Fun Ways to Cook With Soy Sauce!

Soy sauce is one of the most popular condiments in Asian cooking. Known for its salty flavor, soy sauce is a liquid condiment made from fermented soybeans. In addition to soybeans, soy sauce consists of wheat, salt, and water. The soybeans and wheat are combined with a water and salt brine to create the delicious and salty condiment known as soy sauce. Soy sauce originated in China as a method of preserving and flavoring food and it was historically made by hand in the honjozo brewing method. Today, technological advancements allow companies to make soy sauce much faster, but some companies, like Kikkoman, still apply the honjozo technique. Kikkoman soy sauce even offers a traditionally brewed soy sauce that is exceptionally accurate to the original brewing methods and takes months to make!

Types of Soy Sauce

Since its invention, soy sauce has become a staple of not only Chinese cuisine, but also Japanese, Korean, and southeast Asian cuisine. Today, there are a lot of delicious ways to cook with soy sauce! From Asian dishes to many other types of cooking, soy sauce is a versatile condiment that can add a lot of flavor to your meals! Some people might not be aware that there are actually different types of soy sauce and this can have an impact on your cooking! Light soy sauce and dark soy sauce are the most common varieties, with dark soy sauce having a deeper and sweeter flavor than light soy sauce. You can also find specialty soy sauce on the Bokksu Market, like gluten-free soy sauce and low-sodium soy sauce! These are great soy sauce options for anyone with more particular diets, and tamari also makes for a good gluten-free soy sauce substitute if you’re in a pinch. Another unique type of soy sauce is sweet soy sauce, which originated in Indonesia. Sweet soy sauce is essentially soy sauce with added palm sugar, and it’s easy to make yourself using an original soy sauce like Kikkoman’s Organic Soy Sauce.

How to Use Soy Sauce

One of the best uses for soy sauce is, without a doubt, a dipping sauce. When mixed with other ingredients, you can create a number of delicious sauces with soy sauce! Soy sauce is a prominent component of classic dipping sauces for things like dumplings and tempura. A great stir-fry sauce is also easy to make if you have some soy sauce on hand and you can create a lot of different flavors by using various ingredients and altering the ratios. To make a good stir-fry sauce, simply combine soy sauce with other ingredients like mirin, sesame oil, minced garlic and ginger, and some cooking stock. To thicken your sauce, just add some cornstarch slurry once the sauce is in the pan and you’ll have a great dish in no time! If you like some heat, condiments like sriracha or chili oil make a great addition to any basic stir-fry sauce.

Soy Sauce and Vegan Cooking

Soy sauce isn’t only a condiment for Asian cooking—it’s also become a popular ingredient in vegan cooking of all different cuisines! The richness of soy sauce makes for a great marinade when trying to replicate the flavors of meat in a plant-based dish. There are a lot of great recipes out there for creating plant-based bacon, steak, or even fish using a soy sauce-based marinade! The same marinade that you would use for seasoned ramen eggs—consisting of soy sauce, water, and mirin—is a great base to play around with! Try adding some spices and herbs to make an umami marinade for tofu or vegetables, or try adding some nori sheets to your marinade to give it a fishy element.

If you’ve never thought much about soy sauce before, Kikkoman soy sauce offers many different types and Bokksu Market is a great way to stock up on them! Unlike some of the grocery stores you may be used to, Bokksu Market offers a wide variety of soy sauce and other Asian grocery store items including condiments, cooking ingredients, snacks, and meals. Best of all, you can order your groceries online and have them delivered straight to your door! Bokksu Market is like having an Asian grocery store at your fingertips, so there’s no reason not to try out some new recipes!