Paper Palate

While lower-sodium soy sauces contain approximately 37 percent less sodium than regular soy sauce, do these sauces also contain less taste? In “Kitchen Notes,” from this month’s Cook’s Illustrated, Erika Bruce offers a brief explanation on the differences in flavor between regular and lower-sodium soy sauces. Cook’s Illustrated staff testers and tasters recently conducted a comparison study to determine if lesser amounts of sodium equate to lesser flavor. Described as, ‘our top supermarket brand,’ Kikkoman soy sauces were used for this survey.

Kikkoman regular soy sauce was compared with Kikkoman less sodium soy sauce to determine differences in taste, in both cooked and uncooked meal servings. Both sauces were served over plain white rice, first in an uncooked dipping sauce with tuna steaks, and secondly, sautéed with bok choy. The conclusion of the study revealed the lower-sodium soy sauce received a more favorable response than the regular soy sauce, when uncooked as a dipping sauce. However, when satuéed with the bok choy, the lower-sodium soy sauce was found to have lost some of its flavor, resulting in a much milder than desired taste. Since soy sauce is considered a cooking seasoning, regular soy sauce is preferred for cooked recipes.

If you’re simply using soy sauce for dipping, the lesser salt content of the lower-sodium soy sauce is actually more flavorful. If you’re using soy sauce in stir-fry or in other cooked dishes, then the higher salt content of regular soy sauce will provide more flavor. Therefore, the lower sodium soy sauce only has less flavor when cooked, but much more flavor when uncooked and served as a condiment.