Best Shrimp in Lobster Sauce
Submitted by MollyStevens
Cantonese shrimp in lobster sauce with ground pork, fermented black beans, garlic, and silky beaten egg ribbons. The takeout classic, made from scratch.
YIELD
18 servingsPREP
25 minCOOK
20 minREADY
50 minDespite the name, there is no lobster in shrimp in lobster sauce — the dish is named for the sauce style traditionally served with lobster in Cantonese restaurants. Once you’ve made it at home, the version from the takeout container down the street starts to taste like a pale copy.
Fermented black beans are the non-negotiable here. Salty, pungent, and deeply savory, they give the sauce its signature umami character. Rinse and mash them before adding, which releases their flavor faster into the hot oil. Skipping them or substituting black bean sauce never hits the same.
Butterflying the shrimp (cutting three-quarters of the way through the back) does two things: it cooks them faster and creates more surface area for the sauce to cling. Once they curl, pull them off the heat immediately. Overcooked shrimp turns rubbery in seconds.
The egg ribbon technique is the showpiece. Drizzle the beaten eggs into the sauce while gently stirring, and they set into delicate threads suspended in the broth. Pour them in all at once and you get scrambled eggs swimming in sauce, which is the wrong texture entirely.
Pro Tips
- Get your wok smoking hot before the oil hits. Cold pan equals soggy stir-fry.
- Use ground pork with some fat content (not lean). It carries the flavor of the black beans and aromatics.
- Mix cornstarch with cold water before adding. Direct cornstarch lumps instantly in hot sauce.
Variations
- Use ground chicken instead of pork for a lighter version.
- Add sliced ginger with the garlic for extra warmth.
- Toss in snow peas at the end for color and crunch.
Ingredients
Directions
Peel, devein and butterfly shrimp. To butterfly, with a sharp knife, cut through the back about ¾ of the way.
Do not cut all the way through, remove black vein, set aside. Heat wok until smoking, add oil, put all shrimp in at once, stir fry, keeping them in motion continuously so they cook evenly. When they begin to curl, remove and set aside. Soak black beans, rinse and mash.
Heat wok, add 2 tablespoon oil, add beans and garlic, stir until aroma is strong, add meat in small pieces, stir fry until cooked, about 4 minutes. Add broth, soy and sugar, stirring until it comes to a boil.
Thicken mixture with cornstarch paste, a little at a time, do not let it get too thick, should be like a cream sauce. Slowly stir in beaten eggs. Cook one minute, then add shrimp. Mix well and serve.
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