Every Type of Soy Sauce Home Cooks Need to Know About and How to Use Each

There are four basic kinds of Korean soy sauce: Yangjo Ganjang, Hansik Ganjang, Sanbunhae Ganjang, and Jin Ganjang. – Yangjio Ganjang is a soybean- and rice-, barley-, or wheat-based soy sauce that takes at least 6 months to ferment. It’s the least salty and the most expensive of the four soy sauces.

Ganjan: Korean Soy Sauce

Japan produces some of the highest-quality soy sauces in the world. Like fine wine, artisanal natural-brewed soy sauces take months, even years to age in barrels, and can cost up to $150 a bottle.

Shoyu: Japanese Soy Sauce

The light soy sauce is thinner and saltier and is used most often in cooking and dipping. Dark soy sauce is thicker, less salty, richer, and slightly sweet. It’s usually added to a dish to give it a darker color.

Jianyou: Chinese Soy Sauce

Kecap Manis is a thick, molasses-like soy sauce sweetened with palm sugar. This sweet soy sauce is the key ingredient in Indonesian dishes nasi goreng (fried rice) and mie goreng (fried noodles).

Kecap Manis: Indonesian Soy Sauce

To speed up the fermentation process, some companies like La Choy and Aloha Shoyu use hydrochloric acid to break down soy protein.

Chemical Soy Sauces

As you can see, there are many different categories of soy sauce that go beyond dark and light. That said, the two categories apply specifically to Chinese soy sauce.

What Is the Difference Between Light and Dark Soy Sauce?

Light soy sauce: As the name implies, it is lighter in flavor and color. Light soy sauce is typically used in cooking.

What Is the Difference Between Light and Dark Soy Sauce?

Dark soy sauce: This is used mainly to tint food a darker color. Double black soy sauce has added molasses, which makes it sweeter and thicker. It’s also used as a dipping sauce or a finishing sauce.

What Is the Difference Between Light and Dark Soy Sauce?

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