Soy sauce is a beloved staple found in many countries, and many of these countries have made numerous types of soy sauce.
If you have ever seen caramel soy sauce, you may be wondering what caramel soy sauce is. I looked up the facts, and here is what I discovered!
What Is Caramel Soy Sauce?
Caramel soy sauce, which is also called double black soy sauce, is a very dark soy sauce with added molasses and/or caramel. Typically, caramel soy sauce is sweeter than most soy sauces. Moreover, most people use caramel soy sauce to darken dishes, but caramel soy sauce can also add savory and sweet flavors to recipes.
Do you want to learn more facts about caramel soy sauce? Keep reading to find out!
What Is Considered Caramel Soy Sauce?
Generally, caramel soy sauce refers to very dark soy sauces that contain caramel and/or molasses, and the most common type of caramel soy sauce is double black soy sauce.
Moreover, caramel soy sauce will be a bit thicker than other dark and sweet soy sauces like dark soy sauce.
In contrast, certain soy sauces will use caramel to make soy sauce browner, but the manufacturer will only add enough to add color without making the soy sauce too sweet.
What Does Caramel Soy Sauce Taste Like?
Most caramel soy sauces will have a distinctly sweet flavor because caramel soy sauce contains a lot of caramel and molasses.
However, you will still notice some savory and salty flavors in caramel soy sauce thanks to the soybeans and wheat from the soy sauce.
What Is Cooking Caramel?
Cooking caramel is another name used for soy sauces that contain lots of caramel, such as Lee Kum Kee Cooking Caramel.
Moreover, cooking caramel is the same thing as caramel soy sauce because cooking caramel is soy sauce that contains caramel.
Generally, the term cooking caramel may be used more than caramel soy sauce because the recipe will contain more caramel than soy sauce.
For instance, caramel is listed as the first ingredient in Lee Kum Kee Cooking Caramel while the second to the last ingredient is soy sauce.
How Do You Use Caramel Soy Sauce?
Normally, people use caramel soy sauce to add color to dishes because caramel soy sauce has a very deep brown to nearly black color.
Moreover, caramel soy sauce coats and darkens dishes well since caramel soy sauce is thicker than other soy sauces.
Additionally, caramel soy sauce can be used to add flavor to recipes, especially if you want sweet and savory tastes in your dish.
You may also use caramel soy sauce as an ingredient in marinades, dips, dressings, and more.
How Is Caramel Soy Sauce Made?
Typically, caramel soy sauce is made by first making soy sauce, and most manufacturers use regular or dark soy sauce as the base for caramel soy sauce.
Dark soy sauce is often favored over regular soy sauce when making caramel soy sauce because dark soy sauce has naturally sweet flavors.
Once the dark soy sauce is ready, manufacturers will add molasses, sugar, or both to make the soy sauce sweeter and caramel-like.
Some manufacturers may opt to add a little cornstarch or a similar thickening agent since most caramel soy sauces have a slightly thick consistency.
What Is The Difference Between Caramel Soy Sauce And Soy Sauce Caramel?
Caramel soy sauce typically refers to very sweet and dark soy sauce or double black soy sauce, and caramel soy sauce usually contains caramel or molasses.
Moreover, caramel soy sauce is primarily a soy sauce since caramel soy sauce still tastes salty and savory despite its sweetness.
On the other hand, soy sauce caramel usually refers to caramel that contains soy sauce to add flavor to the caramel, making soy sauce caramel primarily caramel.
Therefore, caramel soy sauce is still soy sauce while soy sauce caramel is merely caramel containing some soy sauce.
Is Caramel Soy Sauce The Same As Dark Soy Sauce?
Caramel soy sauce is not the same as dark soy sauce because caramel soy sauce typically contains lots of caramel or molasses, creating a very sweet soy sauce.
On the other hand, dark soy sauce also contains sugar like molasses, but dark soy sauce contains considerably less sugar than caramel soy sauce, giving dark soy sauce a mildly sweet flavor.
However, many manufacturers will use dark soy sauce as the base ingredient for caramel soy sauce since dark soy sauce is naturally sweeter than other soy sauces.
What Can I Substitute For Caramel Soy Sauce?
Usually, dark soy sauce makes a great replacement for caramel soy sauce because dark soy sauce has naturally sweet flavors with a very deep color.
However, you may want to add more caramel or molasses into your dark soy sauce because dark soy sauce is not as sweet as caramel soy sauce.
Moreover, sweet soy sauce or kecap manis is a popular Indonesian soy sauce that is an excellent alternative to caramel soy sauce because they are both very sweet soy sauces.
While caramel soy sauce is very thick, sweet soy sauce has a slightly different consistency to caramel soy sauce.
Take a look at our related articles to learn what first draw soy sauce is, what Datu Puti is, and what Aloha sauce is.
Conclusion
Caramel soy sauce is another name for double black soy sauce, and caramel soy sauce is typically very dark with sweet and savory tastes.
Normally, caramel soy sauce is used to add a darker color to dishes, but many recipes will use caramel soy sauce to make the food flavorful.