Favorite Soy Sauce?

[msbunnicula]

What is everyone's favorite soy sauce or soy sauce-like condiment? I am all out, and I don't know what to buy.

[rincaro]

I've kind of stopped using soy sauce and I've switched to Braggs. It has good stuff for you, it's not too pricey and it has a good flavor.

[NDvegan85]

I don't really notice that much of a difference, but I try to buy 50% less sodium kind b/c there's a lot of sodium in the stuff!

I also don't buy La Choy brand now... it's owned by one of those big, evil companies that I try to avoid. ConAgra maybe?

[Blue Plastic Straw]

Of readily available brands, I like San-J tamari. I usually buy my soy sauce at the asian market though. I have no idea of the brand name, since it's all in Chinese.

[carnelian]

San-J Tamari here, too. Organic.

[ynaffit]

i don't know if it's my favorite, but i usually buy eden organic shoyu.

[Nirvana19105]

Soy sauce is soy sauce, it's all the same.

[Eva-bo-beva]

is tamari the same as soy sauce? i noticed that whole foods only seems to sell tamari, because i was looking there for a natural soy sauce after noticing that the stuff i had contained no soy...pretty much msg and carmel color.

[Nirvana19105]

hm, interesting article I just looked up courtesy of edenfoods:

Tamari and Shoyu: the Quality of Traditional Soy Sauce

If you think of soy sauce as the salty brown liquid that comes with Chinese take out, think again and, please, experience the mellowness and richness of good soy sauce that awaits. People today are discovering and insisting upon authentic, traditionally brewed soy sauces of which there are two types, shoyu and tamari. What is true soy sauce and how do you select and use it?

You won't find a good soy sauce any easier than a good bottle of wine. There's just too much junk out there. Usually it requires a bit of an effort, but it's sure worth it.

Shoyu is the Japanese word for soy sauce made of soybeans, roasted wheat, sea salt, and koji (Aspergillus oryzae), mold spores that when exposed to moisture begin growing giving rise to unique enzymes that create the fermentation process. This is the all-purpose cooking and condiment soy sauce made since the 1600s in Japan.

A true shoyu's most prized quality is not its own flavor, rather its strong ability to harmonize and enhance the flavor of foods. Its complex natural gives it a deep flavor and beautiful bouquet. These qualities are the result of long, slow fermentation. Fermentation is the process of koji enzymes breaking proteins down into amino acids and carbohydrates into simple sugars, so it's an easily assimilable food requiring little energy of us to digest.

Tamari literally means liquid pressed from soybeans, originally it was the thick brown liquid that pooled in casks of fermenting soybean miso. For centuries this tamari was a rare delicacy reserved for special occasions. Eventually producers learned to brew tamari as a liquid soy sauce that had similar characteristics as the original by-product of miso. This tamari is brewed from whole soybeans, sea salt, water, and koji (Aspergillus hacho). Tamari is wheat free and popular with those who have wheat allergies.

In the 1960s George Ohsawa introduced macrobiotics to the West, and introduced a soy sauce that he called tamari to North America and Europe. This soy sauce was actually shoyu. Mr. Ohsawa wanted to distinguish naturally made soy sauce from commercial, chemically processed soy sauces that were marketed under the name of shoyu. Unfortunately, he did not anticipate the introduction of actual tamari into the West. Misnaming shoyu soy sauce tamari led to much confusion in the 1980s when actual tamari was introduced and marketed as wheat free tamari.

This confusion lingers. It is said that tamari soy sauce implants its flavor in food, while shoyu soy sauce harmonizes, enhances flavors and bouquet. They are very different in nature. Tamari is most commonly used in food processing, while Shoyu is most commonly used in the kitchen and at the table. Shoyu is best for everyday cooking such as stir frying or seasoning vegetables, as it harmonizes and enhances without overpowering.

Tamari, with its stronger flavor, is traditionally used to season longer cooking food such as soups, stews, and baked dishes. Both tamari and shoyu are good in marinades and salad dressing, to flavor grilled food, and on the table as condiment or dipping sauce. Neither should be limited to any particular type of food because they are far too tasty and versatile.

Carefully choose your soy sauce as you would an olive oil or a fine wine. Look for the words traditionally brewed and natural or organic, and make sure the manufacturer backs this up. Real shoyu is made by artisan's skilled in the ancient method of koji fermentation, a complex process using koji inoculated whole soybeans, wheat, careful tending and aging in cedar casks through two cycles of the seasons. Tamari should be similarly crafted but without wheat.

By contrast, commercial soy sauces (even some labeled as shoyu or tamari) are usually made from soybeans that have been defatted with hexane, a petroleum derivative. Common shortcuts are artificial fermentation methods including genetically engineered enzymes. In fact most soy sauce is actually caramel colored water with lots of salt,hydrochloric acid treated soy isolate, and sugar added.

Traditionally brewed soy sauces are an ideal replacement for, and improvement over salt. Use a little and experience the blossoming of flavor.

In the age of East meets West, these soy sauces are a great gift to the culinary endeavors in the west. Get some for your pantry the first chance you have.

EDEN Traditionally Brewed Shoyu was the highest rated and only Highly Recommended brand in two comparisons of 12 soy sauces by Cooks Illustrated Magazine as reported in their January/February 2000 issue: Tasters decisively ranked this distinct soy sauce number one in both taste tests. Its flavor was toasty, caramely, and complex, not wimpy. Rich, clean, and balanced with vivid flavor. The salt flavor was tangible but not overpowering, said the authors.

Also recommended was EDEN Organic Traditionally Brewed Tamari, described as very savory, rounded and smooth. A solid finish in both taste tests. Each sauce was rated on favoribility, intensity of overall flavor, quality of salt flavor, and overall likability when used both alone and in cooking.

The EDEN brand means: no irradiation, no preservatives, no chemical additives, no food colorings, no refined sugars, no genetically engineered ingredients; the safest, most nutritious, certified organically grown food that can be offered. For more information, please call 800 248-0320 or visit www.edenfoods.com.

[ynaffit]

i noticed that whole foods only seems to sell tamari
i get my shoyu from whole foods here . . . both tamari and shoyu are considered soy sauce.

[citronella49]

how do you know when soy sauce has gone bad? How long can it be out of the fridge before it goes bad? How long does it last? thanks :)

[ynaffit]

how do you know when soy sauce has gone bad? How long can it be out of the fridge before it goes bad? How long does it last? thanks :)
i don't know, citronella, but my mom had a gigantic can-thing of regular chemical-y soy sauce we had in the cabinet for years. i thought it tasted (and smelled? possibly more alcoholy, but i'm not sure) sort of weird at one point, and that's when i started buying the shoyu i buy now so i wouldn't have to use it. i'm sure my mom is still using the really old stuff.

i generally put soy sauce in the fridge, but while i wasn't here, my boyfriend kept the eden shoyu on the counter for a year or so, and it tasted the same when i got back. *shrug* i worry obsessively about a lot of foods going bad, but soy sauce isn't a big concern for me.

[AnaBanana]

The vegan cookbook I have asks for Braggs a lot, so I bought that and that's what I use. But it's not like I know the difference. I was never really into soy sauce or Asian cooking or cooking in general until I went veg.

[msbunnicula]

Does Braggs taste like soy sauce?

[Formerbaboon]

eh, I like kikkoman

[Rie]

how do you know when soy sauce has gone bad? How long can it be out of the fridge before it goes bad? How long does it last? thanks :)

I've never kept mine in the fridge. Although I do keep my Braggs in there. I dunno why.

[Rie]

Does Braggs taste like soy sauce?

Eh... kinda. In a recipe it works the same, but, it's not as "sharp" tasting to me. I prefer braggs, honestly.

[catswym]

i'm a bragg's person. MUCH less salty, which i prefer. more mild taste. it's great.

[Chook]

eh, I like kikkoman
Kikkoman for me too!

[Black Heart]

I use Kikkoman too. I tried an Amoy one once and it was horrible. It totally ruined my strifry.

[Blue Plastic Straw]

Soy sauce is soy sauce, it's all the same.

Oh man, you are so wrong! :D

A lot of the grocery store brands have a weird chemically taste to them. I personally don't like Kikkoman at all. The stuff I get at the asian store has a more complex flavor to it, rather that just salty.

I like Braggs on popcorn with nutritional yeast, but I'd never use it in the place of soy sauce. Even though it may taste less salty, it has about the same amount of sodium as soy sauce.

[MercurialMe]

San-J Organic Shoyu and Tamari for everything except my greens stuff then it's nothing but Bragg! mmmmmm:lick:

[remilard]

i'm a bragg's person. MUCH less salty, which i prefer. more mild taste. it's great.

Braggs has the same amount of sodium per volume as regular soy sauce, so this is likely to be placebo effect.

[remilard]

I like Lauriat and its pretty much free at the asian store. If I want to get all fancy and organic San-J is very good.

[catswym]

Braggs has the same amount of sodium per volume as regular soy sauce, so this is likely to be placebo effect.

okay, i should have specified: much less salty flavor than bragg's. i don't know that it is "placebo effect" because i didn't expect the bragg's to taste less salty. maybe it's that most soy sauces have added sodium?