Soy sauce is a loved condiment around the world, and you can find many varieties of soy sauces in most groceries.
If you have ever seen seasoning soy sauce, you may be curious about what seasoning soy sauce is. I did the research, and here is what I discovered!
What Is Seasoning Soy Sauce?
Seasoning soy sauce or seasoned soy sauce is a type of light soy sauce from China that has seasonings and is used to season foods before and during cooking. Normally, seasoning soy sauce is seasoned with MSG and sugar. Moreover, seasoning soy sauce often uses a light soy sauce base, but the type of soy sauce will depend on the brand.
Do you want to learn more about seasoning soy sauce and how to use seasoning soy sauce? Keep reading to find out!
Seasoning Soy Sauce
Seasoning soy sauce is usually a type of Chinese soy sauce that has added seasonings to boost the overall flavor of the soy sauce, thus enhancing whatever food you add the soy sauce to.
Typically, seasoning soy sauce’s base is light soy sauce since light soy sauce is a salty and mild soy sauce.
However, the exact base used for seasoning soy sauce will depend on the manufacturer as other brands may use regular or dark soy sauce for the base of their seasoning soy sauce.
What Does Seasoning Soy Sauce Taste Like?
How seasoning soy sauce will taste will depend on the brand you get since manufacturers will add different types and amounts of ingredients to seasoning soy sauce.
Generally, most seasoning soy sauces will taste like regular soy sauce, but seasoning soy sauce will often be more aromatic and flavorful than regular soy sauce.
For instance, Lee Kum Kee Seasoning Soy Sauce is similar to Lee Kum Kee’s Premium Soy Sauce, but seasoning soy sauce is a bit sweeter and thicker.
Some seasoning soy sauces may contain more flavor enhancers like MSG, so certain seasoning soy sauces can taste like regular soy sauce with more flavor-boosting capabilities.
How Do You Use Seasoning Soy Sauce?
Seasoning soy sauce’s main use is as a seasoning similar to how you would use light soy sauce, so seasoning soy sauce can be added to most food while you cook dishes like stir-fries.
Plus, many seasoning soy sauces will say on the label that the seasoning soy sauce is “seasoned for seafood,” meaning you can use seasoning soy sauce for seafood.
However, you can use seasoning soy sauce to drizzle over food after cooking for an extra boost of flavor.
Moreover, seasoning soy sauce can work as a dip by itself or as an ingredient for dipping sauce.
So, you can use seasoning soy sauce in recipes for dips that call for regular soy sauce if you want to add a more unique taste.
Additionally, seasoning soy sauce works as a great ingredient for marinades because seasoning soy sauce can deeply flavor whatever food you marinate.
Therefore, you can use seasoning soy sauce almost like regular soy sauce, and seasoning soy sauce works if you want more flavor than regular soy sauce.
Is Seasoning Soy Sauce The Same As Soy Sauce?
Seasoning soy sauce is a type of soy sauce that usually uses soy sauce as a base and contains various spices, meaning seasoning sauce is still the same as soy sauce.
Technically, soy sauce itself is also a seasoning, but the difference between seasoning soy sauce and regular soy sauce is that seasoning soy sauce has more ingredients than regular soy sauce.
Therefore, seasoning soy sauce is still soy sauce, and you can use seasoning soy sauce to season foods like you would with regular soy sauce.
However, it would be best to consider seasoning soy sauce as a light soy sauce since seasoning soy sauce’s main purpose is to season food, which is how people use light soy sauce.
What Brands Have Seasoning Soy Sauce?
Some brands that carry seasoning soy sauce include Lee Kum Kee and Golden Mountain.
However, certain brands may not explicitly call their soy sauces seasoning soy sauce, so you need to read the label to see what the soy sauce is used for to know if the soy sauce can be a seasoning soy sauce.
What Can I Substitute For Seasoning Soy Sauce?
Generally, most types of soy sauce can replace seasoning soy sauce, but choosing the right substitute will depend on what you would have used the seasoning soy sauce for.
For instance, light soy sauce can be a substitute for seasoning soy sauce if you only want to add salty flavors to your recipe.
If you want a substitute for seasoning soy sauce to add to dips and marinades for color and lots of savory flavors, dark soy sauce and regular soy sauce can replace seasoning soy sauce.
Typically, regular soy sauce is the best all-around alternative to seasoning soy sauce since seasoning soy sauce is very similar to regular soy sauce.
However, you may notice a difference in taste if you use regular soy sauce instead of seasoning soy sauce, but regular soy sauce will work if you are in a pinch.
Check out our other articles if you want to learn what nama shoyu is, what dark soy sauce is, and what double fermented soy sauce is.
Conclusion
Seasoning soy sauce is a soy sauce similar to regular soy sauce, but seasoning soy sauce is usually more aromatic and flavorful than regular soy sauce, making seasoning soy sauce a great flavor enhancer for recipes.
While seasoning soy sauce is typically used to season food, you can also use seasoning soy sauce in dips, marinades, and to drizzle on cooked food.