I like the soy sauce that comes in a plastic packet with Chinese restaurant carry-out. It’s probably the McDonalds of soy sauce, so to speak, but I like it.
I’ve bought various brands of soy sauce from regular groceries and Chinese groceries, and all the ones I’ve tried are distasteful to me. They have a pungency I don’t care for. They’re too strong, too flavored, and to my taste unpleasant, even rancid and foul. I want something less aggressive, blander I guess.
Where can I find carry-out style soy sauce for use at home?
I’m also curious why none of the major brands (that I’ve seen) at U.S. groceries are like the carry-out stuff. I would have expected a similar “blandness for the masses” philosophy to apply. Why would something that seems to be universally present at every Chinese restaurant in the country be universally absent from store shelves?
I usually buy the low-sodium soy sauce for home use. That stuff is INCREDIBLY salty, so maybe a low-sodium variety will have a more mild flavor you’ll prefer.
A related question: as much as I love teriyaki dishes at Japanese restaurants, whenever I buy a bottle of teriyaki sauce for the house, it is always thin and salty, much like soy sauce, not thick and sticky and sweet like the BBQ glaze-like sauce I get on meat at restaurants. Am I buying the wrong product, or what?
You’re probably buying marinade/sauce, not straight teriyaki sauce. The only time I’ve ever seen what you described was when Woodman’s had Kraft teriyaki sauce on sale for, like, 79 cents a bottle. That was more of a BBQ-y sauce.
Huh. I always thought that Kikkoman (NOT KiNkoman!) was one of the more strongly flavoured soy sauces. I think your problem is that you’re getting Kikkoman.
I’m using “Pearl River Bridge” soy sauce, but I’m the UK, and I use it mostly as a cooking sauce, not a dipping sauce. I would advise to get the cheapest sauce you can find, then work yourself up the price range. That’s how I buy soy sauce, anyway, and I’m Chinese.
Or try Tamari sauce instead of soy sauce. I think I know the taste you’re talking about. I always found that soy sauce had an undertone I could only describe as “dusky” that I wasn’t fond of. Tamari, which is very, very similar, doesn’t have that tone.
Thanks for the suggestions. My perception was that difference is not analogous to that between say, Budweiser and Bud Light, but between Budwieser and oatmeal stout. Nevertheless, it sounds like I need to try a “Lite” variety and see if it’s what I’m after.
I happen to have a packet of the stuff on hand. The brand name is Kari-Out Co., which I find interesting and amusing.
I always thought it strange that most restaurants had Kikkoman on the table, for two reasons: first, it’s a Japanese company and I would think that Chinese restaurants would prefer a Chinese recipe sauce; and second, it’s invariably not what they provide for carry-out. One of life little mysteries, I guess.
Hmm. I just went to http://www.kariout.com/ . They offer not only the carry-out packets, but the same product by the bucket. Really makes me wonder why restaurants don’t use it on the table. However, the company seems to specialize in servicing restaurants, and I saw no sign that they market directly to consumers. The sauce comes in packets and buckets but not in bottles that would be sold in a grocery. Interesting.
I use Rooster Brand dark soy sauce. It has a nice flavor and is a tiny bit sweet. I’ve found dark soy sauces are usually more to my liking than light soy sauces.
Well, I’m not sure what they are supposed to be called, but I know what you’re looking for.
Kikkoman makes a Teriyaki “Baste and Glaze” product which is really tasty. It’s the sweeter, thicker, sticky style of teriyaki you’ll see on most “teriyaki” chicken sandwiches at typical American restaruants.
What you’re getting at a true Japanese restaruant is most likely a Teriyaki flavored sauce that is made by the chef. They either mix together the Soy-ish Teriyaki sauce you’re used to buying with sugar and a bit of oil and simmer it down into a thicker glaze, or they affect the same result during the cooking process in a stir fry.
The “Baste and Glaze” product is pretty good stuff, though I don’t recommend cooking with it since it’s too sticky and tends to scorch due to the amount of sugar, it is great brushed on shortly before serving.
If you want to cook with Teriyaki and are looking to create a more sweet stick sauce like you’re describing, simply add some honey or brown sugar as it cooks. Yummy stuff.
Also note that Lawry’s makes a couple of 30-minute marinades that fall somewhere between the two type of Kikkoman products. Not nearly as sweet as the Baste/Glaze, but much sweeter than the traditional kind. I like to use it to marinate a few diced chicken breasts and the saute the whole batch at once using the marinade as a sauce. I’ll sometimes add a little water during cooking if it looks like the sauce is drying up too fast before it starts to burn. Mixing in a little olive oil can also go a long ways to extending the marinade into a nice sauce to serve over rice.
Kikkoman offers those nice little bottles for the table. I think that some restaurants may refill them from other brands.
My terriyaki sauce has in it soy, oil, ketchup, vinegar, garlic, and tabasco. I use about twice as much soy as oil, about one quarter as much ketchup as oil and as much vinegar as ketchup, garlic and tabasco to taste. If it is not sweet enough, sugar or more ketchup can be added. Whisk together until it is emulsified.
Me and a large number of my Asian friends (all of them, as far as I can tell) use Maggi Seasoning as soy sauce. I use it too, it seems to have less of a bite than the more common grocery store brands. You’d probably never buy it because it doesn’t actually say soy sauce on the label, but as far as my tastebuds can tell, that’s exactly what it is.
