Adventures in Thai Cooking & Travel
Thai Oyster
Sauce
Thai Oyster Sauce (Nahm Man Hoi)
by Kasma
Loha-unchit
Text Copyright © 1995, 2000 & 2004 Kasma
Loha-unchit.
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See below for Recipes with Oyster Sauce.
Note: Kasma's 
current favorite brand (September 2005) is the Dragonfly brand Super Premium Flavored Oyster Sauce. Dragonfly also makes a less expensive "Premium" brand that is also excellent. Both are made without any preservatives whatsover, giving this brand the edge over her previous favorite as talked about below.
Oyster Sauce (Nahm Man Hoi): Borrowed from the Chinese, this richly flavored, dark brown sauce made from oysters with salt and water, thickened with cornstarch and color-enhanced with caramel or burnt sugar, is extensively used as a seasoning for stir-fried vegetable, meat, seafood and noodle dishes.
An 
product from Thailand depicts on the
front of the label a plump woman stir-frying while shaking sauce from a bottle into the wok.
Underneath her are the words Mae Krua, which means "mother of the kitchen," the Thai way of
referring to a female cook. (A male cook is called paw krua, "father of the kitchen.") On
either side of her are pictures of oysters. This brand is quite flavorful and is available in
small, medium and large bottles, the largest holding 20 fl. oz. Another tasty brand is the
Healthy Boy brand, but it is not widely distributed in America.
Both these Thai brands of oyster sauce taste noticeably different from Chinese brands available in American Chinatowns. They are comparatively less salty, have a more pronounced oyster flavor and do not contain monosodium glutamate (m.s.g.). In fact, many of my students have switched to one of these Thai brands even for their Chinese cooking.
When refrigerated after opening, oyster sauce keeps for up to one year.
Text Copyright © 2000 Kasma Loha-unchit in Dancing Shrimp: Favorite Thai Recipes for Seafood. See pages 39 & 40.
This is just one of many listings in the "Alphabetical List of Ingredients" in chapter four (pages 49 to 73) of Dancing Shrimp: Favorite Thai Recipes for Seafood.
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Thai Oyster Sauce (Nahm Man Hoi)
There
are a few brands of Thai oyster sauce. The one most readily available in Asian markets in the West has a label depicting a plump woman stir-frying while shaking sauce
from a bottle into the wok. Underneath her are the words Mae Krua, which means "mother of the
kitchen," the Thai way of referring to a female chef. (A male chef is called paw krua, "father
of the kitchen.") On either side are pictures of oysters. It is quite flavorful and is
available in small, medium and large bottles, the largest holding 20 fl. oz. (600 ml.). Another
very tasty brand that has recently appeared in the U.S. market is the "Healthy Boy" brand.
These two brands of oyster sauce taste noticeably different from the Chinese brands available in American Chinatowns. The Thai sauces are less salty, have a more pronounced oyster flavor and are not heavily loaded with monosodium glutamate (MSG). Oyster sauce is used extensively to flavor stir-fried vegetables (see Stir-fried Asparagus, Oyster Mushrooms and Shrimp in Garlic Sauce ) and as a flavor ingredient in meat, seafood and noodle dishes. Refrigerate after opening to retain fresh taste.
Text Copyright © 1995 Kasma Loha-unchit in It Rains Fishes: Legends, Traditions and the Joys of Thai Cooking. See page 55.
Note: Kasma's current favorite brand (September 2005) is the Dragonfly brand Super Premium Flavored Oyster Sauce. Dragonfly also makes a less expensive "Premium" brand that is also excellent. Both are made without any preservatives whatsover, giving this brand the edge over her previous favorite as talked about above.
Ingredient index | Return to Top
Recipes with Oyster Sauce :
Seafood
Tiger Prawns Steamed with Garlic & Thai Chillies (Gkoon Neung Gkratiem)
Vegetables
Stir-fried Asparagus, Oyster Mushrooms and Shrimp in Garlic Sauce (Naw-mai Farang Pad Nahm Man Hoi)
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See our Online Markets page for online sources of Thai ingredients. If they do not have the product you wish, inquire by email if they will order it for you.
About this Site
Text Copyright © Kasma Loha-unchit, 1995 in It Rains Fishes, and 2000 in Dancing Shrimp and 2004. All rights reserved.
Photographs Copyright © 2002 Dave Bayer & 2004 Michael Babcock. All rights reserved.
All material on this website is Copyright © 1995 to 2008 Kasma Loha-unchit. All rights reserved.
For comments, feedback or questions, contact Kasma.
Last updated 23 September 2005.