Oyster sauce is an indispensable condiment in many people's kitchens. On supermarket shelves, there are a wide variety of oyster sauces, ranging from 10 yuan for a large bucket to hundreds of yuan for a bottle.
What is the difference between these oyster sauces with widely different prices? What are their differences in quality, taste, nutritional value, etc.?
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What is the essence of oyster sauce?
Currently, there is no mandatory national standard for oyster sauce. More than 90% of oyster sauce products on the market comply with the recommended national standard GB/T 21999-2008. In this standard, the definition of oyster sauce is:
Condiments made by using the juice after steaming and boiling oysters to concentrate or directly enzymatically hydrolyzing oyster meat, then adding raw materials such as sugar, salt, starch or modified starch, supplemented by other ingredients and food additives.
Some people may wonder, is oyster sauce not made from oysters, but from oysters? This is because oyster sauce originated in Guangdong. In Cantonese, people are accustomed to calling oysters oysters, and raw oysters are a type of oyster. Therefore, although the national standard requires that it be made with oysters, it is perfectly fine to make it with raw oysters. The oyster sauce brands currently on the market basically advertise that they are “made with oysters”.
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so,Oyster sauce is actually oyster juice obtained by cooking oysters or raw oysters, plus seasoning, thickening or coloring, and preservative ingredients or food additives.
Of course, not all oyster sauce is this combination. Since the above national standard is a recommended national standard, it is not mandatory. Some companies will implement other standards, such as GB 10133-2014 national standard for aquatic condiments.There is no definition of oyster sauce here, soIt may appear that oyster sauce only contains oyster juice and no other ingredients are added to the product.
There are three key points to consider when choosing a good bottle of oyster sauce:
Oyster sauce is different from other condiments. Other condiments, such as soy sauce or cooking oil, are graded based on raw material quality, production technology, physical and chemical indicators, hygiene indicators, etc. We can roughly distinguish the quality of condiments by looking at the grade on the packaging. There are currently no relevant standards for grading oyster sauce, so how should we judge the quality of oyster sauce?
Quality grade marked on soy sauce
Actually, weThe differences can be seen in the ingredient list, nutritional label, and product promotion.Here I have made a summary to facilitate your comparison when purchasing.
Although oyster sauce is based on oyster juice, the difference between oyster juice is very big.
The first is the source of oysters. Some oyster sauce ingredients are cooked with fresh oysters, while others are made with frozen oysters, which will make a difference in freshness.
The second is to combine the concentration and proportion of oyster juice. It’s the same oyster juice. If one oyster is boiled in a pot of oyster juice, and if 8 oysters are boiled in 1mL of oyster juice, the concentration is far different. When purchasing, you can first check the oyster juice with high concentration, and then look at the proportion of oyster juice. Generally, oyster juice with high concentration and a large proportion of additives is better.
If purchased on an e-commerce platform, this information can be seen on the product details page (if it is not available, it may not be mentioned). If you buy it offline, you may only see the information on the oyster juice adding ratio on the bottle.
2. Secondly, look at the ingredient list.
You can see the “ingredients” of food in the ingredient list. According to the provisions of GB7718-2011 General Principles for Prepackaged Food Labeling, the various ingredients in the ingredient list are arranged in descending order from the most to the least amount. In other words, the higher the ranking, the more amount is added.
When choosing, choose oyster juice first. In this case, the proportion of oyster juice will be higher. If additional freshness-enhancing ingredients or additives are added to the ingredients (such as sodium glutamate, monosodium glutamate, soy sauce, disodium 5'-flavor nucleotide, disodium 5'-inosinate), then the concentration of the oyster juice and The content is not very high, and it depends on other ingredients to enhance the freshness. For example, if you look at the ingredient lists of the two products below, you may know at a glance which one is really fresh and which one is fake.
There are also some products that add thickeners, pigments, sweeteners, etc. to increase the color, taste and quality of oyster sauce, but these are not necessary ingredients, so everyone should pay attention to screening when purchasing.
3. Read the nutrition facts table three times
The nutrition facts table focuses on protein and sodium content.
The protein in oyster sauce mainly comes from oyster juice. The higher the protein, the more oyster juice is added. There are currently no clear regulations on how much protein there is in oyster sauce. Generally speaking, the higher the protein content of oyster sauce, the higher the proportion of oyster juice, or the thicker the oyster juice.When purchasing, it is recommended to choose products with a protein content of more than 0.4g per 10g.
Sodium mainly comes from oyster juice and salt. In addition, various additives generally exist in the form of sodium salts. However, if the concentration of oyster juice is high or too much is added, and the brand does not add preservatives for its own quality, the sodium content may be increased at this time, because high sodium can increase the osmotic pressure, thereby playing a certain preservative effect.
The oyster sauce we use is not used as salt. A good oyster sauce with enough flavor is enough. However, if you often use oyster sauce and it is difficult to control the amount, it is best to choose one with low sodium.
When purchasing oyster sauce, high protein, no preservatives and low sodium are often not available at the same time, so you can consider them comprehensively when purchasing. In general, oyster sauce with high protein and low sodium content is more recommended.
What is the difference between a large bucket of oyster sauce priced at 10 yuan and a small bottle priced at 20 yuan?
If the price difference between low-priced and high-priced oyster sauce is so big, will there be a big difference in terms of quality, nutrition, etc.?
1. High-priced oysters often contain a lot of oyster juice.
At present, the national standard does not clearly require how much oyster juice needs to be added to oyster sauce.
Most expensive oyster sauces focus on oyster juice. Either the proportion of oyster juice added is high, or the concentration of oyster juice is high, or the oyster juice comes from fresh oysters (not frozen), or it is the concentration of the juice after cooking (not the enzymatic hydrolysis of the meat).
What can be felt on the packaging is mainly the content of oyster juice. Companies will try their best to tell you if they add a high proportion of oyster juice, so the packaging will be marked with “XX% oyster juice added”.
If the concentration is high, the raw materials are fresh, and the quality is good, if there is a lot of information, it may not be displayed on the bottle, but will generally be reflected on the product details page. When purchasing, if the content of oyster juice is listed, it means that the manufacturer is relatively confident.
2. High-priced oyster sauce has simple ingredients and a cleaner ingredient list
The higher the price, the simpler the ingredient list is generally.
Because oyster juice has enough umami flavor and the cooking process is mature, the umami flavor and color are already present, and there is no need to add freshness-enhancing and color-enhancing ingredients to “beautify” it.
Take the oyster sauce in the picture as an example. Let’s not talk about whether the concentration of oyster sauce can be guaranteed. Just look at the position of the ingredients list. The amount of oyster sauce added is less than salt. The umami flavor is not enough, so add additives. Monosodium glutamate, flavored nucleotides, yeast extract, and flavors all come into play. This is a very impressive trick. If you weren't obsessed with the ingredients, you would probably sigh after eating it, it tastes really fresh!
As for the protein content, except for the price factor reflected in the highest and lowest prices, the middle price oyster sauce has no obvious characteristics.
Generally speaking, the protein content of a large bucket priced at more than ten yuan is at the bottom. The amount of oyster juice added is small and it relies on various additives for seasoning. Oyster sauce priced at more than 20 yuan per bottle is more “genuine” with simple ingredients and fewer additives. Depending on your needs, you can make the following choices:
Oyster sauce is mainly for seasoning. If you care about nutrition, ingredients and quality, oyster sauce priced at more than 20 yuan per bottle is more worthy of choice.
If you think the price of 20 yuan is too high and don’t want to rely on additives, you can also choose good oyster sauce in the price of more than ten yuan a bottle.
If you only care about the taste and not the ingredients and oyster juice content, a large bucket of more than ten pieces of oyster sauce (almost no oyster juice) is more cost-effective.
You have to choose the right oyster sauce and use it right
In addition to choosing the right oyster sauce, the scientific use and storage of oyster sauce is equally important.
1. Add oyster sauce before serving
Oyster sauce is rich in sodium glutamate, which is the source of its umami flavor. However, sodium glutamate easily decomposes at high temperatures and loses its original flavor. It is recommended to add oyster sauce before the dishes are cooked, so that the sodium glutamate is not easily destroyed and helps to exert its own value.
2. Seal and refrigerate after use
The storage of oyster sauce cannot be ignored. Oyster sauce contains protein and water, which are nutrients and an environment where bacteria and mold can easily multiply. After opening, if you put it next to the stove after use, you cannot seal it in time and put it in the refrigerator. This warm, protein- and moisture-rich environment can easily breed bacteria and mold, which is extremely detrimental to our health. Therefore, after each use of oyster sauce, make sure the bottle cap is tightly closed and stored in the refrigerator as soon as possible.
references
[1] GB/T 21999-2008 Oysters
[2] GB 10133-2014 Aquatic condiments
[3] GB7718-2011 General rules for labeling of prepackaged foods
[4] GB/T 18186-2000 Brewed soy sauce
[5] Chinese Nutrition Society. Complete Book of Chinese Nutritional Science (Second Edition/Volume 1)