Soy Sauces/ Seasoning Sauces

[Claudel Xerxes]

I don't think we have any threads on soy or seasoning sauces, so that needs to be remedied. What are some of your favorite sauces? In what ways do you like to use them? Do you use different sauces in different applications? Any and everything soy/seasoning sauce related is welcome.

My go-to has been Golden Mountain Seasoning Sauce for probably the past fifteen years. I like that it's a bit brighter than a regular soy sauce.

As I'm typing this, it makes me want to go out and pick up some more varieties of soy sauces. A while back, when my local international store ran out of Golden Mountain Seasoning Sauce, I picked up Maggi Cooking Sauce. It seemed like a decent substitute, and I think I still preferred it to the regular Kikkoman soy sauce. It's been quite a while since I've last tried regular Kikkoman soy sauce though. I also tried San-J Tamari last year, but used virtually all of it in a fermented mushroom recipe, and didn't pay much attention to it by itself.

 

[EclipseRedRing]

The only soy sauce used in our household is Datu Puti who also produce cane vinegar, another ingredient we use frequently. Mix the soy and vinegar, add chopped red onion, garlic, pepper, and an optional chilli and you have a great sawsawan, or dipping sauce.

Datu Puti also make a soy with calamansi lime/lemon called toyomansi which is excellent but it is easy to make your own.

Here is another great seasoning or dip for use straight out of the bottle.

 

[ChriWilson]

The only soy sauce used in our household is Datu Puti who also produce cane vinegar, another ingredient we use frequently. Mix the soy and vinegar, add chopped red onion, garlic, pepper, and an optional chilli and you have a great sawsawan, or dipping sauce.

View attachment 1867730

Datu Puti also make a soy with calamansi lime/lemon called toyomansi which is excellent but it is easy to make your own.

View attachment 1867731
Here is another great seasoning or dip for use straight out of the bottle.
View attachment 1867729

Do you add a splash of Patis in that sawsawan ?

 

[Tirvine]

For most things I like either a light soy like Golden River Bridge or a hearty tamari like San J. A guy at the local farmers' market makes a soy with yuzu I like a lot, too.

 

[EclipseRedRing]

Do you add a splash of Patis in that sawsawan ?

Not me, I am not keen on seafood. My wife likes patis, along with bogoong which I particularly dislike. She will eat anything, balut, sea cucumber, sea urchins, insects, anything. I have two basic food rules: 1 - if it had no backbone, or 2 - if it had an exoskeleton, then it is not going on my plate. Then again, I love papaitan

 

[ChriWilson]

Not me, I am not keen on seafood. My wife likes patis, along with bogoong which I particularly dislike. She will eat anything, balut, sea cucumber, sea urchins, insects, anything. I have two basic food rules: 1 - if it had no backbone, or 2 - if it had an exoskeleton, then it is not going on my plate. Then again, I love papaitan

Hard pass on the Bogoong, Balut and "Chocolate Meat".

Back on Topic, San-J makes a great Tamari and Kikkoman's is not bad either.
Last trip in London, I happened across Nando's Peri-Peri and really liked the flavor.
Trader Joe's has a pretty good offering that I like to use on the grill with skewered chicken or even on tuna

 

[tejolot3]

My wife and I are big fans of Worcestershire sauce (which we call 'W sauce', because that's easier).

I've found that, if you want some salty umami, such as in a Chinese sauce, or if you just want to add a seasoned beefy note, then adding some Marmite is a good trick. If you've never had Marmite, allow me to describe it: Take a nice chuck roast, and dice it into one-inch cubes. Heat up some oil in a skillet, then give the beef a good sear on all sides. Once it's got a nice sear all over, remove the meat from the skillet and transfer them to a platter. Completely coat one of the beef cubes with salt—a lot of salt, more salt than any sane person should ever use to season beef—on all sides. Pop it into your mouth, and suck on it. That's what Marmite tastes like. On Sunday mornings, I like to pop an English muffin in the toaster, spread butter on it, and then a thin smear of Marmite. But you should really give it a try as a secret sauce weapon.

 

[Old Hippie]

Hey man, wasn't so long ago that going to a Chinese restaurant on the Canadian Prairies meant you were going to get China Lily. Apparently it's got quite the following even now. Hydrolyzed "soy sauce." Pfui. No Chinese and no lilies were harmed in the process of manufacture. Which is to say, it's made in Toronto.

We tend to keep a gallon of Yamasa in the fridge. If one reads the label in a certain way, one will learn that the company has been making Yamasa since 1645 in Salem, Oregon. Just spent a week there; nice town. (Meaning they have some puffery about being made since 1645, and the company is listed as being in Oregon...)

Before switching to Yamasa we used Kikkoman which again we bought in bulk at the local Asian grocery. Mrs. Hippie is on a real tear with "black garlic shoyu" at the moment. She likes it, I'm not a real fan but it ain't bad. We occasionally have some tamari, usually Amano brand which is made in Vancouver IIRC. I'll occasionally deign to harvest some extra tamari from a batch of fermenting miso.

I prefer keeping a couple of litres of "shio koji" around. I make koji for a number of different makes, and there's always some left over. Mix it with water to 6 per cent salt, let it ferment on the counter for a week, and it's ready. The aspergillus mold is killed by the salt, but the amylases and proteases are still very active. Mix it into hamburger meat and let it sit overnight, then make burgers. Add some to guacamole. Fresh tomatoes drizzled with shio koji will change your life. I recently gave some homemade tempeh a short soak in shio koji and made tempeh and greens with it. Amazing.

On the other hand we had some fermented coconut stuff that I didn't like and that made Mrs. Hippie feel quite unwell.

O.H.

 

[Luc]

I have 3 sauces that I use on a rotation. Only one of them can be labeled as soy sauce I believe.

San-j
Braggs
Naked coconut (made with coconut sap, also known as coconut aminos).

 

[Rushman2112]

We have a few, it depends what flavour we are after:
Thai soy sauce, I have no idea of the brand as the label is all in Thai, but it has a yellow label and a boy in red.
ABC sweet soy sauce - kecap manis from Indonesia
ABC sambal asli - chili sauce with garlic
Thai oyster sauce, same brand as the soy. Apparently Thailand's no1 brand.
Knife brand Thai fish sauce, another Thai brand

Having lived in Bangkok we got the taste for Thai versions. Here they sell a lot of Chinese brands and they are just not as good in our opinion but as always YMMV.

 

[luvmysuper]

I don't think we have any threads on soy or seasoning sauces, so that needs to be remedied. What are some of your favorite sauces? In what ways do you like to use them? Do you use different sauces in different applications? Any and everything soy/seasoning sauce related is welcome.

My go-to has been Golden Mountain Seasoning Sauce for probably the past fifteen years. I like that it's a bit brighter than a regular soy sauce.

As I'm typing this, it makes me want to go out and pick up some more varieties of soy sauces. A while back, when my local international store ran out of Golden Mountain Seasoning Sauce, I picked up Maggi Cooking Sauce. It seemed like a decent substitute, and I think I still preferred it to the regular Kikkoman soy sauce. It's been quite a while since I've last tried regular Kikkoman soy sauce though. I also tried San-J Tamari last year, but used virtually all of it in a fermented mushroom recipe, and didn't pay much attention to it by itself.

Maggi has a Calamansi seasoning that's great.
Ang sarap talaga!

 

[ksblazer]

 

[Claudel Xerxes]

Thai soy sauce, I have no idea of the brand as the label is all in Thai, but it has a yellow label and a boy in red.

Are you thinking of Healthy Boy brand?

 

[cleanshaved]

Always have some fish sauce on hand. I only use it in a Thai Green Curry.
The stuff smells funky but tastes nice in the curry. I'm not brand loyal at all.

 

[luvmysuper]

Lechon sauce. Great with any pork really.

 

[Rushman2112]

Are you thinking of Healthy Boy brand?

View attachment 1872774

Yes, that's the one. I have never noticed it properly!

 

[Rushman2112]

Always have some fish sauce on hand. I only use it in a Thai Green Curry.
The stuff smells funky but tastes nice in the curry. I'm not brand loyal at all.


View attachment 1872777

I don't like fish or seafood at all, but a splash of this in Thai dishes, or fried rice, makes a massive difference.

 

[cleanshaved]

I don't like fish or seafood at all, but a splash of this in Thai dishes, or fried rice, makes a massive difference.

Indeed, it's something that can't be omitted. Over the years I've added more as my taste as got to like it more and less apprehensive due to the smell.

 

[cleanshaved]

I always have these two versions sauce on hand. They are similar but quite different.
On top of eggs, in a sauce, add to meat patties or stew.

 

[GR5233]

1 - if it had no backbone, or 2 - if it had an exoskeleton, then it is not going on my plate.

So I guess no clam chowder, lobster rolls, fried shrimp or crab cakes?