The Difference Between Fish Sauce, Oyster Sauce, and Lobster Sauce (and How to Use Them)
There is no shortage of potentially confusing terminology in the world of food (and I’m not even talking about the methods that French names have adopted). Take, for example, fish sauce. The seasoning itself isn’t confusing at all, but find it next to a bottle of oyster sauce and your friend will mention lobster sauce the next day and you might wonder, “What’s the difference?” Here’s a breakdown of what they are and how you can use them.
When to Use Fish Sauce
One of my favorite condiments, fish sauce is a powerful umami elixir. This thin reddish brown liquid from Southeast Asia is often used in combination with other sauces and seasonings to enhance the savory flavor. It is obtained by fermenting small fish , usually anchovies, in salt for several months or up to two years. It’s salty, funny, and the dab will suit you. However, there are a number of dishes, such as som tum salad , that make extensive use of fish sauce.
You don’t need to prepare the fish sauce – you can mix it with salad dressings or drizzle it over rice – but it can certainly be added to dishes while cooking. Add a few drops to fried rice at the same stage you add the soy sauce, mix a little into the meatballs for depth and complexity, or add it to melted butter for a rich, savory popcorn topping.
Here are a few brands of fish sauce that I like:
When to Use Oyster Sauce
I think oyster sauce is the sauce you never knew you needed. When I first went to college, I thought I could replicate home cooking with simple materials like soy sauce and fish sauce, but I couldn’t get the consistency right. The oyster sauce was the missing ingredient.
Oyster sauce originated in China and was originally made by boiling oysters into a dark, complex sauce. (Although I especially love this story that the first oyster sauce was made by a chef who forgot about the pot of oyster soup being cooked on the stove.) Modern commercial oyster sauces are dark brown, use oyster extracts, and should be quite thick. , often thickened with cornstarch. The resulting sauce is very different from the fish sauce mentioned above. It is translucent, dark brown, sweet, very savory and slightly sugary, like an oyster, but not as fishy as fish sauce. It should be thick enough to be scooped up with a spoon.
For me, oyster sauce and fish sauce go well together because they complement each other in their own distinct ways. Oyster sauce adds viscosity to sauces such as pad si ew or pad ki mao , but sweetness is just as important. Oyster sauce has a savory, salty side, but it’s more like a sweet glaze that can be diluted to coat noodles or meat. Add it to marinades, stews, or stir-fry sauces at the same stage you add other seasonings.
Here are a few brands of oyster sauces that I like:
When to Use Lobster Sauce
The lobster sauce is a bit of a throwback compared to the aforementioned Asian condiments, and I think it has to do with the name. Unlike fish and oyster sauces, which use sea creatures named after them, this sauce does not use lobster. Fish sauce and oyster sauce are building blocks that you can buy in bottles and use along with other ingredients to make the sauce, while lobster sauce is the name of the finished sauce.
Lobster sauce is of American-Chinese and Canadian-Chinese origin and is made by combining ingredients such as chicken or beef broth with flavorings (such as garlic, green onions, ginger, or possibly fermented black beans) and eggs. According to the Wikipedia post above, this sauce was inspired by the Cantonese cooking method for lobster, which is apparently how it got its name. The sauce is usually pale in color, in contrast to the dark brown color of the fish and oyster sauce, thickened with cornstarch and has a slightly salty mild taste. You can see it luxuriously topped on a bunch of shrimp and served with rice in Chinese restaurants, but you can also make it at home. Here is the recipe for shrimp with lobster sauce from The Woks of Life. While I haven’t tried this particular recipe from them, I can vouch for many others and the overall quality of their blog.
A good sauce will brighten up any dish. Add a little fish sauce or a spoonful of oyster sauce to some vegetables, chicken marinades, or beef dishes. Make a sauce for the lobster, but replace it with tofu or other meats like mini meatballs instead of shrimp. Now that you know the difference between these sauces on paper, it’s time to explore them on the stovetop.