, and starch. It smells and tastes light, and sweetish - oddly like baked goods (the yeast?)

so the scallop sauce doesn't actually have scallops?

Aaaargh! Bad typo on my part.

Scallop sauce contains SCALLOP extract.

Sorry!

BB

[Andrea Nguyen]

BB,

You'd think that oysters would have more flavor than scallops, so I'm curious as to why the scallop extract sauce is more aggressively flavored. Like many of the folks in this thread, I've never seen scallop sauce. But then...this may be something new from Asia.

When making Chinese dishes, I always mitigate oyster sauce with a little sugar, rice wine and other things to take the edge off it. In Vietnamese cooking one of the interesting things to do is combine oyster sauce with fish sauce. The nuoc mam brings out what brininess there is in the oyster-flavored sauce.

May I ask how much you paid for the bottle? And, how large it is? The price is often times the indicator of the quality of an Asian food product!

Andrea

[Ben Hong]

Andrea, I believe that scallops, especially the dried stuff has more intensity of taste than anything out there. My mother never liked to use msg much, so when she made soup, she used a few dried scallops to give it "umami". But like most people on this thread, I've never heard of scallop sauce.

[jo-mel]

Tomorrow I plan to buy the Oyster Sauce with Scallops-- and give it a taste try. The scallop is conpoy, so it should have pretty good flavor.

The way BB describes the Oyster Sauce as compared to the Scallop Sauce seems like 'red' wine to 'white' wine -----Worcestershire Sauce to White Wine Worcestershire Sauce -----Balsamic Vinegar to White Wine Balsamic. But I could be full of baloney --- er -- Chinese Sausage!

BB - what is the brand of the Scallop Sauce??

[Big Bunny]

... I'm curious as to why the scallop extract sauce is more aggressively flavored.

It's the other way around. The scallop sauce is light, sort of good, but cloying by itself.

It would work nicely to "cut" the taste of oyster sauce.

It was $1.95 for a small (12 oz. ?) bottle. I am at work now.

It is made by a small(?) company in an industrial park, I don't remember where - not a known name brand.

If I could find that mislaid cable I'd post a picture.

This is completely new to me. I am no expert on Chinese food, but have been haunting Chinese groceries for over 20 years. This is something new on the condiment shelf, so I got it out of curiosity. The younger, English-speaking guy at the store didn't seem to know much about it, either.

Maybe I can "bum" a digital foto someplace.

BB

[Big Bunny]

Here is some manufacture data copied from the label:

GUANGAHOU[sic] ZENGCHENG CAIGENCIANG FOOD MANUFACTURE CO., LTD

ADD: MACHE, SHITAN TOWN, ZENGCHENG CITY, GUANGZHOU

Above this, in the Chinese language section of the label:

TEL:(020)82922913

FAX 82921338

Maybe this will help to find it. The front of the label is all Chinese, with bold characters.

BB

[Big Bunny]

I haven't done any serious cooking, thus haven't explored the flavor of "scallop sauce" further.

However, I went to the local Chinese grocery yesterday and found an "abalone sauce" from the same manufacturer, bottled in the same format.

This is getting interesting...

Another person at the grocery confirmed that both products are brand new. When I asked how to use them he essentially echoed the bottle labels: i.e., cook with them, or use them at the table.

Now the fun part:

The ingredients of "abalone sauce" are abalone sauce [sauce=juice/extract in this context?], GANBEI SAUCE [caps mine], and corn starch.

Now - "ganbei sauce" = "scallop sauce" and on the Chinese part of the label is written with the same three characters used on the label of the "scallop sauce" bottle.

Of course, "sauce" probably means "extract" here too, i.e. I dont think that the product "scallop sauce" is an ingredient in "abalone sauce".

I haven't opened the new bottle yet, but this might be promising.

BB