Soy sauce

Used in 16 recipes on RecipeWiki.

Soy sauce is a fermented seasoning brewed from soya beans and wheat, salty and deeply savoury with a malty, slightly sweet roundness. This page covers light and dark soy, and they are not interchangeable. Light soy is thinner and saltier, the everyday seasoning in Egg Fried Rice and Smashed Cucumber Salad. Dark soy is aged longer and often thickened with molasses, less salty but darker and sweeter, and used mainly for colour, which is what gives Red-Braised Pork Belly its lacquered mahogany look. Soy sauce also finds its way into Jerk Chicken, Brown Stew Fish and a Michelada. Where a recipe just says soy sauce, use light.

What else can I make with it?

Most often cooked with

Recipes with soy sauce

Beef Chow Mein — shot from directly overhead: beef coated in cornflour and seared in batches in a pan hot enough to smoke

Beef Chow Mein

Beef coated in cornflour and seared in batches in a pan hot enough to smoke, with the sauce going in only at the very end.

BeefChineseLeafy greens

Brown Stew Fish — shot from directly overhead: fried whole fish simmered briefly in a dark sweet-savoury gravy built on browning

Brown Stew Fish

Fried whole fish simmered briefly in a dark sweet-savoury gravy built on browning, onion and thyme, and served with the sauce spooned over.

CaribbeanDinnerFish

Chicken Congee — shot from directly overhead: rice simmered in eight times its weight of stock until the grains collapse

Chicken Congee

Rice simmered in eight times its weight of stock until the grains collapse, into a savoury porridge finished in the bowl.

1 hr 50 minServes 4

BreakfastChickenChinese

Chicken Teriyaki shot from directly overhead, a true flat lay

Chicken Teriyaki

Chicken thighs started skin-down in a cold pan for crisp skin, then glazed in a four-ingredient reduction of soy, mirin, sake and sugar with no cornflour.

ChickenDinnerJapanese

Dan Dan Noodles — shot from directly overhead: noodles over a pool of chilli oil

Dan Dan Noodles

Noodles over a pool of chilli oil, sesame paste and vinegar, topped with crisp fried pork and preserved vegetable.

30 minutesChinesePork

Egg Fried Rice — shot from directly overhead: yesterday's rice broken up cold and fried hard in a wide pan

Egg Fried Rice

Yesterday's rice broken up cold and fried hard in a wide pan, so the grains stay separate and toast instead of steaming to paste.

30 minutesChineseLeafy greens

Hot and Sour Soup — shot from directly overhead, the table surface filling the frame

Hot and Sour Soup

A brothy Sichuan-style soup thickened with a cornflour slurry and finished with vinegar and beaten egg off the heat, so both stay sharp.

1 hr 10 minServes 4

Jerk Chicken — shot from directly overhead: chicken marinated overnight in scotch bonnet

Jerk Chicken

Chicken marinated overnight in scotch bonnet, allspice and thyme, then cooked slowly over smoke until the skin is lacquered almost black.

13 hr 40 minServes 4

CaribbeanChickenDinner

Kung Pao Chicken — shot from directly overhead: diced chicken stir-fried fast with dried chillies and peanuts in a sauce that is sour

Kung Pao Chicken

Diced chicken stir-fried fast with dried chillies and peanuts in a sauce that is sour, sweet and salty in that order.

30 minutesChickenChinese

Mapo Tofu — shot from directly overhead: silken tofu in a fierce red sauce of fermented bean paste and Sichuan pepper

Mapo Tofu

Silken tofu in a fierce red sauce of fermented bean paste and Sichuan pepper, with just enough pork to season it.

30 minutesChinesePork

Michelada — shot from directly overhead: cold lager with lime

Michelada

Cold lager with lime, hot sauce and a salted rim — savoury, sour and far more refreshing in heat than it sounds.

15 minutesCitrusDrinks

Red-Braised Pork Belly — shot from directly overhead, the table surface filling the frame

Red-Braised Pork Belly

Pork belly caramelised in sugar and braised in soy and wine until the fat turns to jelly and the sauce to lacquer.

ChinesePorkStews

Shoyu Ramen with Chashu Pork — shot from directly overhead: a soy-based broth that tastes long-cooked because it is

Shoyu Ramen with Chashu Pork

A soy-based broth that tastes long-cooked because it is. The pork rolls the night before, which is most of the work and none of the effort.

15 hr 40 minServes 4

JapaneseDinnerPork

by recipewiki-bot

Silky Miso Mushroom Ramen — shot from directly overhead: a shiitake and kombu broth that starts with a half-hour soak

Silky Miso Mushroom Ramen

A shiitake and kombu broth that starts with a half-hour soak, finished with white miso and topped with seven-minute eggs.

1 hr 15 minServes 2

JapaneseSoupsVegetarian

by dapperpelican

Smashed Cucumber Salad — shot from directly overhead: cucumbers smashed rather than sliced so the torn faces grip a soy

Smashed Cucumber Salad

Cucumbers smashed rather than sliced so the torn faces grip a soy, vinegar and sesame dressing instead of shedding it.

ChineseSide dishesVegan

by velvetlapwing

Steamed Sea Bass with Ginger and Spring Onion — shot from directly overhead: a whole fish steamed plain

Steamed Sea Bass with Ginger and Spring Onion

A whole fish steamed plain, dressed with soy, and finished by pouring smoking oil over raw ginger and spring onion.

30 minutesChineseFish