# soy sauce recommendations?



## Moses the armenian (Apr 17, 2014)

hello I was wondering if anybody out there could recommend me some good soy sauces? I'm looking for both a cooking soy sauce and one to use for actually eating , dipping , ect. 

right now I am using the lee kum kee because it was recommended by America's Test Kitchen. however I would like to branch out and try some of the more exotic Chinese or perhaps Japanese soy sauces . 

I look forward to you experts chiming in with your recommendations!!

thanks 

Moses


----------



## Zwiefel (Apr 17, 2014)

I don't know a ton about it...but I believe that for Japanese soy sauce you want to get something labeled "Tamari." That's all I got


----------



## ecchef (Apr 17, 2014)

We use Yamasa at home. Good all purpose brand.


----------



## Von blewitt (Apr 17, 2014)

+1 for Yamasa, tamari is wheat free soy sauce, and quality can vary brand to brand, if you have an asian grocer near you you would probably have more options than a regular supermarket.


----------



## schanop (Apr 17, 2014)

Lately I have enjoyed using Kimlan aged soy sauce for Chinese and general Asian cooking and Shoda soy sauce for Japanese cooking. Wei chan is quite nice too.


----------



## bear1889 (Apr 17, 2014)

I have found one thing for sure, buy a bottle of aged soy sauce, various brands out there.


----------



## wisew (Apr 18, 2014)

My favorite is San-J Shoyu - great flavor, no extra preservatives. Only downside is that it ain't cheap and you can't buy it in large quantities really.


----------



## panda (Apr 18, 2014)

get the cheapest available.


----------



## mhlee (Apr 18, 2014)

panda said:


> get the cheapest available.



I completely disagree. I've tried more than several Chinese soy sauces and probably well over a dozen Japanese Shoyus. Get a good quality, balanced soy sauce or Shoyu, and check the use by date. Soy sauces (Chinese and Japanese) get bitter and saltier as they sit because they evaporate and get exposed to light and heat. 

I also like Yamasa for Japanese Shoyu; but I really liked Kikkoman's Marudaizu that was available in a soft plastic container. Unfortunately, I haven't seen it in a few months.


----------



## wisew (Apr 18, 2014)

panda said:


> get the cheapest available.



The cheapest available isn't even soy sauce - it's salt, water, corn syrup, and food coloring. Soy sauce adds much more flavor than just salt.


----------



## 29palms (Apr 18, 2014)

I'm digging the Aloha soy sauce lately.


----------



## easy13 (Apr 18, 2014)

Bluegrass Soy Sauce is a good change of pace, more for condiment than cooking. Kentucky grown non GMO soybeans aged in bourbon barrels


----------



## boomchakabowwow (Apr 19, 2014)

look for real aged stuff..check the ingredients..should be no surprises.

the cheap stuff is purely brown salty stuff..no thanks.


----------



## sachem allison (Apr 19, 2014)

Golden mountain soy sauce . soy sauce is so subjective. You have thin soy for light touches in cooking, thick soy for a more molasses flavor in rich dishes, mushroom soy sauce for that extra umami flavor when cooking. THe Japanese profiles are completely different then the Chinese. Tamari has a very unique pleasant flavor and we all know what Kikkoman taste like. Avoid most American made soy sauces as they are usually just made out of various additives and chemicals and many don't even have soy. There are artisanal soy makers in Japan That make amazing products but, I don't read Japanese. I love Golden Mountain Chinese soy sauce. It has a smokey almost tamari flavor that goes well both in cooking and in finishing a dish.


----------



## tkern (Apr 19, 2014)

I mix the wasabi with the soy. Is this sacrilegious?


----------



## schanop (Apr 19, 2014)

Somehow I believe that Golden Mountain is a Thai soy sauce made after Chinese style soy sauce.


----------



## sw2geeks (Apr 19, 2014)

Amoy gold label dark & light soy sauce is great for Chinese cooking.


----------



## tchan001 (Apr 19, 2014)

One exotic premium soy sauce I would recommend is Lo Kuang Condensed Soy Paste from Taiwan. Probably not easy to find. But it's a really flavorful thick sauce made from black soy beans.
Here is a link to learn more about it if you are interested in trying to contact the company that makes it. http://www.taiwantrade.com.tw/MAIN/...company_id=6855&catalog_id=353947&come_soon=0

Another very special soy sauce is Yuan's Royal Soy Sauce. Probably one of the most expensive soy sauce you'll ever set your eyes on. They ferment this sauce naturally for over a year before it's bottled and without preservatives.
Check the following links:
http://content.time.com/time/travel/article/0,31542,1918807,00.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/65508684-82-year-old-premium-soy-sauce-maker-uses-age-old-recipe.html
http://www.i-ho-yuan.com/e/default_home.asp

I have tried both of the above as they are available in retail shops in Hong Kong and they are both superb.


----------



## cclin (Apr 19, 2014)

There are countless varieties of soy sauce on the market, from produced naturally brewed Soy Sauce to chemically produced soy sauce. good naturally brewed Soy Sauce will brewing period for at least 3 months to half a year, and chemical methods Soy Sauce only take 8-10 hours!! many cheap made chemical soy sauce contain carcinogens, including (3-MCPD) and (1,3-DCP).
Knowing how to Choosing a high quality soy sauce is important! here are few ways to identify differences between naturally brewed Soy Sauce and chemically produced soy sauce.
-price, most easy way, the higher price soy sauce is better one in generally speaking.
-Take a look at the color, Naturally brewed Soy Sauce is a clear, vivid red-brown color, while non-brewed soy sauce is very dark color 
-shake the soy sauce bottle, Good soy sauce will has a lot of foam, not easily dispersed.
-Check the label on the bottle, amino acids produced as the koji mold dissolves the proteins contained in the soybeans and wheat. generally speaking, higher "amino-acid nitrogen%" =The higher grade of soy sauce, which means the better quality!
>0.8g/100ml =superfine grade
>0.7g/100ml =A grade
>0.55g/100ml=B grade
>0.4g/100ml =C grade

I personally like good soy sauce made by Taiwan or Japan & try stay away from the cheap soy sauce made in China. I use superfine/A grade soy sauce for dipping, B grade for cooking!


----------



## Moses the armenian (Apr 19, 2014)

Thanks guys for the help !!! So here is another question where do you get these high grade Japanese soy sauces? is there a preferred online vendor?


----------



## labor of love (Apr 20, 2014)

great thread. unfortunately most of the soy sauces ive had have been low quality. and im pretty sure la choy is the WORST soy sauce ever.


----------



## AFKitchenknivesguy (Apr 20, 2014)

Not sure what the consensus here is, but I buy a lot of soy from the Philippines to make my beef jerky. Swan and Datu Puti are regularly available to me.


----------



## Mucho Bocho (Apr 20, 2014)

Moses, this is my favorite and is readily available locally or buy it from their website. I the 20.OZ low sodium tamari for about $9 at Whole Foods

http://www.san-j.com/product_info.asp?id=5


----------



## Zwiefel (Apr 20, 2014)

Mucho Bocho said:


> Moses, this is my favorite and is readily available locally or buy it from their website. I the 20.OZ low sodium tamari for about $9 at Whole Foods
> 
> http://www.san-j.com/product_info.asp?id=5



I get the regular sodium variety, but this is my fave as well.


----------



## sachem allison (Apr 20, 2014)

schanop said:


> Somehow I believe that Golden Mountain is a Thai soy sauce made after Chinese style soy sauce.



you are absolutely right. I was working at THe Royal Barge Thai Restaurant in Scottsdale when I was introduced to it. The owners would always call any dish that had soy sauce in it as Chinese style and any that had fish sauce as Thai style.


----------



## Moses the armenian (Apr 20, 2014)

La choy is something for sure but soy sauce it is not !!!!


thanks for the suggestions so I think I'll try to look up a few of these . 

okay here's another question for you anybody have any favorite meat marinade for soy sauce as the key ingredient?


----------



## panda (Apr 21, 2014)

maybe my palate is not sensitive to soy sauce, but i find 'fake soy sauce' a la kari-out just fine. it's supposed to be salty as hell. that said, the stuff i use at home is a huge jug of reddish looking stuff i purchase at a korean grocery store (no clue of the brand as ive never paid any mind to it) which by the comments in this thread should be superior, but ive no issue using la choy either 
then again, i never use soy sauce plain, always doctor it up with something else so that could have clouded any deficiencies in the actual soy product.


moses - look up korean kalbi recipes.


----------



## mhlee (Apr 21, 2014)

tkern said:


> I mix the wasabi with the soy. Is this sacrilegious?



I know this is going to sound odd, but it depends where you are. 

At home, it's perfectly normal. My mom, who is Japanese, does this all the time. My relatives in Japan do this at home as well. 

But, at better Japanese restaurants, it can frowned upon, especially if they're more traditional or presaucing your Sushi. For sashimi, you're supposed to put a little wasabi on each piece of fish.


----------



## mhlee (Apr 21, 2014)

http://www.marukaiestore.com/c-176_soy-sauce.aspx

Try this website. I've never used their website, but this is one of the largest Japanese markets in LA that I go to regularly. 

Some of the bottles listed are not soy sauces or Shoyus - they're seasoning base liquids. If you see "seasoning" or "concentrated," these are likely base seasonings. These types of seasonings have added ingredients.


----------



## tchan001 (Apr 26, 2014)

Ok, one more interesting sauce related to good soy sauce. I recently went to a gourmet shop in Hong Kong and bought a Japanese product which was basically a glass bottle containing pieces of dried bullet mackerel (Auxis rocbei). The store manager told me to put some good soy sauce in it and to store it in the fridge for at least a few days or longer to let the flavor infuse into the soy sauce. Then it become a really flavorful sauce you can enjoy with soup noodle like ramen and also other types of food. The bottle I have looks like this one http://www.japanartsandcrafts.com/1802.html
It is very delicious but only if you like fish.

Alternatively, I found a website which seems to give a method to make a similar sauce, tosajoyu (katsuo bushi-infused soy sauce). http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2008/08/tosajoyu-katsuo-bushiinfused-s.html


----------

