Andrea writes in asking about a good substitute for “oyster sauce,” a common ingredient in Asian cuisine. Oyster sauce, unlike “lobster sauce,” actually contains its namesake shellfish, so some serious research is necessary. Here goes.

About.com provides the first clue:
“Although the Buddhist vegetarian diet does permit the eating of oysters, vegetarian brands, often using mushrooms as a substitute, are available. Oyster sauce is normally sold in bottles; refrigerate after opening. If purchased in a can, transfer to a closed jar and refrigerate.”

Ah, vegetarian brands, perfect. Oh, none of them are kosher? Hmph.

For this reason alone (and only this reason) we can be thankful there are vegans in the world, who come up with implicitly kosher recipes for tasty, tasty animal products. Courtesy of vegan-food.net:

• 1 mushroom broth (boullion) cube
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 2 Tbsp. brown bean sauce
• 1 generous Tbsp. unprocessed sugar
• 1 tsp. cornstarch dissolved in 1 tsp. cold water

Dissolve the broth cube in the boiling water. Mix with the brown bean sauce and sugar, and heat to boiling. Add the dissolved cornstarch and stir until thickened. Cool and store in a covered jar in the refrigerator.

(This site also provides a recipe, using ground dried mushrooms instead of mushroom cubes)

I assume the mushroom boullion is doable, but what’s this “brown bean sauce”? Cook’s Thesaurus tells us:

This salty brown sauce is made from fermented soybeans, and is available in cans or jars. If you buy it in a can, transfer it into a jar. It can then be stored indefinitely in the refrigerator. Chinese bean sauce isn’t as salty as Thai bean sauce. Substitutes: black bean sauce OR chili bean sauce OR awase miso

Aha! Black bean sauce, we’re there. Kosher Depot will be introducing kosher black bean sauce starting this week, so keep an eye out for it.

So, with all these pieces, we have a suitable oyster sauce substitute.