Shrimp with lobster sauce is a classic takeout style dish that’s a bit of a misnomer. There’s really no lobster in the dish at all.
This fact didn’t stop millions of people from enjoying the dish at many Chinese restaurants over the years, however. The delicious shrimp speak for themselves and the luxurious egg and pork sauce complements everything nicely. The best part? You don’t have to spend a huge amount of money on lobster.
This dish is very easy to make at home. Once you have the ingredients prepared, you’ll have Shrimp and lobster sauce on the table in less than 10 minutes (and that’s a generous estimate).
Is there any lobster in lobster sauce?
In short, no. There is no lobster in Shrimp with Lobster Sauce. So why is it called that?
Was it some fancy name that an early Chinese restaurant entrepreneur invented? Was there lobster in the dish at one time, but later omitted due to the high cost of lobster?
The most likely theory is that it evolved from the sauce used in an old classic Lobster Cantonese recipe, but made with more affordable shrimp instead of lobster.
If you’re wondering, we haven’t yet posted a Lobster Cantonese recipe, since in the last 20 years, its successor the Cantonese-style Ginger Scallion Lobster has become so much more popular.
Lobster Cantonese has all but completely disappeared from Chinese restaurant menus. But don’t fret, we’ll have a Lobster Cantonese recipe on the blog when lobster season kicks in again!
My Years of Cooking Shrimp with Lobster Sauce
On muggy summer weekend nights back in the Catskills resort town I grew up in, I would peel and prepare shrimp to make at least a hundred orders of shrimp with lobster sauce every day!
This was the Chinese restaurant I used to work in during my teen years, and my father (the chef) would have two large woks running at the same time for hours on end.
Usually, at least one of these two woks were cooking this dish. Shrimp and lobster sauce was one of the two finale dishes in the last course of the “Polynesian Luau for Two.” (What’s a Polynesian Luau for Two? And what does Polynesia have to do with Americanized Chinese takeout food? Don’t ask. Because I have no idea.) The other dish was the roast pork fried rice, another classic favorite.
When I realized that Sarah and Kaitlin never had shrimp with lobster sauce before, I decided it was time. They enjoyed it immensely, and I hope you will too!
If you’re looking for a more traditional shrimp dish, take a walk on the wild side and check out our Scallion Ginger Shrimp recipe and Stir Fried Shrimp and Eggs or maybe a more progressive Hunan Steamed Shrimp.
But for now on with the classic!
Shrimp with Lobster Sauce: Recipe Instructions
Peel and devein the shrimp. Boil 2 cups of water in a large wok and stir in the ground pork. Break up any clumps and cook for about 1 minute, until the pork is no longer pink.
Drain the pork in a mesh strainer and give it a quick rinse. This will give you a much clearer, cleaner sauce.
Wash your wok and place over medium high heat. Add the vegetable oil, garlic, ground pork, and shrimp and stir-fry for 10-20 seconds.
Add the Shaoxing wine (or sherry) and stir-fry for another 10 seconds. Add the chicken stock, sesame oil, sugar, salt, and white pepper.
Stir in the peas.
Once the mixture comes to a simmer, stir in the cornstarch slurry a little bit at a time. Let the mixture bubble and thicken. It should be able to coat a spoon, but it shouldn’t have a gloopy consistency.
If it gets too thick, add a little more chicken stock. If it’s too thin, add more slurry. For more tips on how to use cornstarch effectively, see our post on How to use Cornstarch for Chinese cooking.
Spread the slightly beaten egg and scallion across the mixture and let simmer for 5 seconds.
Use your wok spatula to fold the egg into the sauce with a few strokes.
Serve your shrimp with lobster sauce over white rice.
Shrimp with Lobster Sauce
Ingredients
- 8 oz. shrimp (21 size, or about 10 shrimp; 225g)
- 4 oz. ground pork (110g)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (or cooking sherry)
- 1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken stock
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- fresh ground white pepper (to taste)
- ½ cup frozen peas
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch (mixed into a slurry with 2 tablespoons water)
- 1 egg (beaten slightly)
- 1 scallion (chopped)
Instructions
- Peel and devein the shrimp. Boil 2 cups of water in a large wok and stir in the ground pork. Break up any clumps and cook for about 1 minute, until the pork is no longer pink. Drain the pork in a mesh strainer and give it a quick rinse. This will give you a much clearer, cleaner sauce.
- Wash your wok and place over medium high heat. Add the vegetable oil, garlic, ground pork, and shrimp and stir-fry for 10-20 seconds. Add the wine and stir-fry for another 10 seconds. Add the chicken stock, sesame oil, sugar, salt, and white pepper. Stir in the peas.
- Once the mixture comes to a simmer, stir in the cornstarch slurry a little bit at a time. Let the mixture bubble and thicken. It should be able to coat a spoon, but it shouldn’t have a gloopy consistency. If it gets too thick, add a little more chicken stock. If it’s too thin, add more slurry.
- Spread the slightly beaten egg and scallion across the mixture and let simmer for 5 seconds. Use your spatula to fold the egg into the sauce with a few strokes. Serve over white rice.
This recipe came out great!! I substituted the ground pork with chicken and used Mirin (omitting sugar) instead. Restaurant quality and simple too
Hi Kim, using chicken instead of pork is a good idea, especially if you don’t eat pork ;-)
Hi Bill,
We ordered from a local oriental take-out as a celebrate and wife had the shrimp and lobster sauce. The sauce was very dark almost a lite soy color, will this recipe vary per region?
Hi Gregory, yes, shrimp with lobster sauce does vary with some using dark sauce and also fermented black beans. We recently posted a shrimp with black bean sauce that uses fermented black beans and a dark sauce.
Oooohhh, can’t wait to try this. Can this be made without the ground pork? Or would it alter the taste in any way without the pork? Don’t have any ground pork right now. Thanks!
Hi Marie, the pork is why they called this dish lobster sauce, and while it’s not the same as what you find in restaurants, it’s perfectly fine to make it without any pork.
Just as good or better than the carry-out I remember from long ago. Will make this often.
Hi K, I agree and making it at home is economical since prices have really gone up!
The dish turned out GREAT! Wonderful directions, and I used a Zinfandel because it called for only a tablespoon. It tasted like my favorite dish from the restaurants. Thank you so much.
You’re welcome EFKaplan – enjoy!
a great thing about this recipe is that the shrimp are perfectly cooked, i. e., not overcooked.
Hi Beth, definitely have to watch the cooking time and work fast while they are in the wok so as not to overcook the shrimp ;-)
Can I use frozen shrimp or do they have to be fresh? Thanks! I’m excited to try this. :)
Hi Amaya, frozen uncooked shrimp are the most accessible and the best since they are flash-frozen after they are caught and processed!
This was so easy and so delicious!
Hi Amaya, that’s what we like to hear!
You said that soon you’ll post a Lobster Cantonese recipe. When I ordered it to take out from Chinatown, the waiters told me that what I wanted to ask for was “the dry way,” or “the Chinese way.” It had black beans, lots of pork, and less sauce. If and when you get to posting, can you include a variation for the dry Chinese way? Pretty please?
Hi Karan, the dry way is actually our ginger scallion Lobster recipe. It’s by far the most popular Cantonese lobster recipe ;-)
I believe this is the recipe you’re looking for on their site. Reduce chicken stock by 3/4 of a cup, add another 4 oz of pork and if the consistency is too dry you can always add more stock to suit your taste.
https://thewoksoflife.com/shrimp-black-bean-sauce/
I’m not a super experienced scoop…cannI sub the chicken stock with lobster stock base? I love lobster and it seems a shame there’s no lobster in this dish. Or would the lobster base throw it off somehow.
Hi C, using lobster base would be delicious!
Loved this! Got the wine on Amazon! Great flavor and enjoyed by entire family! Thank you! Merry Christmas!!
Hi Diane, Merry Christmas and a Happy New year to you and your family!