Shopping for soy sauce / Muen Shoyu

[LarsTheo]

I went to Mitsuwa today for soy sauce and found the selection a bit confusing. They have recently remodeled their store in Mar Vista (at Centinella and Venice Blvds), but I have also noticed different brands. I usually buy one bottle of Light Soy Sauce and one of Reduced Salt, but this time I found Saltless Shoyu, and bought that instead of the Reduced Salt. The Saltless Shoyu (Shirakiku brand) needs to be mixed with the Higashimaru Light (Thin) Color Soy Sauce that I also bought, which has a good flavor but is way too salty. The Muen Shoyu cannot be used by itself, but I was wondering what other uses it might have. I do like the mixture of Muen Shoyu and Uskchi Syoyu.

 

[epigene]

Hi Lars,

This is not a direct answer to your question, but I'd like to give my two bits on "saltless (muen)" and "usukuchi (light)" soy sauce.

In Japan, saltless soy sauce is not appreciated, and I believe there are none of this kind sold here any longer. The reason is because of its horrid taste and the high level of potassium (probably added to compensate for making it sodium-free) that is a no-no for people who require dialysis.

Usukuchi (light-colored) soy sauce is not used like the "regular" darker black soy sauce. It is used in cooking rather than at the table, to add soy taste to foods (especially vegetables) without losing their natural colors. Because of this, it has a high salt content and must be used carefully.

If you are not seriously concerned of your sodium intake, I recommend you go for the "regular" soy sauces. If you're interested in the "premium" kind, there are soy sauces produced in small soy sauce makers here in Japan:
Higeta Genbagura
Marukame Shoyu

These are soy sauce brewers that I like, but there are many more. The second one actually delivers soy sauce to Waldorf Astoria in New York and other exclusive hotels.
There should be many that accept international deliveries.

If you don't go for the expensive kind, I recommend using just the regular brands like Kikkoman, Yamasa or Higeta.

If you're concerned of the sodium level, the method that many Japanese do to control sodium level is to dilute soy sauce with cold "kobu" broth (1:1 ratio), which reduces the sodium without compromising on the soy sauce flavor. This is the best way, but it must also be noted that this mixture spoils more easily than regular soy saunce and should be kept in the fridge.

HTH!

 

[LarsTheo]

Thanks so much for the info - I thought the Usukuchi was extremely salty, but then I had planned to combine it with Muen Shoyu - it was just an experiment. I also bought some "ready to use Soba Tsuyu", which lists dried bonito as the first ingredient, and I plan to use this in cooking, I think. It's rather mild in flavor. Both of the Shoyu I bought have alcohol as a preservative and say nothing about refrigerating them, but I bought some Ponzu sauce that does not have alcohol, and it says it should be refrigerated.
Mitsuwa sells the Marukame Shoyu (I think), and so I will go back and get that. I don't like Kikkoman so much, but I did like the Yamasa that I bought, which is what I just ran out of. I'm not terribly concerned about sodium, although I do tend to have high blood pressure - I just simply don't like the flavor of things that are too salty. I actually take potassium supplements, and so anything with potassium would actually be helpful for me.
Thanks for recommended the soy sauce brands - I get a very good selection here of Japanese products but don't know enough about the different brands, etc. I only recently discovered sembei crackers when a friend from Japan sent me some. The ones she sent are the best I've had, but they are readily available here as well.

 

[bezz]

無塩醤油

In Japan, saltless soy sauce is not appreciated, and I believe there are none of this kind sold here any longer. The reason is because of its horrid taste and the high level of potassium (probably added to compensate for making it sodium-free) that is a no-no for people who require dialysis.

Very corrrect; called up Soy Sauce Information Center (association of 1600 manufacturers) +81(3)3666-3286 the other day, the answer was:

"There did exist such product as saltless soy sauce in the Japanese market; the manufacturer stopped production in Sep. 2001, because pottassium overdoze could be lethal for kidney problem patients."


Some non-Japanese manufacturers that do not care about food safety might still keep exporting it to the US, though.



Japan Food Safety Commission

 

[SushiShin]

This is the one i always use, and its always my best friend in soya sauces