Soy Sauce — The Pantry

A comprehensive guide to Soy Sauce — Everything you need to know, from history and production to variations. How to choose, store and use different soy sauces.

This is the first edition of The Pantry!

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Introduction

Who has never tried soy sauce?

In Asian cooking, soy sauce is the foundation for everything else.

To quote a comment I received:

Without it, there is no meaning or even use for mirin or pepper or vinegar or anything much else.

If you want to approach any East and South Asia cuisine, especially Japanese, there’s no place to start but soy sauce. And lucky enough, by now it is one of the most widespread and available Asian ingredients to be found.

This is why I chose soy sauce to inaugurate the new The Pantry section of the newsletter.

History and Production

Soy Sauce originated more than 2000 years ago in China, probably as another way to stretch salt, historically an expensive commodity.

Soy sauce is traditionally produced by fermenting a soybean paste with wheat, salt, and water. After some time, the result is pressed and strained to extract the liquid.

From China, soy sauce was brought everywhere and became a staple in the cuisine of many East and Southern Asia countries, including Japan, Korea, and Indonesia.

From there, we know that Japanese soy sauce was imported into Europe by the Dutch East India Company in 1737, and the first known production in the United States is pretty recent, dated 1909.

A family of molds called koji in Japan is used to trigger the fermentation process. It is mostly found in the form of a thin white mold on rice and it is roughly the same used as a primer for miso and other Japanese fermented items.

Rice Koji — A fine white mold covering rice grains.

Now, there are some slight differences in each country's brewed soy sauces based on their taste, color and even their names. We could argue that what is referred to as “light soy” in some regions is approximately a standard soy sauce in another country. There is a huge variation.

For The Ramen Bowl, I’ll focus on Japanese soy sauce, which is referred to as shoyu.

Flavor Profile

First thing first, when you think of soy sauce, is that it is significantly salty.

Not as savory and punchy as pure table salt, but still vigorously saline.

If you actually never tried it, think about marine water. On paper, this is not a great example, I know. Oceans contain something like one-third of the salt content of soy sauce. Still, this is more about the taste and feeling than it is about the actual math.

Second, soy sauce is the quintessence of umami.

Even though we are almost bombarded with this buzzword nowadays, it is still difficult to successfully explain what umami feels like.

To effectively have an idea, consider it like the savory and flavorful taste of something, over just salt. Think bacon and Parmigiano Reggiano.

If you are interested about umami, how it works, and how to achieve it, say no more. I will soon post some umami-forward dedicated posts in The Pantry as part of MSG, Kombu Seaweed, and Dashi.

Finally, soy sauce is a watery sauce.

Although some thicker versions exist (we will see later), form and texture are usually pretty similar to water, which is understandable considering the average soy sauce is made by 70% or more of it.

This is totally unlike western average sauces. Both classic and modern sauces are more often creamy and thick. Think bechamel and mayonnaise.

The Duet of Soy Sauces — Light and Dark

First, the main production method has been almost unchanged for a while. Variations of soy sauce are mainly obtained by changing ratios of wheat and soy, by changing the type and time of fermentation, or by adding a few more ingredients to the fermentation process.

Some other methods, including hydrolysis, are available to produce soy sauce, but they are not nearly as used as the traditional technique.

One golden rule to keep in mind is the following.

As the amount of wheat increases, while the amount of soy is lower, the final color will be lighter. So, instead, if the soy content goes up and the wheat content decreases, the resulting sauce will be darker.

Dark

Dark Shoyu (or Koikuchi) is the “normal” all-purpose soy sauce.

It's likely what you think of when you think of soy sauce, and mostly comes without a specific type indicated on the label.

With a more complex and earthy flavor than the light one, Koikuchi sauce is the go-to choice for many dishes, from sushi to vegetables and soups. If you know the famous little Kikkoman bottle with the red cap, that is a Koikuchi shoyu.

In the same way, this should be the starting point for everyone approaching soy sauce. Get started with this one. Get used to its flavor, and practice how its aroma, salinity, and umami impact your food.

Kikkoman Koikuchi.

Light

Light Shoyu (or Usukuchi) is light in color and usually saltier than dark ones.

To be fair, when in a bottle or a glass it is difficult to tell that this sauce has a lighter color, but it’s easier to see when a thin layer is poured over a white vessel: Usukuchi is clearer and translucent compared to Koikuchi.

The reason is, as mentioned, the proportion of wheat over soy is higher.

Although lighter in color, most of these soy sauces are actually saltier than their darker version. For this reason, it is usually not a good choice to thoroughly replace dark soy sauce with a light one, except when knowing exactly what is the goal for appearance and salinity.

Generally, what we refer to as light shoyu is arguably what is considered a “normal” everyday soy sauce in Chinese cuisine, mostly used to add saltiness to dishes rather than color. Again, this is not really a rule, so just keep in mind that lighter soy sauce contains more wheat and less soy, and it is saltier than darker ones.

Soy Sauce differences.

Some Special Ones — Tamari and Shiro

Two more versions exist on the spectrum of soy sauce: Tamari and Shiro. Respectively using only soy and when almost not using it at all.

Tamari

Tamari is a soy sauce usually made with 100% soy, which makes it virtually gluten-free.

This sauce is traditionally Japanese. Even though some similar versions can be found elsewhere, the word “tamari” to reference this soy sauce is from Japan itself.

Tamari has the strongest flavor among soy sauces, with a slightly thicker texture and hints of caramel. Due to its density, it is mostly used as a dipping or glazing sauce. It is becoming easy to see this used for sushi.

Again this should not be a complete substitute to Koikuchi. If a recipe calls for an all-purpose soy sauce specifically, you should use that. If you are gluten intolerant, some gluten-free versions do exist and I suggest to move on those rather than tamari as a fallback.

Shiro

Shiro Shoyu (literally White Shoyu) is made with up to 90% wheat and little soy content.

This is probably the least-used soy sauce among all, but it is catching the attention of high-end cuisine.

Shiro has a delicate aroma and is even lighter in color than Usukuchi, making it perfect for delicate food that needs no alteration in color at all, while still requesting the typical soy sauce umami and aroma.

Other Types

Among so many types, here we go through the most common and popular ones. Some of these need clarification, some are a gimmick, and some are well-marketed and require attention.

I expect to come back and add elements to this list. So feel free to drop any suggestions in the comments!

Sweet. A soy sauce with some kind of sugar added to it (plain sugar, palm sugar, molasses, etc…). Many versions also have a thicker consistency.

Less Salt. Simply for dietary restrictions, low-sodium soy sauce exists.

Chinese soy sauce. So many different soy sauces exist in China, with less strict naming conventions than Japanese ones. Generally, we can arguably map the use of Chinese Light soy sauce to Japanese Koikuchi, and Chinese Dark soy sauce to Japanese Tamari, but take this with a grain of salt.

Korean soy sauce. Referred to as ganjang, it follows a different traditional production method and is sometimes obtained through hydrolysis. It has a slightly different flavor profile.

Transparent. Simple as that. A brand named Fundodai makes an avant-garde transparent soy sauce from 2019.

Teriyaki. This is not properly a soy sauce. Rather it is a sauce made with it. Teriyaki is quite a famous Japanese sauce made by cooking together soy sauce, mirin, and sugar until thick, then used for marinades, dips, and glazing. Some include additional aromatics such as honey, garlic, ginger, and others to make variations.

Guides

Choose Your Soy Sauce

When choosing shoyu, simply keep the following general rules in mind:

• The darker the soy sauce, the more soy-forward its flavor.

• The lighter the soy sauce, the saltier its flavor.

With this in mind, Koikuchi (dark) gives a more soy sauce aroma and flavor to a dish, while Usukuchi (light) better enhances the original taste of food.

A tip for buying “light shoyu” is to either look for the “Usukuchi” keyword or make sure that the salt content is around 15-20%. Some “less salt” sauces are commercialized with the term "light" which is not technically correct and you might end up with an un-tasty sauce for your needs.

For everything else, there is no better advice than go out and try one. All sauces are different and you will have to find your favorite for an occasion.

To me, it is like choosing my mayonnaise (how radical am I?).

Chinese soy sauce, on the other hand, is an impressively vast field. A good quality, renowned, popular, and easy-to-find option is the Pearl River Bridge brand. I often use this.

Pearl River Bridge light and dark soy sauce.

A Note on Kikkoman

I found a kind of praise to Kikkoman once.

I do not remember the exact words, but it was something like “No matter how hard I try choosing soy sauce, I always fall back to Kikkoman”.

That comment never left my mind ever since.

I am here today rolling it out to you as a piece of advice.

Some brands are well-known for a reason. Brands that you see everywhere and used on all spectrums. In the food industry, it might be from low-profile shops to high-end restaurants.

Of course, there are always “better” options. Of course, there will be handmade choices, hipster bottles, and cheap alternatives. The world is great cause we have many options for much stuff.

But that comment was true. No matter how hard I try, sooner or later, eventually, I will go back to what I know better and tastes good.

I found that, generally, to be Kikkoman soy sauce.

I also use other sauces. Many of them. I like them, too.

There’s just something, though, that is perfectly balanced. So, believe me on this: if it is available to you and you are looking for an all-around balanced taste, price, quality, and everything else, just fall back on Kikkoman.

And no, they don’t pay me for saying this (sigh).

How to Cook

Soy sauce is notoriously used for sushi, donburi, ramen… We could go on forever.

Here are some general guidelines for using it in the kitchen.

First, cooking soy sauce does not degrade it.

For sure, when heat is applied, flavor changes. It becomes more mellow and salt gets more concentrated as water evaporates, but this doesn’t affect the properties of soy sauce. Hence it can be cooked. Though, if the temperature is too high, soy can burn, getting slightly bitter.

In this scenario, shoyu gets added to the hot wok when cooking fried rice or noodles, and it can even be simmered or boiled for a while to make ramen tare.

Generally, when you want to add soy sauce flavor, umami, and saltiness to a dish in Asian cuisine, you can add shoyu.

The more you want to keep the original food flavor intact, the less you might want to add darker soy sauces. This might mean involving lighter shoyu or even excluding it to only use salt and MSG. Or we can use a smaller amount of shoyu for aroma and get the right flavor by adding salt. You get the idea. Work in the middle.

Here’s a brief list of well-known uses of soy sauce.

Marinades, Dips, and Glazes. Virtually any soy sauce can work for this. Everybody knows it for sushi, but cooking salmon marinated in soy sauce is also a blessing. If you are looking for specific recipes, peek at my Soy-glazed Ribs and Ajitama (marinated eggs).

A base for other sauces. So many sauces are based on shoyu or have it among ingredients. We already mentioned teriyaki, while ponzu is a citrusy sauce made with soy sauce and citrus juice. Even BBQ sauce includes soy sometimes.

Tare. Tare is the “seasoning” for Ramen, and it is not properly a sauce. It can be made in uncountable ways, of which a shoyu-based tare is one of the most famous. Learn more in my Introduction to Ramen.

Pairing Ingredients

In Japanese and Asian cuisine in general, soy sauce can be paired with nearly everything. It works well for meat, fish, vegetables, rice, noodles, you name it.

It makes a great combination with mirin and sake when cooking. It is also great used with aromatics such as garlic, ginger, and Sichuan pepper.

There’s not much more to say, as shoyu alone makes the basis for the whole cuisine itself.

How to Store

First, always follow the indication on the packaging, if there's any.

Arguably soy sauce could stay safe at room temperature due to saline content.

Truth is, though, many factors influence food storage. We can’t really know the full list of ingredients, and we should verify the salt content.

For this reason, it is generally recommended to store soy sauce refrigerated to preserve its aroma, also keeping the bottle away from light.

Personally, I keep my shoyu in a room-temperature light-protected pantry before opening the bottle. Then I move it into the fridge after opening it.

Virtually, if not written otherwise, it can last forever after opening.

Conclusion

Dealing with Asian cuisine means dealing with soy sauce.

If I had to give it a stars-scoring for “how much should this fit in your pantry”, it would be a 5 out of 5.

There’s no way around it: this has to be your very first item in The Pantry.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

— The Ramen Bowl - ◡ -

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