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Have you ever been intimidated by the soy sauce aisle at the Asian grocery store? In my experience, it is the single biggest section dedicated to one type of product at most Asian supermarkets. At my local store it's half of the entire aisle, and I've seen so many people stand in front of the aisle and looking entirely overwhelmed. Well, this video is here to help you clarify some of those questions.
*Extra Goodies for Patreon Members: In this episode's "Show After The Show" I share a few "unconventional ways" I use soy sauce (that is, outside of putting it in Asian stir-fries and the other usual suspects), and my cameraman Adam also shares his favourite soy sauce and why! Find out more about becoming a Patreon member here.
You can also buy Thai soy sauces online here!
Types of Soy Sauce
Regular soy sauce
They're those bottles that just say “soy sauce” on it, or maybe "premium soy sauce" if they want to sell it for more money! The main purpose of regular soy sauce is saltiness, obviously right? But you’ll see why it’s important to point out when we talk about the other types.
For all of my Thai recipes, when I use soy sauce I use Healthy Boy Brand Mushroom Soy Sauce. Now it’s IMPORTANT to note that when it comes to Thai soy sauce, there are 2 types of “regular soy sauce” the mushroom soy sauce and the non-mushroom one. They are interchangeable in all recipes, it’s just a matter of preference what you use. I happen to like my the mushroom one and it's the one my family has always been using. The non-mushroom version of the Healthy Boy soy sauce will have a yellow label. However, the Chinese also make a mushroom soy sauce, but that is different and can be really dark, so do not substitute non-thai mushroom soy sauce for my Thai mushroom soy sauce.
Dark Soy Sauce or Black Soy Sauce
This is what you’ll use if your main goal is to give your dish a dark rich brown colour. A little bit of this stuff goes a long way so you never need much, and if you put too much it tends to taste a bit bitter. In Thailand our version of dark soy is actually called black soy sauce, it’s how I refer to it in my recipes. Thai dark soy sauce is not very salty at all so you don’t add this if you want to add saltiness.
Thai black soy sauce can be hard to find, but Chinese dark soy sauce this is much more available. However, it is a lot saltier than the Thai one, so while it does work as a substitute, be sure to cut down on the amount of regular soy sauce or other salty ingredients in the recipe slightly.
Sweet Soy Sauce
We rarely use sweet soy sauce in Thai cooking, but it is widely available in Thailand as people use it to make some dipping sauces. But most of the time you’ll see it in Indonesian and Malaysian cooking. This is used when the main goal is to get sweetness, with a touch of saltiness, and a rich flavour. It’s sort of like a combination of molasses and soy sauce.
Low-Sodium Soy Sauce
Basically regular soy sauce with less salt. Only use this as a sub for regular soy sauce if you're concerned with sodium intake. You can use the same amount as is called for in the recipe.
Light Soy Sauce
Many people think this is "low-sodium" but it isn't. From what I've seen, if a brand has light soy sauce, it won’t also have “regular soy sauce” because the light IS the regular. It seems like some brands label it “light” because they also carry a “dark soy sauce” and they want to clearly differentiate the two. Some brands, as you see in the video, will have a light AND a low-sodium as well, so it can be confusing!
Other Soy-Based Seasoning Sauces
Golden Mountain Sauce, Thai Seasoning Sauce, Maggi, Bragg's Liquid Amino (or liquid soy seasoning)...these are basically a type of soy sauce in a sense that they are all fermented, salty soy products. They just don't call them soy sauce because the flavours are different. In the case of Bragg's is also gluten free and can be used as a gluten-free soy sauce.
A better option for gluten free soy sauce substitute is perhaps tamari. Tamari is a type of Japanese soy sauce that is made with little or no wheat, but most brands on the market in N. America make it with no wheat so it’s appropriate for people who don’t eat gluten.
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Xupachai
Hi Pai and team, question about black soy sauce. Video seems to show Kwong Hung Seng bottle which ive seen at stores here in u.s. Do you mainly use their Sweet Soy Sauce (50mg sodium) or Black Soy ( 350mg)? Theyre both dark, thick, and have less sodium than typical reg soy sauces so just wanted to make sure I buy the correct one when following your recipes. Thanks!
Pailin Chongchitnant
Hi Xupachai, I use the black soy sauce. Sweet soy sauce is something different, and I don't refer to the sweet soy sauce as black soy sauce 🙂
Alex
Help help! I accidentally bought black soy sauce (orange label Healthy Boy brand) because I thought it was like Chinese mushroom soy sauce. But it tastes sweet, almost like molasses. What can i do with it? I've been using it in noodle dishes or to glaze meat so far.
Pailin Chongchitnant
Hi! So you can use it to make anything on this site that calls for black soy sauce such as Pad See Ew, Pad Kee Mao (drunken noodles) and various soups and stews. If you do a search for "black soy sauce" the recipes should come up. Generally we use it in small amounts to add a darker colour to dishes, so fried rice, soups, stews, anything.
Sharon Mueller
Hi Pailin, I‘m currently in Hua Hin, where we escape the cold German winters.
I do cook while here, and get to explore many of your wonderful recipes with great access to fresh produce and condiments.
I went to Villa Market which has a large selection of soya sauces….armed with my Google Thai translator. I was looking for black soya sauce-called for in an online recipe-I think it was someone else’s-oops! Anyhow I ended up with
something called „Black Soya Sauce Formula 2“, a Thai product an employee pointed me to. Its not what I expected, the ingredients say 75% molasses, 12% soya, 12%salt plus iodine. It is thin, dark,strong not sweet, tastes metallic. I kinda expected a slightly sweet, somewhat thick soya sauce. Any idea what this is and what its used for? I‘d be hesitant to use it in recipes calling for dark soya sauce because it tastes strange. Maybe i dont know how to use it.
Pailin Chongchitnant
Hi Sharon! Is it Healthy Boy Brand? (dek som boon). If so, you can use that black soy sauce in any of my recipes that call for black soy sauce. It is used in small amounts so it shouldn't impart much taste at all, it is used mostly to add a dark colour to dishes, especially stir fries. So you can use it in pad see ew, for example.
TOD RANSDELL
Hi Pai - Thanks for the great/very fun tutorials. Yes, Soy Sauce as a very broad category, truly a head-spinner. Way fun to explore! Over the years I have tried LOTs of different brands, especially since I moved here to the Pacific NW region. I also stick to the keep it simple rule of thumb and tend to get the sauces with the basic ingredient list only. I consider all the rest "manufactured" and un-natural. My everyday soy sauce is regular Kikkoman. I use Pearl River Mushroom and Lee Kum Kee brands for my "dark" sauces. I also keep a couple "finishing" soy sauces from Japan, a twice fermented (dark/rich) and a "white" (salty/khim?) soy sauce.
Noodle inn
Hey!
I visited to a Thai restaurant in Randwick yesterday, and they served us with a peculiar flavor sauce.
Now that I've read your blog post, I know exactly what it was. Sweet Soy Sauce was it is . Thank you for writing this article. Anyway the restaurant was noodleinn.com.au . you can check them out
Cecile
My soy soya Akita select 25less salt explode when I open it.
My question is is it good when is carbonated.
Jade
Hello!
I live in Vancouver and have been searching for black soy sauce EVERYWHERE for literal years and cannot find it. I've always subbed the dark soy sauce but I really want to get my hands on the black! Where can I find this bottle of gold??
Cheers,
Jade
Pailin Chongchitnant
Try 88 Market at Killarney or My Tho on Kingsway!
Cynthia
Hello,
I have a recipe that calls for Thai soy sauce. The folks at my local market sold me Golden Mountain Sauce when I asked but from what I can gather it’s not quite the same. Could you advise as to what I should look for?
Thanks 😊