While most popular in Asian cuisine, soy sauce has found itself to be a staple in many households as a delicious and versatile sauce, and soy sauce has many varieties.
One type of soy sauce you may be curious about is soup soy sauce. I did the research, and here is what I found!
Soup Soy Sauce
Soup soy sauce is a type of Korean soy sauce made for salting and seasoning soups. Typically, soup soy sauces have a light-brown to medium-brown color with a very salty and slightly savory taste, making soup soy sauce ideal for pale soup recipes. Additionally, soup soy sauce is a by-product of making fermented soybean paste.
Are you interested in learning more about soup soy sauce’s taste, uses, and more? Keep reading!
What Is Soup Soy Sauce?
Soup soy sauce comes from making fermented soybean paste called doenjang, and most soup soy sauces have a lighter and clearer appearance than regular soy sauce.
What Does Soup Soy Sauce Taste Like?
Soup soy sauce’s primary flavor is salt, and soup soy sauce is much saltier than most soy sauces, but soup soy sauce still has a savory taste.
How Do You Use Soup Soy Sauce?
Typically, soup soy sauce is used for salting and flavoring soups, hence the name “soup” soy sauce.
Soup soy sauce is salty and savory, making soup soy sauce an excellent addition to many soups.
However, you do not need to add much soup soy sauce to recipes since soup soy sauce has a strong taste.
Moreover, soup soy sauce has a slightly lighter color than regular soy sauce, so soup soy sauce is great for lighter-colored soups if you want to add flavor without darkening the soup.
How Is Soup Soy Sauce Made?
Since soup soy sauce is a by-product of making fermented soy paste, soup soy sauce is made by first making fermented soy paste.
To make fermented soy paste, soybeans are soaked in water then mashed to create a paste, and the paste will be shaped into bricks called Meju.
Next, the bricks are left to dry in the open for several months, which allows the soybean bricks to naturally ferment while creating enzymes.
After several months, the soybean bricks are lightly washed then put into large clay jars with salty brine where the soybean bricks will ferment again in the jar for several months.
During the fermentation process, the soybean bricks start to break down to create a paste and a dark and salty liquid, and the liquid is soup soy sauce.
Where Was Soup Soy Sauce Invented?
Soup soy sauce was invented in Korea because soup soy sauce is a by-product of Doenjang, a fermented soy paste recipe from Korea.
Is Soup Soy Sauce The Same As Korean Soy Sauce?
While soup soy sauce is a type of Korean soy sauce, soup soy sauce is technically not the same as Korean soy sauce.
When a recipe calls for Korean soy sauce, the recipe may be looking for regular soy sauce made in Korea.
Soup soy sauce has a much saltier flavor than regular Korean soy sauce, so soup soy sauce cannot be considered the same as regular Korean soy sauce.
What Is The Difference Between Soup Soy Sauce And Regular Soy Sauce?
Soup soy sauce and regular soy sauce have different colors since soup soy sauce has a golden to medium brown color while regular soy sauce is a deep brown.
Additionally, soup soy sauce is noticeably saltier than regular soy sauce while regular soy sauce has more savory flavors.
Moreover, regular soy sauce has more uses than soup soy sauces since soup soy sauce is typically only used as a seasoning for soup.
Is Dark Soy Sauce The Same As Soup Soy Sauce?
Dark soy sauce is not the same as soup soy sauce because dark soy sauce is savory and sweet while soup soy sauce is very salty and mildly savory.
Additionally, dark soy sauce has a much darker color and slightly thicker consistency than soup soy sauce, which is why dark soy sauce is not ideal for soups.
Do I Need To Refrigerate Soup Soy Sauce?
You may keep your soup soy sauce in the fridge, which is ideal after opening soup soy sauce because opened soup soy sauce can stay fresh for 2-3 years if the soup soy sauce is refrigerated.
If you decide to leave your soup soy sauce on the counter after opening the soup soy sauce, expect the soup soy sauce to last for 3-6 months.
What Can I Substitute For Soup Soy Sauce?
Light soy sauce is an ideal substitute for soup soy sauce because light soy sauce is mild yet very salty, meaning light soy sauce can mimic soup soy sauce’s taste.
Moreover, light soy sauce is pale and amber-colored, meaning light soy sauce can flavor and salt soups like soup soy sauce without adding too much color.
You can use regular soy sauce instead of soup soy sauce, but regular soy sauce will darken whatever recipe you use.
Additionally, you may dilute regular soy sauce to make regular soy sauce paler, but you may end up watering down the flavor of the soy sauce.
Moreover, regular soy sauce is not as salty as soup soy sauce, so you may either add more soy sauce or add salt to your dish.
Take a look at our related articles to learn what soy sauce paste is, what honey soy sauce is, and what Datu Puti is.
Conclusion
Soup soy sauce is a Korean soy sauce and is a by-product of making fermented soy paste, and soup soy sauce is often very salty and slightly savory.
Normally, soup soy sauce is used to salt and flavor soups since soup soy sauce is flavorful and lighter in color than most soy sauces.