If you love cooking as I do, you must have tried recipes that require you to use soy sauce to add taste, especially Japanese dishes.
If you are trying authentic Japanese dishes, you must ensure that the soy sauce is Japanese for its delicate flavour.
I always use Japanese soy sauce when cooking Japanese food because of its flavours and consistency.
Below are the top 3 best Japanese soy sauces from my experience.
1. Koikuchi Shoyu
This soysauce from Yamasan is made of soy, wheat and water.
There are no chemicals or preservatives used and it is brewed for a year to bring out its rich flavour.
Key specifications
Weight: 360 grams
Brand: Chaganju
Flavour: Deepen 1 Bottle
Key features
Less salt content
Brewed for one year for a Rich umami flavour
Pros
Naturally produced
Offers health benefits
High antioxidant potency
Cons
Quite pricey
Why is this soy sauce on the list?
Thanks to its use of natural ingredients, this soy sauce is free of toxins, and therefore a good pick for people who value food safety.
Usukuchi Shoyu
Kikkoman is a renowned Japanese soy sauce manufacturer, and the Usukuchi is a perfect choice for anyone looking for a lighter soy sauce that will not stain the food too much.
Key specifications
Package weight: 3.66 kilograms
Brand: Kikkoman
ingredients: Salt, water, wheat, rice, soy beans, high fructose corn syrup, alcohol to preserve freshness
Key features
Light coloured soy sauce
Great for delicate dishes
Mild flavour
Pros
Light textured compare to other sauces
Works well as a marinade
Naturally brewed
Cons
Has a short shelf life
Why is this soy sauce on the list?
I chose this soy sauce because it has a thinner texture and lighter colour, plus you can use it for Western dishes.
Tamari Shoyu
Thanks to its mild sweetness and strong flavour, this is the soy sauce to buy if you want the food to taste perfect.
Key specifications
Flavour: TAMARI
Brand: Hama Shoyu
Package weight: 0.66 Kilograms
Key features
Less wheat content
Pros
Good alternative for people allergic to wheat
Rich flavour
Cons
High possibility of damage in transit due to poorly protected packaging
Why is this soy sauce on the list?
This soy sauce has a rich flavour of less wheat, plus it can be a good alternative for people allergic to wheat.
- Artisan Soy Sauce - Kishibori is a Japanese premium soy sauce imported from Japan
- Kishibori Shoyu is fermented in 100-year old barrels on a small island in Japan's inland sea
- Experience the difference in flavor in our soy sauce. Full flavor and great addition to any food
- Smooth and balanced taste - Kishibori Soy has a milder fuller flavor than most soy sauce
- Put down the generic soy sauce and experience the real deal. Brewed and aged for 4 years using ancient methods. Using 100 year old Kioke wooden barrels
- This is your original Asian umami gourmet soy sauce with simple ingredients of soy beans, wheat, salt and water. No added preservatives, artificial coloring, Fillers. This is the purest sweet and salty Shout soy sauce in the market.
- Tsurubishio is the flagship series of soy sauce for Yamaroku and is aged the longest between 3-5 years. Served in an easy to open soy sauce dispenser glass container bottle.
- Tsurubishio is characterized as having a rich mellow flavor and is recommended for use in sushi, sashimi, tofu, grilled fish and as a secret ingredient for original dishes. Use it as an ingredient to make Ponzu and Teriyaki sauce or in ramen bowls
- The flavor of tsuru bishio is best described as having a deep, full rounded flavor containing a balanced taste of umami. Unique use with vanilla Ice cream gives it a caramel flavor.
- ✅Extraordinarily Rich Sauce -Generally speaking, the ingredients of authentic Koikuchi soy sauce are only soybean, wheat, salt, and water. Surprisingly, instead of the salt & water, using naturally brewed Koikuchi soy sauce, meaning that this premium soy sauce naturally brewed TWICE with about DOUBLE amount of ingredients & DOUBLE amount of time and efforts, making the umami distinctively multiplied. Just one drop for fried egg & baked bacon makes your everyday breakfast gorgeous.
- ✅Why Authentic? -From the simplest ingredients with no additives. Naturally and slowly brewed for total more than1000 days, the umami of fine ingredients are fully brought out. Aging through total 12 seasons(3 years) of Japan, the flavor & aroma of our distinctive sauce gets deeper and richer. Taste the difference. Let your tongue explore the highly delicate balance of abundant flavors.
- ✅Artisanal Slow Handmade -Our exclusive soy sauce cannot be made even by automatic cutting-edge machines. Making authentic soy sauce without any additives is like cultivating organic vegetables by natural, eco-friendly method. The quality and flavor are directly affected by the climate & geography of the region. Our Japanese craftsmen who have mastered the traditional methods succeeded over 100 years take full care of the varying conditions of sauce with their honed five senses.
- ✅Select Fine Ingredients -As for soybean & wheat(Both Non-GMO), every year our brewery carefully selects the best cultivating places in Japan and even cultivars, and delicately adjust the blend ratio, depending on the year’s conditions. As for salt, they use 100% natural sun-dried sea salt. As for water, the brewery is blessed with natural, super soft water of pure Ibo River.
- ✅Historical TATSUNO Brand -From a small brewery in Tatsuno region, where has over 400 years brewing history. Blessed with ideal climate for soy sauce brewing throughout the year, distinctive water from the pure river, and fine soybean & wheat in the locality, Tatsuno has been one of the three most prosperous places for soy sauce brewing in Japan.
- Enjoy your delicacies with authentic shoyu sauce: Our whiskey barrel aged shoyu sauce is a traditionally brewed Japanese sauce that offers the perfect finishing flavor and aroma to your pan Asian recipes. Make your Japanese, Korean and Chinese dishes taste as good as they look!
- What is in our classic gourmet sauce? Prepared with the ancestral Mushiro Koji process, our Japanese soy sauce is made of water, soybeans, salt, alcohol & wheat. The dark brown rich consistency of our Japanese condiment makes all dishes look irresistibly appetizing!
- Savory that is to die for: Our uniquely prepared dark soy sauce is aged for 2 years and further aged for 13 months in Japanese whiskey barrels made of Mizunara hardwood, a type of Japanese Oak. It gives the shoyu soy sauce a mellow taste with a sweet note and unlocks the umami sense.
- Satisfy the chef and foodie within you! Our artisanal soy sauce uncaps the umami taste to garnish your dishes with a fulfilling flavor that chefs spend hours to achieve! Drizzle this sauce on salmon sashimi and sushi, use it as a dip sauce for dumplings and even as marinade.
- Bring home the traditional flavor of Japan! Our Japanese shoyu sauce is made in Kyoto in small batches by master artisans using a legendary 250-year old labor intensive fermentation process and whiskey barrel aging. This imported aged soy sauce brings an authentic Asian essence to your tables.
So What’s The Best Japanese soy sauce?
“So, what is the Japanese soy sauce?
Here are my top 3 picks:
Tamari Shoyu
Usukichi Shoyu
Koikuchi Shoyu
If I had to pick just 1, it would be Usukuchi Shoyu because it has a lighter colour, meaning it does not stain the food too much.