The Truth About Low-sodium Soy Sauce and How To Get the Most Out of It
Categories and production methods for low-sodium soy sauce
How to get the most out of low-sodium soy sauce
By their very nature, these lower sodium soy sauce varieties taste less salty, which can contribute to consumers using more of the product to achieve desired flavors in their meals. This can result in the amount of sauce used “canceling out” the low sodium benefits. There are, however, some ways around this conundrum.
The first is using sai-shikomi soy sauce.
While koikuchi soy sauce has a salt content of roughly 16%, sai-shikomi soy sauce has a lower proportion of roughly 14%. Its salt content is equivalent to less sodium koikuchi soy sauce.
Meanwhile it uses around twice the amount of soy beans and wheat, granting it a richer umami flavor. This translates to more satisfying flavors even when the sauce is used in lower quantities, achieving an overall reduction in sodium while still making meals taste great.
If you’re still intent on using low-sodium or less-sodium soy sauce, you can add more flavour to your meal by adding vinegar or fruit juice to increase acidity, or by adding herbs and spices. Increasing potassium intake can also blunt the negative effects of excess sodium, so high-potassium ingredients in your cooking can help to counteract that extra splash or two of soy.
Of course, delicious food is one of life’s greatest pleasures, so living a well-balanced lifestyle that permits us to use normal soy sauce in moderation may be the greatest soy sauce hack of all.
