Garlic Oyster Sauce Lettuce
蒜蓉蚝油生菜 · cantonese cuisine · Canton
Adapted from a community recipe on Xiachufang (original author credited in the source record). A highly rated home-style Chinese dish where crisp lettuce is briefly blanched, then topped with a glossy oyster sauce gravy made with garlic, soy sauce, and a potato starch slurry.
Nutrition & allergens
No supported allergens detected from surveyed ingredients.
Some ingredients are not yet allergen-surveyed; this label is not exhaustive.
Per serving (4 servings)
- Energy (kcal)
- 246
- Protein (g)
- Unknown
- Fat (g)
- 25
- Carbs (g)
- Unknown
- Sodium (mg)
- Unknown
Estimated from verified ingredient data for the original formula — not lab values, and one dish is not a full meal.
Potato starch土豆淀粉
1.06 oz
3.53 oz
lettuce生菜
as needed
as needed
as needed
salt盐
to taste
to taste
to taste
Techniques you'll use
- Blanching (chao shui) ↗
Par-cook in boiling water to clean, tighten, or prep ingredients.
- Aromatic blooming (bao xiang) ↗
Bloom ginger, garlic, and chili in hot oil to build the aroma base.
- Starch thickening (gou qian) ↗
Thicken sauce so it clings to every piece.
Steps
- 1
Step 1
Prepare two sauces. First, the potato starch slurry: add a spoonful of potato starch to a little less than half a bowl of water and set aside (do not skimp on the water). Second, the oyster sauce mixture: in a bowl, combine two spoonfuls of light soy sauce, one spoonful of oyster sauce, half a spoonful of sugar, and some water; mix well and set aside.
✅ Done when: Both sauces are mixed smooth with no visible lumps of starch or sugar.
- 2
Step 2
Mince the garlic and set aside.
✅ Done when: The garlic is evenly minced into fine pieces.
Cut off the root end of the lettuce, then blanch it in water with some oil and salt added. Blanch for about 20 seconds, then remove and arrange on a serving plate.
✅ Done when: After about 20 seconds in the water, the lettuce is slightly wilted but still bright green, ready to be plated.
Heat oil in a pan, add the minced garlic over low heat and cook until fragrant. Do not use high heat, or the garlic will turn yellow.
✅ Done when: The garlic is aromatic and pale golden, with no browning.
- 5
Step 5
Low heat
Once the garlic is fragrant, add the oyster sauce mixture and stir to loosen and heat it through.
✅ Done when: The oyster sauce mixture is fully incorporated and bubbling gently in the pan.
Pour in the potato starch slurry. Once the sauce slightly coats the pan, check the consistency: if it is too thin, heat a bit longer; if too thick, turn off the heat and add water. Taste and adjust the water and salt to your preference. Note: the sauce may thicken immediately when the slurry goes in, which means the slurry had too little water — add water at once, even a generous amount, since it can evaporate. Also taste for saltiness here; although two spoonfuls of soy sauce may seem salty, only a small amount of sauce clings to the lettuce.
✅ Done when: The sauce is glossy and slightly thickened, coating the pan lightly, and tastes balanced to you.
- 7
Step 7
Finally, add a few drops of sesame oil.
✅ Done when: The sesame oil is stirred in and its aroma is noticeable.
- 8
Step 8
Once everything is ready, pour the sauce over the plated lettuce and the oyster sauce lettuce is done.
✅ Done when: The sauce evenly coats the lettuce on the plate and the dish is ready to serve.