Shrimp in Lobster Sauce

March 30, 2023 Sonia Wong

Meet my new favourite weeknight dish!! Shrimp in Lobster Sauce features succulent shrimp and ground pork coated in a silky and flavourful sauce that is SO perfect for serving on steamed rice. After the shrimp is prepped, the dish comes together in less than 15 minutes, all in one cooking vessel. Yasss.

This is the first recipe in Season 2 of my popular 30 MINUTE RECIPE SERIES, where every recipe can be made in 30 minutes or less, perfect for weeknights. Get ready for more delicious and easy recipes coming up.

So I was only today years old when Shrimp in Lobster Sauce was introduced to me. A friend’s photo of it was serendipitously posted in our group chat and I was instantly drooling. But, wth is ‘lobster sauce’? Following a flurry of text messages, I find out that Shrimp in Lobster Sauce in fact, does not contain any lobster — not even tomalley, as I hazarded to guess at one point. According to the internet, the sauce was dubbed ‘lobster sauce’ because it is the style of sauce that used to be widely served over lobsters at westernized Chinese restaurants in North America. The sauce is basically stock thickened with cornstarch slurry with ginger, scallions, egg plus variations in basic Chinese seasonings including soy sauce, white pepper powder and Chinese cooking wine. My good friend Melissa’s parents used to own a restaurant serving Chinese and westernized Chinese dishes in a city just outside Toronto, and it was her mom — mama Lam — who cooked the very dish in the very photo that inspired me to try Shrimp in Lobster Sauce. Thanks mama Lam! Big shout out to mama Lam for sharing her recipe with me which I gratefully leveraged and adapted with a few touches of my own into the version I share here today. I hope this recipe for Shrimp in Lobster Sauce wins your heart and stomach over as it has mine.

Be sure to check out the other recipes in my 30 MINUTE RECIPE SERIES for more delicious meals including the Mushroom and Egg ‘Gyudon’ Japanese Rice Bowl which went absolutely viral when I shared it last year. I am sure you will find a recipe or two to change up your dinner game!

Eat well and be well,

Sonia x

Basic Steps to make Shrimp in Lobster Sauce (full recipe below)

Prep shrimp - thaw, butterfly, remove shells and veins
Marinade shrimp, set aside
Prep all other ingredients (scallions, garlic, ginger, cornstarch slurry, egg)
Stir-fry shrimp, set aside
Stir-fry aromatics and ground pork
Add all sauce ingredients
Add shrimp
Thicken with cornstarch slurry
Swirl in whisked egg
Finish with sesame oil and scallions

SHRIMP IN LOBSTER SAUCE - RECIPE HEAD NOTES:

what is ‘lobster sauce’?

Lobster sauce in fact, does not contain any lobster — not even tomalley, as I hazarded to guess at one point. According to the internet, the sauce was dubbed ‘lobster sauce’ because it is the style of sauce that used to be widely served over lobsters at westernized Chinese restaurants in North America. The sauce is basically stock thickened with cornstarch slurry with ginger, scallions, egg plus variations in basic Chinese seasonings including soy sauce, white pepper powder and Chinese cooking wine.

Pro Tip for Perfectly Cooked Shrimp

Overcooked shrimp is tough and rubbery. Shrimp should be succulent and sweet so make sure not to overcook them. When stir frying the shrimp at the beginning, aim to cook them only 80-85% (when they just turn from grey to pink) and finish cooking later as it simmers in the sauce to absorb all the yummy flavours.

Type of Shrimp to Use

I always recommend frozen, uncooked shell-on shrimp. I prefer larger shrimp in general, anywhere between 15 to 21 count, e.g. “jumbo shrimp”. For shrimp, “count” is the number of shrimp in a pound, also indicating average size of each shrimp in the pack. The higher the number of shrimp in a pound, the smaller the individual shrimp are, and vice versa. Of course, any size works in this recipe. To save time and get this dish made in 30 minutes, I buy shell-on shrimp already butterflied and deveined (Longo’s brand with the word “easy peel” on the bag, for those who live in my city). What a godsend!

Shaoxing Wine - What Is It / Can It Be Substituted or Omitted

Shaoxing wine is a famous Chinese rice wine from the city of Shaoxing, China. Higher quality versions are consumed as a beverage but it’s the inexpensive version that is used ubiquitously in Chinese cooking. It is used in marinades, sauces and braised dishes. It adds a nuanced flavour distinctive to many Chinese dishes. Consider it similar to the use of wine in French and Italian cooking. You’ll need to visit a Chinese grocery store to purchase it. I’ve seen it online on Amazon but at exorbitant prices so I don’t suggest getting it there. If you can’t get your hands on a bottle of Shaoxing wine, for this recipe where only 2 tbsp is used in the sauce, you may substitute it with Japanese sake (grab an inexpensive bottle from the LCBO or liquor store), Chinese clear rice wine “michu” if you have it, or dry cooking sherry. If you can’t get any of those or simply prefer not to use it, omit the wine and add a splash more water to make up the liquid for the sauce.

》CHINESE SHRIMP IN TOMATO SAUCE

》speedy chicken katsu dinner

》mushroom and egg ‘gyudon’ Japanese rice bowls

See this content in the original post

SHRIMP IN LOBSTER SAUCE

Serves 4.

INGREDIENTS:

For marinating the shrimp:

1 lb uncooked large shrimp, defrosted, butterflied and deveined

1 tsp corn starch

½ tsp kosher salt

2 dashes white pepper powder

Drizzle of toasted sesame oil

For the dish:

½ ground pork (see recipe head notes for meatless version)

1 scallion, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated

1 clove garlic, finely minced

2 slices fresh ginger

1 tbsp Shaoxing wine (see recipe head notes)

1½ C chicken broth

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp fish sauce

½ tsp sugar

1 C frozen peas and carrots

3 tbsp cornstarch whisked with 2 tbsp water for cornstarch slurry

2 eggs

Kosher salt to taste

Toasted sesame oil to finish

High heat oil for cooking (I use avocado oil)

METHOD:

Prep and marinade the shrimp: Wash shrimp and pat dry. Place in a bowl with marinade ingredients and set aside while preparing remaining ingredients.

Set a wok or large cast iron pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, drizzle a bit of oil and add shrimp in single layer if using a skillet or all at once if using a wok. Cook about 1.5 minutes (flipping once if cooking in a skillet or stir frying constantly if using a wok) or until shrimp has just turned from grey to pink but is not cooked all the way through. Scoop out and set aside. Splash a bit of water and scrap off any stuck residues with a spatula. Discard and wipe clean.

Add another drizzle of oil. Add scallion white parts, garlic and ginger. Stir fry until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Add ground pork, along with kosher salt to taste (start with ¼ tsp) breaking up the clumps and stir fry about 3 minutes or until brown on the edges.

Add Shaoxing wine to the pork mixture and give everything a few turns, scraping the bottom to deglaze. Add chicken broth, soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, frozen peas/carrots. Bring to a simmer, taste for seasonings and adjust to your liking. Reduce heat to low. Re-whisk cornstarch slurry and drizzle about three-quarter of it slowly into the liquid while mixing. Use the rest of the slurry only if needed. Simmer to thicken, about a minute or until sauce coats the back of the spatula. If sauce is too thin, add remaining cornstarch slurry. If too thick, add more chicken broth or water and bring back to a simmer.

Discard the ginger slices now if you want. Add back reserved shrimp.

Add the two eggs without and break the yolks up a bit with the spatula. Let eggs cook on low heat to about 90% with some runniness remaining. Fold the eggs into the sauce with a few turns of the spatula to mix it in and finish cooking. Turn heat off and drizzle sesame oil. Garnish with scallion green parts. Serve over white rice.

Enjoy!

🎥 WATCH SHRIMP IN LOBSTER SAUCE VIDEO: