You can experiment by mixing the oyster sauce with other Asian ingredients to create your own dipping sauce recipe. For example, you could mix it with sesame oil, Sriracha, soy sauce, mirin, or rice vinegar to create different flavor combinations. Start with small amounts of everything and taste as you go until you find a combo you like.
Umami is a Japanese word that is used to describe a savory flavor. This is what oyster sauce is most known for adding to any dish.
Feel free to add other ingredients to the marinade to create more complex flavors. For instance, you could mix it in a 1 to 1 ratio with soy sauce to make it saltier or put in a spoonful or two of chili paste to kick up the spice a notch. When marinating meat, a good rule of thumb is 1/2 a cup (118 mL) of marinade for every 1 lb (0. 45 kg) of meat. You can also use oyster sauce to braise meats as you cook them. Brush any meat with oyster sauce as it cooks on a grill or in an oven to glaze it. You can both marinate meat in oyster sauce and glaze it while it cooks, but make sure not to use the same sauce you marinated the meat in to glaze it with or you can transfer bacteria to the meat.
Oyster sauce on its own is too thick and too savory for a salad dressing, but if you thin it out by mixing it with things like soy sauce and sesame oil or peanut oil, it works better.
You could do the same with fried rice instead of fried noodles.
You can leave out the beef or replace it with another vegetable, such as snap peas, to make a vegetarian broccoli stir fry. Try replacing it with a different protein such as tofu, chicken, or shrimp. Oyster sauce goes well with all of these options.
You can leave out the beef or replace it with another vegetable, such as snap peas, to make a vegetarian broccoli stir fry. Try replacing it with a different protein such as tofu, chicken, or shrimp. Oyster sauce goes well with all of these options.
This doesn’t apply to things like marinated meats that will be cooked with the sauce already on them. However, you can glaze the meat with more oyster sauce right before it is done cooking to give it an extra blast of flavor.
If you are combining oyster sauce with soy sauce, then use low-sodium soy sauce to cut down on the saltiness and sodium content of the dish you are making.
If you can’t find mushroom oyster sauce at a supermarket or Asian market, it is readily available online.
You can keep oyster sauce at room temperature if it is unopened. If it is past it’s best by date, but hasn’t been open for 6 months, you can keep using it unless you notice it starts to go bad. If you notice your oyster sauce starts to lose its color and aroma, then it is likely past its prime and you should replace it.
If the pieces are too different in size, then the broccoli will cook at different rates and you will end up with some pieces that are over or undercooked.
This will be your stir fry sauce. Most of the flavor comes from the oyster sauce, and the cornstarch helps to thicken the sauce so it coats the broccoli well.
A wok works best with a gas burner, as the flames will heat up the sides better than an electric burner. If you are using an electric burner, then you might need to let the wok or skillet heat up for up to 5 minutes, depending on how quickly the burner heats up.
Peanut oil is the most traditional oil to use for stir frying, but vegetable oil works just as well. Use any oil with a high smoking point that you can find or that you already have on hand.
You can also substitute dried red chili flakes for the fresh chili if you want. Start with about 1/2 tsp (1. 5 g) of dried chili flakes and add more if you want to make it spicier. If the garlic starts to burn, turn down the heat or remove the wok or skillet from the burner until you add the broccoli.
If the broccoli starts to look dry as you fry it, then add 1–2 US tbsp (15–30 mL) of water to the wok or skillet to provide some moisture.
When the sauce looks like it has thickened a bit, then the stir fry is done. This usually only takes about 30 seconds. Even though you’re cooking the sauce over high heat, since it’s a very short amount of time it won’t become bitter or lose flavor.
Make sure to scrape out any sauce left at the bottom of the wok or skillet and drizzle it on top of the broccoli so you don’t leave behind any of the tasty oyster sauce flavor!
