Shrimp with Lobster Sauce

Shrimp with Lobster Sauce: A Taste of the Sea

Shrimp with lobster sauce is one of the most popular dishes at Chinese restaurants. This classic Cantonese dish is always on the menu, but did you know there’s no lobster in it? This dish cleverly uses everyday ingredients to mimic that lobster flavor, and it does so quite well.

The lobster-less lobster sauce can be used with lobster as well, but the shrimp version is much more affordable and does a lovely job of bringing out the sea-like essence of the shrimp.

The Secret of the Sauce

The light sauce, which is made using Shaoxing wine, chicken broth, oyster sauce, sugar, salt, and white pepper, is mixed with ground pork and beaten eggs. 

The sauce is quite mild but surprisingly complex. The purpose of the sauce is to build a subtle umami foundation for the shrimp to stand on and shine. You can appreciate the depth of flavor, but the shrimp never get overpowered.

A slurry of cornstarch and water is used to thicken it up, giving it a richer mouthfeel and helping it stay hot longer.

Affordable Luxury on Demand

While the dish has quite a refined taste, it’s quite easy to make. You might not believe that it takes less than 20 minutes to make it from scratch. That’s faster than takeout can arrive at your door, and you likely have all the ingredients needed to make shrimp with lobster sauce in your pantry right now. 

How to Shop for This Dish

Choose good shrimp of an adequate size, preferably de-veined for a cleaner flavor. I prefer headless shrimp for convenience, but if you’re able to keep the heads on and devein them, you’ll get an even bigger explosion of shrimp flavor.

And don’t forget the frozen peas and carrots – also super convenient as you won’t need to do any peeling, chopping, or blanching. With some dishes, fresh peas and carrots make a big difference, but here it’s less important.

Cooking Process

This one is super easy to make. All you have to do is:

1. Pan fry the shrimp
2. Stir-fry the pork and aromatics
3. Add in the sauce, cook it a bit
4. Add the frozen veggies, cook it a bit more
5. Then toss the shrimp back in
6. Stir in the cornstarch slurry, get it nice and hot
7. Then stir in the beaten egg (like egg drop soup!)

There’s a bit more to it, as you’ll see in the recipe, but that’s the gist of it.

How and When to Serve Shrimp with Lobster Sauce

The dish is so simple and accessible that I love to serve it as a one-skillet meal, since it has everything I need. It’s great over steamed white rice but you can also serve it on top of boiled noodles (or even toast!) to soak up all that delicious sauce.

Shrimp with lobster sauce is also an excellent dish to make for company. Because it’s so simple, you won’t spend much time in the kitchen. And because it tastes so luxurious, it will definitely impress!

Shrimp with Lobster Sauce

By Maggie Zhu

4.84 from 6 votes

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

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Get classic Cantonese flavors on your table in minutes when you make shrimp with lobster sauce for a luxuriously delicious meal that’s as simple as can be! {Gluten-Free Adaptable}

To make the dish gluten-free, use dry sherry instead of shaoxing wine and make sure your oyster sauce is gluten-free.

Ingredients 

• 1 tablespoon peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
• 12 oz (340 g) shrimp , peeled and deveined
• 2 cloves garlic , chopped
• 1/2 ” ginger , minced
• 4 oz (100 g) ground pork
• 1 cup frozen peas and carrots
• 1 egg , beaten
• 1 green onion , sliced

Sauce

• 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
• 1 can (14.5-oz / 411 g) low sodium chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper

Slurry

• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons water

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Instructions

• Add the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Mix well and set aside.
• Combine the slurry ingredients in a small bowl. Mix to dissolve the cornstarch.
• Add the oil in a medium size dutch oven (or saucepan, or a wok) and heat over medium high heat until hot. Add the shrimp. Let cook, stir occasionally, until it’s lightly browned. Transfer the shrimp to a plate and set aside.
• Add the garlic, ginger, and pork. Cook and stir until the pork is almost cooked through.
• Pour in the sauce and bring the broth to a boil.
• Add the frozen vegetables. Cook until the vegetables are thawed, about 2 minutes.
• Add back the cooked shrimp.
• Stir the slurry again to redissolve the cornstarch completely, then pour it into the pan. Let simmer until the broth thickens just enough to coat the back of a spoon.
• Turn off the heat. Drizzle the beaten egg slowly over the broth while using a pair of chopsticks (or a fork) against the bowl where the eggs drip to the pan. Let sit for 30 seconds to let the eggs set. Then begin gently stirring the eggs until cooked through and forming thin threads.
• Add the green onions and give it a final stir.
• Serve hot over rice as a main dish.

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 236kcal, Carbohydrates: 11.5g, Protein: 30.5g, Fat: 7.1g, Saturated Fat: 1.7g, Cholesterol: 241mg, Sodium: 597mg, Potassium: 361mg, Fiber: 1.5g, Sugar: 2.9g, Calcium: 100mg, Iron: 1mg

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Make it a Feast by Pairing with These:

• 4-Ingredient Baby Bok Choy Stir Fry
• Easy Swiss Chard Stir Fry
• Cantonese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce
• Easy Chinese Cucumber Salad

More Yummy Chinese Shrimp Recipes

• Sichuan Shrimp Stir Fry 
• Salt & Pepper Shrimp
• Shrimp & Snow Peas
• Chinese Chili Garlic Shrimp

Lilja Walter is a part of the Omnivore’s Cookbook team and worked closely with Maggie to develop and test this recipe.