Soy sauce can be found in nearly every grocery store around the world, and most stores carry a wide variety of soy sauces to suit different recipes, tastes, and health needs.
If you have seen low sodium soy sauce, you may be curious to learn what low sodium soy sauce is. I did the research, and here is what I discovered!
What Is Low Sodium Soy Sauce?
Low sodium soy sauce is regular soy sauce with around 40% of the salt content removed. Despite having 40% less salt than regular soy sauce, low sodium soy sauce is salty and savory like traditional soy sauce. You can use low sodium soy sauce in any recipe that calls for normal soy sauce.
Do you want to learn more interesting facts about low sodium soy sauce? Keep reading!
What Does Low Sodium Soy Sauce Taste Like?
Generally, low sodium soy sauce tastes the same as regular soy sauce, meaning low sodium soy sauce features salty and savory flavors.
Some people assume that low sodium soy sauce does not taste as salty as regular soy sauce.
However, low sodium soy sauce still tastes salty because the salt gets extracted after the soy sauce has been made, so low sodium soy sauce retains salty flavors with lower sodium content.
Although, the exact taste of low sodium soy sauce will highly depend on the brand.
How Do You Use Low Sodium Soy Sauce?
You can use low sodium soy sauce the same way you would use regular soy sauce since the only difference between regular soy sauce and low sodium soy sauce is the sodium content.
Therefore, you can use low sodium soy sauce as a seasoning, coloring, marinade, dip, glaze, and more.
However, you cannot use low sodium soy sauce as light soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, etc. because low sodium soy sauce is only similar to regular soy sauce.
How Do You Make Low Sodium Soy Sauce?
Typically, low sodium soy sauce is made by first making regular soy sauce, which involves soaking and steaming soybeans while roasting and crushing wheat.
Next, the soybeans and wheat are mixed with a culturing mold, and this mixture is left for a few days to develop.
Manufacturers place the mixture into fermenting tanks with salt and water then allow the mixture to age for several months or years.
Once the mixture has aged, the mixture is pressed to separate the liquid from the solids, and the resulting liquid is soy sauce.
For low sodium soy sauce, manufacturers take the soy sauce and remove around 40% of the sodium from the soy sauce before pasteurizing and bottling the soy sauce.
How Much Sodium Does Low Salt Sodium Have?
Generally, most low sodium soy sauces have 40% less sodium than regular soy sauce.
Typically, a tablespoon of regular soy sauce has around 2,300 milligrams of sodium, meaning most low sodium soy sauces will have around 920 milligrams of sodium per tablespoon.
However, it is best to check the nutritional facts of your specific low sodium soy sauce since each brand will have different amounts of sodium.
Why Do Recipes Call For Low Sodium Soy Sauce?
Normally, recipes will call for low sodium soy sauce for a lower-salt alternative to regular soy sauce.
Low sodium soy sauce tastes nearly identical to regular soy sauce, so recipes may choose low sodium soy sauce out of preference.
Is Low Sodium Soy Sauce The Same As Light Soy Sauce?
Low sodium soy sauce is not the same as light soy sauce because they have very different sodium contents.
For instance, low sodium soy sauces usually have around 920 milligrams of sodium per tablespoon whereas most light soy sauces have around 1,000-1,200 milligrams of sodium per tablespoon.
Moreover, light soy sauce is a pale, mild, and salty soy sauce typically used for seasoning while low sodium soy sauce is similar to regular soy sauce.
Can I Use Regular Soy Sauce Instead Of Low Sodium Soy Sauce?
You can opt to use regular soy sauce over low sodium soy sauce since they taste, look, and work the same way.
Typically, people only choose low sodium soy sauce instead of regular soy sauce because of the salt content.
Therefore, you can easily replace low sodium soy sauce with regular soy sauce if the salt content does not bother you.
Is Low Sodium Soy Sauce Better Than Regular Soy Sauce?
Low sodium soy sauce is only better than regular soy sauce if you are cautious of your salt intake.
Otherwise, low sodium soy sauce is not better than regular soy sauce because they share the same tastes, colors, and uses.
What Can I Substitute For Low Sodium Soy Sauce?
Other than regular soy sauce, you can use dark soy sauce as a substitute for low sodium soy sauce.
Dark soy sauce has savory and salty flavors, but dark soy sauce has notes of sweetness so you may need to add some salt.
Tamari soy sauce is another good alternative to low sodium soy sauce since tamari has a deeply savory flavor.
However, tamari has a more nuanced and less salty taste than most soy sauces, so adding salt to your recipe may help balance the flavors.
Read our related articles to learn about shoyu versus soy sauce, what sweet soy sauce is, and what seasoning soy sauce is.
Conclusion
Low sodium soy sauce is considered the same as regular soy sauce because they taste and look the same, but low sodium soy sauce has 40% less salt compared to normal soy sauce.
Since low sodium soy sauce is similar to regular soy sauce, you may use low sodium soy sauce in any recipe that calls for regular soy sauce.