Shrimp in Lobster Sauce is an easy, budget friendly recipe for Chinese food at home! Stir-fried shrimp, carrots, and frozen peas in a rich garlic sauce.
Making Chinese Food at home is a budget friendly way to enjoy decadent (pricey) takeout seafood dishes like Honey Walnut Shrimp and Cantonese lobster sauce stir-fry!
SHRIMP IN LOBSTER SAUCE
Lobster anything just sounds luxurious, doesn’t it? Despite the fancy name, there isn’t actually any lobster in this dish. Lobster sauce refers to the Cantonese way of cooking and serving lobster, but Chinese restaurants realized it tastes just as delicious with much less expensive shrimp.
This Shrimp in Lobster Sauce recipe may not have lobster but it does have lots of decadent, rich flavor from the egg, and beaten egg. The egg is slowly whisked in, like Hot and Sour Soup, so the sauce thickens and the egg is cooked without scrambling.
Shrimp in Lobster Sauce has “white sauce”, but doesn’t have heavy cream or flour like other cuisines. A white sauce in Chinese food is broth-based instead dark sauces like soy sauce or teriyaki sauce. This lobster sauce recipe doesn’t have any fermented black beans, you get a beautiful golden sauce that is full of shrimp flavor.
Serve Shrimp in Lobster Sauce with simple sides like Steamed White Rice and Fried Rice to soak up all the delicious, rich sauce! It pairs well with takeout favorites like Chow Mein and Orange Chicken. You can use Shrimp in Lobster Sauce as a filling for Lettuce Wraps too.
More Delicious Chinese Food Recipes You NEED to make:
Sweet and Sour Pork
Chinese Lemon Chicken
Easy Mongolian Beef Recipe
Chicken Lo Mein
Tips for Shrimp in Lobster Sauce
- There are quite a few ingredients and steps to make Shrimp in Lobster Sauce, so read the recipe through at least once before you start making this dish.
- Even though there are lot of components to making Shrimp in Lobster Sauce, the cooking part goes fast. Have everything prepped ahead of time and on hand so you don’t overcook your shrimp or sauce.
- A wok is the best pan for stir-frying, it cooks everything at high heat evenly and quickly. You can use a large skillet, just make sure it’s big enough that your shrimp won’t be crowded.
- Stir in the cornstarch slurry a little at a time. The sauce should be thick and stick to a spoon but not gloopy. If the sauce is too thick, add chicken broth. If it is too thin, add more cornstarch mixture.
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VARIATIONS ON SHRIMP IN LOBSTER SAUCE
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- Lobster: If you want to add some real lobster flavor, soak lobster shells in boiling water to make a lobster stock and use that instead of water.
- Chicken Stock: Instead of using water you can also use chicken broth or chicken stock in this Lobster Sauce recipe.
- Pork: The pork mince adds a lot of savory flavor to Lobster Sauce but you leave it out or substitute ground turkey if you can’t eat pork.
- Black Beans: Use 2 tablespoons fermented black beans for richer, traditional lobster sauce recipe. You can get fermented beans at Asian markets or some grocery stores.
- Veggies: Stir in frozen veggies like peas and carrots blend, onions, bell peppers, mushrooms or snow peas. Garnish Shrimp in Lobster Sauce with chopped green onions, parsley, or basil.
- Seasonings: Add in seasonings like ground ginger, fresh ginger, sesame oil (see note about oil), oyster sauce, or red pepper flakes. You can use rice wine instead of the sherry wine.
- Cooking Oil: You can use different oils when stir-frying like vegetable oil, canola oil, olive oil, coconut oil, or peanut oil. Sesame oil should only be used as a seasoning, too much will overpower any other flavors.
MORE CHINESE MAIN DISH RECIPES:
Easy Sesame Chicken Recipe
General Tso’s Chicken
Korean Ground Beef
Sweet and Sour Chicken
HOW TO STORE SHRIMP IN LOBSTER SAUCE
- Serve: Shrimp with Lobster Sauce is best fresh and hot and can be kept at room temperature for up to 2 hours.
- Store: Store leftover Shrimp in Lobster Sauce in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Add chicken broth a tablespoon at a time when reheating if the sauce is too thick.
- Freeze: Shrimp in Lobster Sauce is not a dish that will freeze well. Cooked shrimp gets rubbery when frozen and reheated. The sauce doesn’t not reheat well either.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch , divided
- 2 teaspoons cooking sherry
- 1 pound large shrimp , 13-15 count, peeled and deveined
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup peas , frozen, defrosted and drained
- 1 cup carrots , diced
- 1 large egg , beaten
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add 2 teaspoons of cornstarch to sherry and toss with shrimp.
- Add oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook the shrimp for 3-5 minutes.
- Remove shrimp from the pan.
- While shrimp is cooking, combine 1 cup water, soy sauce, sugar, salt and remaining cornstarch in a medium bowl.
- Add garlic, carrots and peas and stir well, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add sauce and simmer for about 2-3 minutes until sauce thickens.
- Stir the sauce quickly while drizzling in beaten egg.
- Add shrimp back to skillet and stir well before serving.
Nutrition
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Boy I used to make this all the time and have totally forgotten about it. Thanks for posting to remind of a wonderful recipe.
I love shrimp in lobster saice
Super delicious! I added some ginger and a dash of white pepper but otherwise followed the recipe completely. Such a healthy and tastier version than takeout!
YUM. I’m slowly making my way through your site, Sabrina. This meal is delicious! I cannot express how proud I am of myself every time I prepare a beautiful meal that I used to have to get takeout to eat. It’s SO satisfying! This recipe tastes exactly as it should…you’ve done it again!
PS: If I have a copycat recipe that I’d like to share with you, how would I go about doing that? I have a recipe (from 2001!) for Boston Market’s meatloaf. It’s really good!
Can’t wait to make this! Note to author: recipe says “Add garlic, corn and peas.” I think it’s supposed to say carrots, not corn. 🙂
Thanks for catching that. Yes, it should read carrots. I hope you enjoy it!
I love how tasty and comforting this is! Quickly became a favorite at my house!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I am all for Chinese food at home!! Love shrimp, so I am excited to use this recipe!!
We love making it at home too. Enjoy!
This looks so delicious and yummy! My daughter and I are going to love this recipe! I can’t wait to give this a try!
Thanks for the 5 stars, Beth.
You did not say when or how much or what kind of Pork to add to this recipe.
After retesting, I decided the recipe didn’t need it. I included it as a variation if you’d like to try it. Enjoy!
You mention ground pork, but it is not included in this recipe.
I decided to just keep it as a variation for this recipe. I didn’t end up using it in the original. I’ve edited it to read correctly now. Thanks for letting me know.
You refer to minced pork in the writeup of the recipe, but I don’t find it in the actual recipe.
Love, all your recipes. Ever think of publishing them in a cookbook?
Thanks.
I decided that this recipe didn’t need it, sorry about the confusion. As far as a cookbook…..stay tuned!!
I’m so glad you’re enjoying all of the recipes.
Where does the minced pork come in ?
It isn’t mentioned as an ingredient, nor is it mentioned in the Instructions…
thanks
Sorry about the confusion. It should’ve just been added to a variation because after retesting, I didn’t include it in the original recipe. Enjoy!
Just wondering where the lobster ingredient is for “lobster sauce “ ? Sounds yummy. Thanks.
There actually isn’t any lobster in this dish. “Lobster sauce” refers to the Cantonese way of cooking it. I hope you decide to give it a try.
In your shrimp in lobster sauce recipe description, you mention minced pork but I don’t see it in the ingredient list or directions.
I moved it to a variation because I decided not to use it in this recipe. Thanks for letting me know.