Japanese basics: about soy sauce

Soy sauce is a basic ingredient in Japanese as well as many other Asian cuisines.

In Japan, there are basically four types of soy sauce: regular dark, light or usukuchi, reduced sodium or genen, and tamari, which are the rather syrupy dregs of soy sauce at the bottom of the barrel. The first two are the ones most commonly used for cooking. Reduced sodium is of course used by people with high blood pressure concerns. Tamari is never used for cooking - it's usually used as a dipping sauce, for sashimi and such.

Which soy sauce to use, dark or light, depends on what region of the country you're from. In Kyo-ryori, the distinctive type of cuisine that originated in the old imperial court of Kyoto, dark soy sauce is considered to adulterate the flavors and colors of the ingredients, so usukuchi or ligh soy sauce is used. Beware though - even though it's lighter in color, light soy sauce is not lower in sodium. If anything, it's usually higher in sodium.

There are many "designer" brands of soy sauce in Japan too - sort of the way there are several high-class varieties of balsamic vinegar in Italy. The usual price for a liter of soy sauce is maybe about US $4-5, but I have a bottle that cost 10 times that, of a special kind of soy sauce that is hand-made and aged or something. To be honest, I can't detect that much of a difference between that and cheaper good brands.

A good soy sauce should have plenty of flavor. The best way to see what you prefer is to just taste. I usually get the Yamasa brand, since it's widely available Kikkoman makes its soy sauce locally throughout the world (a bit of trivia: Kikkoman is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, food producing company in the world, having been founded in the 17th century). and is also decent in flavor.

You don't have to refrigerate soy sauce, but do screw the cap on tight and keep in a dark place. And always use sparingly.

Submitted by maki on 2004-01-09 00:48.
Filed under:  japanese ingredients

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Comments

Skeet

10 January, 2004 - 23:13

My kids love soy sauce. We have rice with just about every meal, and they put soy sauce on their rice every time. 8-)

anon.

2 January, 2010 - 03:45

I live in the US and I buy Kikkoman soy sauce but only the bottles imported from Japan because the soy sauce they make here has preservatives in it and the imported soy sauce doesn't.

Shockr

11 July, 2010 - 12:00

Japanese and Chinese soy sauce is made from different ingredients. I prefer the taste of low sodium Yamasa but it is hard to find. Kikoman is found all over the world but the low sodium version is harder to find.

Adrian

10 August, 2010 - 17:01

In Hawaii we have our own soy sauce Aloha Shoyu. It has a bolder flaver and a little more saltier than Kikkoman. But Aloha Shoyu is only found in Hawaii, unless you order online at their website. So I use Kikkoman, it's a little sweeter than the Aloha Shoyu, but it's better than the other brands at the local grocery stores. I do miss Aloha Shoyu though :(

sunshine

20 October, 2010 - 00:10

Can anybody recommend a wheat-free soy sauce? There is the "La Choy" soy sauce, but it does not taste very good. I have also found some Tamari sauces that are wheat free and that taste better than the "La Choy" products. However, they are a bit pricey.

anon.

31 January, 2011 - 07:53

@sunshine If you want wheat-free, tamari's the way to go - it's not supposed to have any wheat in it, or nowadays at least very little wheat. In any case, I would suggest investing in the more expensive tamari than La Choy (it's too fake-tasting).