Dee Thai Oyster Sauce. $2.50 for 295ml.
I paused for a moment before adding this to a recipe I was making for an Asian stir-fry. Does oyster sauce actually have oysters in it? And if so does it actually taste like oysters?
Dinner went on hold while I took a look at the ingredients and then I never put it in.
•
Water (48%)
- This is quite normal for a sauce product.
• Sugar (14.5%) - This is not too high in sugar. Per 15g serving you will get just 1g of sugar.
• Soy sauce (12.2%) - This is a common ingredient in oyster sauce.
• Thickener (modified corn starch 1422) (11%) - This is like cornflour to thicken the sauce but is has been modified which means it has been treated to enhance its properties.
• Salt (8%) - Reasonably high in salt - 390mg of sodium per 15g serving.
• Oyster extract (4%) - Traditionally an oyster sauce would be entirely made up of oyster extract which simply means oysters are cooked down until there is an essence. But it is much easier and probably cheaper to simply add a small amount of oyster extract for flavour and leave the bulk of the sauce component up to soy sauce. I couldn't really taste any oysters in this sauce - it was more like a strong soy sauce with a vague hint of fishiness.
• Flavour enhancer (monosodium glutamate 621) (1%) - This is MSG, which is usually avoided by healthy eaters. Some people experience burning sensations, numbness, chest pain, headache, nausea and asthma when they consume this additive.
• Colour (caramel 150c) (1%) - Traditionally the colour of oyster sauce would be brown, but as this has only 4% oyster extract, colour needs to be added. Caramel 150c is made by heating sugars with ammonia.
• Acidity regulator (citric acid 330) (0.2%) - This is a common acidity regulator in processed foods.
• Preservative (potassium sorbate 202 0.8%, sodium benzoate 211 0.2%) - Potassium sorbate is neutralised sorbic acid and sodium benzoate is the sodium salt of benzoic acid. Benzoic acid can cause a rash or gastric irritation in some people.
My recommendation
It seems that oyster sauce was the subject of much scrutiny by our Food Standards Agency back in 2001, when tests in the UK revealed that some brands of soy and oyster sauce contained high levels of potentially cancer-causing chemicals 3-MCPD and 1,3-DCP.
After testing here some brands were recalled and a maximum limit was set for the chemicals.
That's enough for me to say "give it a miss". But I'd also be reluctant to cook what is normally a healthy real food meal of stir fry and then smother the vegetables and meat with artificial colour, preservative and MSG.
Instead try mixing 50/50 some good quality soy sauce, which has only water, soybeans and salt in it, with some fish sauce which has only water, fish and salt in it. That will give you a good strong soy, slightly fishy taste.
If you need thickness then add half a teaspoon of cornflour and heat.
Highlights
• Uses MSG
• 4% oyster extract
• Uses artificial colour and preservative.
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