In an earlier post and on the general topic of quick Asian dishes, I alluded to how much I rely on oyster sauce for everyday stir-fries. I would be a little lost without it because I use it for flavoring and as a base for mixing up a quick sauce for a variety of dishes.
If you're into Chinese cooking, oyster sauce is definitely something to keep on hand. It's a thick, dark-colored sauce with deep, savory flavor (it reminds me of Japanese miso in some ways) that's more complex than soy sauce since it's made with oyster extractives (oyster, water, and salt). Generally, a little goes a long way. "Authentic" Chinese cuisine leans on the savory side so oyster sauce is far more common and likely to be tossed into the frying pan than hoisin sauce, which is sweet and tends to be used more as a dipping sauce (though there's a time and place for everything). I grew up eating oyster sauce drizzled over sautéed greens and tossed in a wok with meat and whatever else is cooking to add an instant concentrated savoriness to the food.
Given all the talk I've been doing about stir-fries, Asian pantry ingredients, and simple cooking, I wanted to post this easy beef lo mein recipe that I often make at home. It's special to me because it's one of my son's favorite dishes that I make. He's actually pretty selective when it comes to pasta/noodles but this is one he slurps right up.
To make this, I buy noodles in the refrigerated aisle at the Asian market, which makes it even easier to get the dish on the dining room table since you don't need to boil water and cook the noodles first. If I haven't planned ahead, I substitute the noodles with regular spaghetti and it works quite well.
You can obviously make lo mein with all kinds of add-ins but my family prefers beef. I marinate thinly sliced flank steak and like to incorporate some scallions and onions but you could obviously load it up with all kinds of vegetables (I like to use Chinese chives sometimes) and meat. To flavor and add a quick "sauce" to heat up the noodles and give the dish some moisture, all I do is stir about a tablespoon of oyster sauce into some beef broth. If you're not making lo mein with beef or don't have broth, you could just use water (I used to all the time), in which case up the amount of oyster sauce a bit.
It's really easy and, for me, it a surefire hit for dinner with minimal effort.
Given all the talk I've been doing about stir-fries, Asian pantry ingredients, and simple cooking, I wanted to post this easy beef lo mein recipe that I often make at home. It's special to me because it's one of my son's favorite dishes that I make. He's actually pretty selective when it comes to pasta/noodles but this is one he slurps right up.
You can obviously make lo mein with all kinds of add-ins but my family prefers beef. I marinate thinly sliced flank steak and like to incorporate some scallions and onions but you could obviously load it up with all kinds of vegetables (I like to use Chinese chives sometimes) and meat. To flavor and add a quick "sauce" to heat up the noodles and give the dish some moisture, all I do is stir about a tablespoon of oyster sauce into some beef broth. If you're not making lo mein with beef or don't have broth, you could just use water (I used to all the time), in which case up the amount of oyster sauce a bit.
It's really easy and, for me, it a surefire hit for dinner with minimal effort.
