Soy Sauce Suggestions, Please

[Shel_B]

I used to be satisfied with Trader Joe's soy sauce ... it was lower in salt and acceptably flavorful for a low salt product. However, they changed the ingredients of the soy sauce - it now contains vinegar - and I don't care for it very much.

Any suggestions for a flavorful, low sodium soy sauce? Thanks!

[huiray]

You'll need to define what you mean by "a low salt product". Most good, flavorful soy sauces have salt content that is not vanishingly small.

[Shel_B]

Trader Joe's soy sauce has 460mg of sodium per Tbsp, which I believe is fairly low for a soy sauce, but which is just fine for my needs and taste. Anything under 700mg per Tbsp would be just fine. Thanks!

[huiray]

Higeta Honzen soy sauce is one of the best I've had - but is hard to find, unfortunately. It should be within your limits for salt content. Pearl River Superior Soy Sauce is a little over your limit but is a good one. There are others around your cutoff point...

[FeChef]

Higeta Honzen soy sauce is one of the best I've had - but is hard to find, unfortunately. It should be within your limits for salt content. Pearl River Superior Soy Sauce is a little over your limit but is a good one. There are others around your cutoff point...

+1 on the pearl river. I like the pearl river mushroom dark soy sauce. Makes an awesome steak marinade and goes good in my general tso sauce recipe.

[judiu]

I don 't have my bottle handy, but if you have access to a Publix, their own brand of soy sauce is excellent, doesn't taste too salty, but adds a huge umami hit.

[Ashen]

I like San J organic tamari soy a lot but it would be over your sodium limit.. the reduced sodium version would work for you though. They are both gluten free if that is a consideration for you.

[Jason Perlow]

I used to be satisfied with Trader Joe's soy sauce ... it was lower in salt and acceptably flavorful for a low salt product. However, they changed the ingredients of the soy sauce - it now contains vinegar - and I don't care for it very much.

Any suggestions for a flavorful, low sodium soy sauce? Thanks!

I will echo other's comments about sodium content in shoyu... most Low-Sodium shoyus are just regular ones that are watered down. You might as well use less of a more potent shoyu, like a tamari.

San-J makes a very good tamari. Whole Foods sells it, it's excellent for general purpose use but it imparts a very strong flavor. I never use it completely on its own.

If you can get a Marudaizu-grade Shoyu I would look at Kikkoman or Yamasa. The problem with Kikkoman is that they have shoyu products made in the US and also the ones in the Japan. The stuff sold for cheap chinese restaurants and for general food service applications and in US supermarkets has alcohol added to it.

The Marudaizu Shoyu is made in Japan. You may need to go the Internet route if you want one. Marudaizu means "Whole Bean" so in other words they use the entire soybean to make the shoyu, not dregs. There is some good info about Soy Sauce here.

http://www.amazon.co...Marudaizu Shoyu

They aren't cheap but marudaizu shoyus are only made of water, soy, wheat and salt. No alcohol in it. San-J Tamaris are soy, water, alcohol and salt only, no wheat, which is why they are big with the gluten-free crowd.

If you have access to a Korean supermarket, like H-Mart, they have various Korean-made Whole Bean organic shoyus which only have soy, water, wheat and salt in them, and are cheaper (typically half the price) than the Japanese marudaizus. You need to check the labels on them. I've used them plenty of times and they are very good.

http://www.hmart.com...p?t=1120&m=1179

Edited February 11, 2013 by Jason Perlow (log)

[judec]

I think these are the best of the best among light soy sauces. I always have all of them in stock.

Yamasa Usukuchi

Koon Chun

Pearl River Bridge

[Hassouni]

I use the made in Japan Kikkoman, quite satisfied. Pear River Bridge superior light soy sauce (as opposed to dark) is also great stuff

[Shel_B]

Thanksfor all the suggestions. I've sure learned a few things about soy sauce.

Shel

[tim]

... However, they changed the ingredients of the soy sauce - it now contains vinegar - and I don't care for it very much.

I went to Mitsua to be greeted by over 100 brands of shoyu. Reading the ingredients made the selection process easy.

[Chris Amirault]

Are people still finding Pearl River in their stores? I am having a hard time finding it locally for some reason.

And, yes, you can take my searching for it as a recommendation.

[FeChef]

Are people still finding Pearl River in their stores? I am having a hard time finding it locally for some reason.

And, yes, you can take my searching for it as a recommendation.

I get it at wegmans, but my wegmans only seems to carry the mushroom dark soy which im perfectly fine with as light soy seems pointless when you can just dilute regular soy sauce and save money.

[Jason Perlow]

Are people still finding Pearl River in their stores? I am having a hard time finding it locally for some reason.

And, yes, you can take my searching for it as a recommendation.

I still have a food service sized 1 gallon container of it that I am about 30 percent through. Haven't had to buy it in a while.

[MRE]

Several years back when I was a caterer my partner and I went to one of the large Asian markets in San Jose and bought every brand of soy sauce on the shelf (she was obsessive that way) and did our own taste test with our staff. For us, the favorite was Wan Jan Shan. Easy to find in Asian markets, probably hard to find elsewhere. It also mattered a lot as to whether it was the imported variety, or their domestic product. The import was vastly better than what they made here in the US. The flavor is lighter than say the run of the mill Kikoman, and to my taste has more complexity. It's naturally brewed, and has no preservatives. The label says that 1 tbsn has 660 mgs of salt. I pay about $6 for a 54 oz bottle.

I do use the Pearl River dark soy when I need dark soy in a recipe.

[budrichard]

I don't know where you are located but Kikkomen makes a 'lower' sodium soy sauce in the USA.

It has no alcohol as a preservative as thier made in Japan 'lower' soy sauce has.

There is no 'low' sodium soy sauce.

Be aware that each culture has its on soy sauce, shoyu or whatever and the cusine you are cooking may benefit from using the region specific soy sauce.

For Chinese we use the Pearl River brand and within that brand are Dark, Mushroom, Light, all having specfic flavor profiles and color.

For Japanese it's usually Kikkomen 'Lower' sodium made in the USA but they do make a number of other shoyu's including one for sushi/sashimi with a Bonito extract.

We also have for sushi/sashimi Ohsawa Organic which is aged in cedar vats.

If you can find any of the premium Japanese shoyu's from small producers aged in cedar vats, the flavor profile for sushi/sashimi is much preferred over anything else but it is expensive!.

Korean, Filipino and the list goes on, all produce regional soy sauce.

For a quality fresh product that will work in just about any application, it's Kikkomen 'Less Sodium' shoyu which can be had in 2qt plastic containers for cost savings. It keeps forever due to the salt content.-Dick

Edited February 14, 2013 by budrichard (log)

[pogophiles]

Are people still finding Pearl River in their stores? I am having a hard time finding it locally for some reason.

No problem finding it in Nashville, I just replenished about a week ago...