As a kid I remember wondering why anyone would need salt when they could use soy sauce instead.
I stillkind ofwonder this, but I do use my fair share of plain ol salt crystals.
(If you love salt, you shouldread about it here.)
Soy sauce does more than make food salty.
What is soy sauce?
Although soy sauces range in color from golden to nearly black, it is clear, not cloudy.
Its produced in the traditional manner by fermenting soy and wheat.
To put it in perspective, oneteaspoonof table salt is 2,300mg of sodium.
Light soy sauce
Light soy sauce can be a tricky labeling technique depending on where you are.
The product is the same as low-sodium regular soy sauce.
However, there are Japanese variations of soy sauces that are light-colored, lightest colored, and white.
You might also find dark soy sauce labeled as double-fermented soy sauce.
Other soy sauce producers might add ingredients to affect the color, like molasses or even straight-up caramel color.
Frankly, its so powerful that you would probably never use a whole tablespoon at once.
It is seriously dark, so start with a half-teaspoon and add more from there.
Tamari
Tamari is the only soy sauce that usually uses only soybeans in the fermentation recipe.
Some producers simply add in mushroom extracts.
Im including it here because I consider mushroom soy sauce an important variation that offers up slightly different qualities.
There is both mushroom soy sauce with a light color, and dark mushroom soy sauce.
Try these out for yourself, and see what you like.
By the way, its totally okay to have five different soy sauces in your fridge.
Dont let anyone tell you differently.
