The Intersection of Food and Faith: Exploring Oyster Sauce as Vegetarian
As I sit down to write this article, I find myself pondering the age-old question: can oyster sauce truly be considered vegetarian? For years, I've been joking with my partner Chris about how it's perfectly fine to use oyster sauce in our cooking, despite being a Buddhist and an avid vegetarian. But it wasn't until I started digging deeper into the history of Cantonese Buddhism that I began to realize just how complex and fascinating this topic truly is.
Growing up, I've always been fascinated by the stories of my grandparents and their friends who would cook and share meals together. And one thing that always caught my attention was the presence of oyster sauce in these dishes. I remember seeing monks cooking with oyster sauce in old photographs and hearing stories about how it was a staple ingredient in many traditional Cantonese recipes. But despite its prevalence, no one ever seemed to bat an eye at using oyster sauce as a vegetarian ingredient. In fact, many people would assume that oyster sauce is inherently non-vegetarian, simply because it contains oysters.
So, I decided to do some research and see if I could find any historical or cultural context that might explain why oyster sauce was considered acceptable in Buddhist cuisine. And what I found was nothing short of astonishing. It turns out that there are at least two stories about how oyster sauce came to be considered vegetarian in Chinese Buddhism.
The first story I came across is a bit of a jumbled mess, to be honest. It seems to be a mix of different tales and legends, but the core idea is that oysters were somehow transformed into a kind of spiritual entity that could be consumed without harming any living beings. According to one version of the story, the mother of Lohan (a Buddhist saint) was drowning in the sea when her son law (Lohan's husband) tried to save her by inserting a thin stick into the water. As he did so, all the oysters in the sea suddenly rose up and attached themselves to his stick, thereby saving both the mother and the son from harm. After this miraculous event, the Buddha declared that oysters were no longer considered "food" but rather a kind of sacred substance that could be consumed without causing harm.
While this story may seem a bit far-fetched at first glance, it's worth noting that similar tales of animal transformation are common in Chinese mythology and folklore. And who knows? Maybe there's some truth to the idea that oysters can somehow become imbued with spiritual energy when they're used in a particular way.
Of course, not everyone will buy into this kind of mystical thinking. As I mentioned earlier, many people in the Chinese vegetarian community still view oyster sauce as non-vegetarian simply because it contains oysters. And from a purely scientific perspective, it's hard to argue with that assessment. After all, oysters are fish and are therefore not considered suitable for consumption by vegetarians.
But here's the thing: when we talk about food and spirituality, things get a lot murkier. For some people, the idea of consuming meat or fish is closely tied to their spiritual beliefs and practices. And for others, the act of cooking and sharing meals can be an important way of connecting with their community and honoring their traditions.
In my own case, I've found that using oyster sauce in my cooking has become a way of honoring my ancestors and my cultural heritage. It's not about avoiding harm or harming living beings; it's more about respecting the tradition and the people who came before me.
Of course, this is just one perspective on things. As someone who identifies as both Buddhist and vegetarian, I'm grateful to have access to a community of like-minded individuals who share my values and practices. But at the same time, I also recognize that there's no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to food and faith.
Ultimately, the question of whether oyster sauce can be considered vegetarian is up for interpretation. What's most important is that we're willing to listen to different perspectives and engage with each other in a spirit of respect and open-mindedness.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enI'm counties and I always consider oyster sauce vegetarian over the years I keep telling Chris just add oyster sauce to the vegetarian food it's fine and he always thinks that I'm joking however growing up I've even seen monks using oyster sauce like literally oyster sauce not vegetarian oyster sauce in the food that they're cooking and nobody seems to be freaking out so all of that may seem very odd to you and why is that well that is because traditionally or historically at least Cantonese Buddhists and some other Buddhas along the south coast in China could and would consume oysters like in this older counties cookbook that's written by a no chef and a culinary scholar under their vegetarian section some of the recipes actually uses uh oyster sauce but that's sort of the unique thing right not only among Chinese Buddhists but um vegetarians in general no one else seemed to eat oysters so we got a little curious and decided to dig a little deeper and we found two stories about why eating oysters were considered acceptable so first story a fair warning it's a little bit incoherent and it feels like a mix mesh with another classic Chinese Buddhist tale Mulan saves his mother but this one seems a little bit more commonly cited and hear how it goes so the mother of Lohan is drowning in the sea and then the law Hunt is trying to save its mother meanwhile his thin stick fell into the sea and then all the oysters came and stick on his tin stick my guess is that the oysters are trying to help save aesthetic from you know sinking to the bottom anyway after that the Buddha announced that now oysters are converted to Buddhism and they are considered vegetarian food and the end I know it sounds not very logical that's what I fell to so I went and asked my dad to see if he knows anything similar and then he actually shared a much coherent story that he heard when he was a kid and that's our Second Story and this is how it goes so this is also a story about Lohan but this time the Lohan one day walks to the seashore of the south sea and stick his thin stick into the sea and sits in a Lotus position waiting for Anan and guy to come and take him crossing the south sea and I believe here crossing the sea means his final advancement along the path of Enlightenment so anyway the oysters got the message about this uh fairy of ascending I don't know and then oysters all came and stick on his tin stick and followed the Lohan crossing the sea and after that oysters uh they all ascended and abandoned their physical form and the Buddha Big Boss announced that now oysters are converted to Buddhism and mortals can consumed their physical material remainings that oysters Left Behind now for us non-religious people I think we can hear the stories and think that well it sounds like can these Buddhas are just really trying to find some excuse to consume some oysters right but I think it's something much more interesting than that because this is a space where dietary restrictions which often prescribe first and heart Roots bumped into the local agricultural reality on the ground which is often something very blurry and dynamic because Guangdong is a place with abundance of seafood and while a Buddhist may not want to eat a fish but I mean look at an oyster they don't move they just stick there it's basically like a rock with protein inside so I can totally understand the logic and reasoning behind it however it was fun and all that this is more of a traditional way of thinking if you ask some Chinese Buddhists or vegetarians now they will probably tell you oysters are not permitted well that is because the Chinese vegetarian Community is also heavily influenced by the Western vegetarian movement and a lot of the older practices and way of eating have changed and you can't really distinguish the new from the old if you ask my opinion on this um well we are definitely big Believers and not lecturing people on their dietary choices but I just want to share a little bit of my own personal experience here so I used to keep vegetarian for a couple years before I met Chris and slid back to the dark side however during my vegetarian years I've always used oyster sauce in my food without a second thought because oysters don't have a central nervous system they can't move if they can feel pain probably letters can too and oysters are farmed they clean the rivers and oyster sauce can add a really nice complexity and depth to some otherwise vegan dishes so why not just following the guidance of my proud Cantonese tradition so right no recipe for this one but as always a big thank you for everyone that's supporting us on patreon and don't forget to subscribe for more Chinese cooking and occasionally cultural videos foreignI'm counties and I always consider oyster sauce vegetarian over the years I keep telling Chris just add oyster sauce to the vegetarian food it's fine and he always thinks that I'm joking however growing up I've even seen monks using oyster sauce like literally oyster sauce not vegetarian oyster sauce in the food that they're cooking and nobody seems to be freaking out so all of that may seem very odd to you and why is that well that is because traditionally or historically at least Cantonese Buddhists and some other Buddhas along the south coast in China could and would consume oysters like in this older counties cookbook that's written by a no chef and a culinary scholar under their vegetarian section some of the recipes actually uses uh oyster sauce but that's sort of the unique thing right not only among Chinese Buddhists but um vegetarians in general no one else seemed to eat oysters so we got a little curious and decided to dig a little deeper and we found two stories about why eating oysters were considered acceptable so first story a fair warning it's a little bit incoherent and it feels like a mix mesh with another classic Chinese Buddhist tale Mulan saves his mother but this one seems a little bit more commonly cited and hear how it goes so the mother of Lohan is drowning in the sea and then the law Hunt is trying to save its mother meanwhile his thin stick fell into the sea and then all the oysters came and stick on his tin stick my guess is that the oysters are trying to help save aesthetic from you know sinking to the bottom anyway after that the Buddha announced that now oysters are converted to Buddhism and they are considered vegetarian food and the end I know it sounds not very logical that's what I fell to so I went and asked my dad to see if he knows anything similar and then he actually shared a much coherent story that he heard when he was a kid and that's our Second Story and this is how it goes so this is also a story about Lohan but this time the Lohan one day walks to the seashore of the south sea and stick his thin stick into the sea and sits in a Lotus position waiting for Anan and guy to come and take him crossing the south sea and I believe here crossing the sea means his final advancement along the path of Enlightenment so anyway the oysters got the message about this uh fairy of ascending I don't know and then oysters all came and stick on his tin stick and followed the Lohan crossing the sea and after that oysters uh they all ascended and abandoned their physical form and the Buddha Big Boss announced that now oysters are converted to Buddhism and mortals can consumed their physical material remainings that oysters Left Behind now for us non-religious people I think we can hear the stories and think that well it sounds like can these Buddhas are just really trying to find some excuse to consume some oysters right but I think it's something much more interesting than that because this is a space where dietary restrictions which often prescribe first and heart Roots bumped into the local agricultural reality on the ground which is often something very blurry and dynamic because Guangdong is a place with abundance of seafood and while a Buddhist may not want to eat a fish but I mean look at an oyster they don't move they just stick there it's basically like a rock with protein inside so I can totally understand the logic and reasoning behind it however it was fun and all that this is more of a traditional way of thinking if you ask some Chinese Buddhists or vegetarians now they will probably tell you oysters are not permitted well that is because the Chinese vegetarian Community is also heavily influenced by the Western vegetarian movement and a lot of the older practices and way of eating have changed and you can't really distinguish the new from the old if you ask my opinion on this um well we are definitely big Believers and not lecturing people on their dietary choices but I just want to share a little bit of my own personal experience here so I used to keep vegetarian for a couple years before I met Chris and slid back to the dark side however during my vegetarian years I've always used oyster sauce in my food without a second thought because oysters don't have a central nervous system they can't move if they can feel pain probably letters can too and oysters are farmed they clean the rivers and oyster sauce can add a really nice complexity and depth to some otherwise vegan dishes so why not just following the guidance of my proud Cantonese tradition so right no recipe for this one but as always a big thank you for everyone that's supporting us on patreon and don't forget to subscribe for more Chinese cooking and occasionally cultural videos foreign\n"
