Why do Chinese consider oyster sauce vegetarian?

This is the story my parents told me about why oyster sauce is considered acceptable in the Chinese Buddhist diet. Long, long ago, there was a village that was flooded and all the farmer's fields and animals were submerged. read more

I'm not sure that the Chinese DO consider oyster sauce to be vegetarian. The only reason I can imagine for"oyster sauce" being considered as vegetarian is based on the definition. There are two definitions. read more

To add to the confusion, there are dishes in Chinese cuisines with vegetarian sounding names, but are not really vegetarian. An example is 鼎湖上素, this dish consists of 12 kind of mushrooms cooked together with a light sauce. 鼎湖 is the name of a place, and 上素 meant fine vegetarian dish. read more

Hoisin sauce might be the most popular Chinese sauce in the US, but I personally always prefer oyster sauce. Unlike hoisin sauce, which is made mostly with sugar, oyster sauce has a much more sophisticated taste and adds way more flavor to a dish. read more