Where do I find oyster sauce?

[BreezyCooking]

Jeekinz - you definitely CANNOT substitute soy sauce for oyster sauce. They are light years away from each other in both texture & taste. As GB said - sodium content is all they share. If a recipe calls for oyster sauce & you don't have any & can't purchase any, please choose another recipe. In my opinion, this isn't even remotely up for discussion.

 

[jennyema]

You can substitute it for soy sauce.

No, sorry. They are two entirely different things that don't taste the same.

 

[RobsanX]

Go easy on Jeekinz now. I have some recipes for fried rice that call for soy sauce and some that call for oyster sauce. Yeah they taste different, but it's still fried rice.

The recipe in question is for broccoli chicken. IMHO it would still be broccoli chicken with soy sauce or oyster sauce...

 

[GB]

No one is saying it would not still be broccoli chicken. We are just saying that soy sauce is really not a substitute for oyster sauce.

 

[Jeekinz]

I love ya Jeekinz, but I would never sub soy sauce for oyster sauce. The only thing they have in common IMO is salt. Their flavors are quite different.

Jeekinz, are you saying that you can use soy sauce instead of oyster sauce?

True, you can, but they don't taste anything alike. Kinda like saying if you don't have potatoes, you can use sweet potatoes. completely different flavor results.

Jeekinz - you definitely CANNOT substitute soy sauce for oyster sauce. They are light years away from each other in both texture & taste. As GB said - sodium content is all they share. If a recipe calls for oyster sauce & you don't have any & can't purchase any, please choose another recipe. In my opinion, this isn't even remotely up for discussion.

No, sorry. They are two entirely different things that don't taste the same.

WHOA! Lay off the Haterade folks.

I was just suggesting an alternative with an Asian flair.

 

[Chaplain Kent]

Why do you think it will they disappear? My big box store carries things like that.

Why? because it is an economics game. These box shops put all sorts of stuff on the shelves to start out with and then start to take away what does not turn a certain number which will make their high profit margin. Further, a product like Oyster Sauce is not mass produced so is not price sensitive. Walmart cannot control the price unless it drastically reduces quality. Anyone for melamine in their Oyster Sauce? Take a walk through the dry-goods aisles and note the homogeneous products, same stuff you will find on the shelves in Target, or K-Mart. This will soon be the fate of our food selection.
I have been in Wal Marts all over the world even China where this practice has been carried out. They will eliminate any item which does not meet their profit guideline. Want to talk about soy sauce selection or dumplings in Beijing, or maybe white corn tortillas in Mexico City? Those are just a few examples and I could go on. You folks are simply fooling yourselves if you think that great big box store sitting out there is a fine thing for your community. The fine thing was that bakery which used to make fresh bread each morning. Ethnic grocers are just about the only thing we have left which the boxes cannot take away due to the specialty of their products. You folks complaining about living so far away. Do you have a Chinese restaurant in town? If so maybe you can deal some Oyster Sauce from them. I have found Chinese Restaurants in almost any little town we travel through and we travel a lot. Same thing for the local Mexican place or any other ethnic eating joint you have on your town square. Need some Indian Curry spices? talk to the guys who run your gas pumping store, I'll bet they know where to get some great curry. Be resourceful and use your community not the Walmart. Trust me your community will be better for it.
One last thing NEVER substitute soy sauce for oyster sauce.

 

[padams2359]

Ok Guys. For one thing, it is Oyster Flavored Sauce, and it does not remotely taste like Oysters. It is however excellent on French Fries. You could probable get close to Oyster Flavored Sauce by mixing Hoisin Sauce and Soy Sauce, but you would have to have tasted Oyster Flavored Sauce in order to get something pretty close to it. OFS is sort of sweet, but salty. Hoisin Sauce is sweet, and Soy Sauce is Salty. This mixture would work in a pinch, but I would find the OFS when I got a chance. It stays in the fridge for a long time, and it cost about the same as a bottle of ketchup. I have tried a few different kinds, and I prefer Lee Kum Kee. My motto on these types of things is this, if more than half the label is in English, don't buy it.

 

[GB]

Why? because it is an economics game. These box shops put all sorts of stuff on the shelves to start out with and then start to take away what does not turn a certain number which will make their high profit margin.

So that still does not explain why you think oyster sauce will disappear if sold in a big box store. Of course they pull things from the shelf that do not turn a profit. They are a business in the business of making money. Your local Asian market does the same exact thing. No one is going to stock something that does not sell. But just because a big box store starts selling oyster sauce does not mean it will disappear. My local Stop and Shop has been selling oyster sauce for as long as I have been cooking. I can find it just as easily and reliably as I can find sugar or flour or coffee or any other staples in my kitchen.

Further, a product like Oyster Sauce is not mass produced so is not price sensitive.

I am not sure where you are getting that information from. Oyster sauce most certainly is mass produced.

You folks are simply fooling yourselves if you think that great big box store sitting out there is a fine thing for your community.

No one said that and that is not what this discussion was about. It was about oyster sauce.

You folks complaining about living so far away. Do you have a Chinese restaurant in town? If so maybe you can deal some Oyster Sauce from them.

First, no one was complaining that they lived anywhere. Second, Chinese restaurants are in the business of selling meals. They are not in the business of selling condiments. I would be willing to bet that very few would be willing to sell things like that. I know because I have tried in Bostons China Town to buy some things from some of my favorite restaurants and they have all flatly refused. That is not their business.

 

[GB]

Ok Guys. For one thing, it is Oyster Flavored Sauce

What you buy may be oyster flavored sauce. What I buy is oyster sauce.

 

[gadzooks]

Thank you, Chaplain Kent...it's true. The chain grocery's are all doing it, too. They start out with a wide variety of products, and drop the ones that don't move off the shelves fast enough. They also replace as many of the big sellers with inferior, store-branded generic products. It's a race to the bottom, the lowest common denominator. That is why on-line retail business is booming...so many good things are no longer locally available. Buy you oyster sauce from the nearest Asian market if you can. If you don't the nearest Asian market will be farther away the next time you look for one.

 

[padams2359]

GB, please tell me the name of the sauce that you buy that is Oyster Sauce, and not Oyster Flavored Sauce. I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[GB]

GB, please tell me the name of the sauce that you buy that is Oyster Sauce, and not Oyster Flavored Sauce. I would greatly appreciate it.

I am at work right now and don't recall the brand name that is in my fridge right now. I did a search for you though and here is a page that shows both oyster sauce and oyster flavored sauce being sold.

 

[GB]

Thank you, Chaplain Kent...it's true. The chain grocery's are all doing it, too. They start out with a wide variety of products, and drop the ones that don't move off the shelves fast enough.

What store does not do this? Do you think your local Asian grocer keeps things on the shelf that do not sell?

They also replace as many of the big sellers with inferior, store-branded generic products.

This made me laugh. No store is going to replace a big seller. They are in the business of selling. If something is a big seller then they stock more of it. They do not replace it. Also, the store-branded products are often times the exact same product as the brand name. When I say exact same I mean exact same as in there is one manufacturer and one product with just different labels. There are new stories on this every 6 months or so. This is not true in every case, but in many cases the store brand is the exact same product and often for less money.

 

[gadzooks]

Come shop at Von's/Safeway in southern California...

 

[GB]

I am not sure what you mean by that gadzooks. Are you telling me that Von's/Safeway removes big selling products from their shelves?

 

[gadzooks]

I am not sure what you mean by that gadzooks. Are you telling me that Von's/Safeway removes big selling products from their shelves?

Yup. They place the store brand next to it for a month or so, then remove it, and leave the store brand in its place. And they are generally not from the same source...I read ingredients. Also, a lot of baked goods, bread and rolls that sell well, are replaced by inferior products from in-store bakeries.

 

[GB]

And what would their motivation be for that unless the store band sold better? Why do you think a store would not want to stock what sells the best?

 

[gadzooks]

Higher margin.

 

[GB]

Higher margin.

Around here there is never just the store brand. If the store brand is offered then a name brand is also offered as well. The best selling name brands will always be offered. Are you telling me that by you they completely replace the name brands with the store brands?

 

[gadzooks]

Often, yes.