[The Asian Market] Soy Sauces

[Richard Kilgore]

In scanning the shelves at my market for a light soy sauce, it struck me that soy sauce prices run about $1 to $4 US per bottle for Chinese soy sauces. That is a rather wide range, so what are the differences among soy sauces?

Are there differences in how you might use different soy sauces?

Is this a product where you pay for quality, or is there more to it than that? To illustrate my puzzlement: today I chose a Kimlan (Light) marked "Kimlan Sang Chau (Grade A) Soy Sauce". There was another bottle of Kimlan (Light) next to it on the shelf, and the only difference was the "Grade A". Same price -- $2.49 US.

Are there subtleties, such as there are for wine, coffee and tea? Or is it less complex?

Also, are there differences between soy sauces made in China and Japan or other Asian countries? Where else are they made?

[eipi10]

Though no doubt people on this site have more information, Wikipedia has a superb article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soy_sauce

[Gabriel Lewis]

Wikipedia's article is good.

There are already extensive threads on soy in general here and on soy sauce in Japan here. Also, in the pinned topics in the China forum there is a section on chinese ingredients with pictures and preferred brands broken down by hrztw. Doing a search on "soy sauce" in all forums for thread titles only will reveal a few more threads. I might add this type of search is an excellent way to check for pre-existing info.

In addition to the soys in the wikipedia article I would mention thai soy sauce. There are a couple of different types, a breakdown description of types and best brands can be found here on Kasma Loha-Unchit's excellent site. Browse the site for individual articles on the different types.

[HKDave]

Long thread here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=18720&hl=

Basically, the higher price/quality grades of Chinese-style light soy sauce (the most widely-used variety) are natural brewed from real soybeans, and don't have additives. Quality light soy should contain water, a significant proportion of soybeans (like 20% or so), less wheat than soy, and salt.

Cheaper grades may use less soybeans, or substitute soy products, and aren't 100% naturally brewed, and often contain additives. Many brands make multiple grades so you do have to check the labels. Usually the 'Gold Label' grades from major brands (Pearl River Bridge, Amoy, Lee Kum Kee) are 100% naturally brewed. I'm talking about Chinese soy sauce here. Japanese soy sauce almost always contains more wheat than soybean.

There certainly are subtle differences between brands and qualities, and major differences between types (light/dark, or Chinese/Japanese). The Wikipedia entry cited above contains some errors, but does show the various types and where they're made.

Your question about how you might use different soy sauces isn't one that's possible to answer properly in a short post, but in a nutshell: in Chinese cooking, light soy sauce is the standard seasoning. Dark soy is used where you want additional colour or sweetness, and then is often used in addition to, rather than instead of, light soy.

[budrichard]

We cook with cusine specific soy sauces. A Chinese Soy will not be like a Japanese, Korean or Indonesian. Remember that 'Light' means color only not salt content. 'Light' soy are used for cooking as to not color the food. They are saltier than regular. The Japanese makes a lower salt soy that Kikkoman terms 'Less Salt'. It is very good but Kikkoman also makes other soys' for sashimi use and for cooking also. You can get hand made artizen shoyu's also.

Your real guide is to experiment and let your taste be your guide. We have conducted blind tastes with Kikkoman products and other shoyu's and know which we prefer for what purpose in Japanese cusine. We also have a range of Chinese soy's for cooking and dipping sauces. When you purchase, look for country of origin as soy's from other countries ar now becoming available. I purchase only from stores where there is a high turnover and the bottles don't look like they have sat on the shelf for years. -Dick