Like so many other condiments, soy sauce comes in many, many varieties, each with its own signature flavor. Now, do you know which soy sauce brand you want to add to your dishes for your own trademark flavor? Our Test Kitchen sampled nine popular brands to find the best soy sauce. This soy sauce made from water, soybeans, wheat, and salt is fermented and aged for four years in 100-year-old wooden barrels via the traditional kioke method. When the cedar barrels typically used for this aging became expensive and harder to find, many companies stopped using this process, but not Yamaroku for its Kikubishio Soy Sauce. It brews its product on the warm and dry Shodo Island in Southern Japan. Those recipes are just the start, though! Reach for the best soy sauce any time you want to add a touch of umami flavor and salt to your go-to dishes, sauces, marinades and dressings.

Soy sauce provides a lot of depth of flavor and umami richness derived from naturally occurring MSG," Smith says, But, like barbecue sauce, it comes in a wide range of styles. While it’s unlikely you’ll be able to sample the soy sauce at the local market, paying attention to the type of soy sauce will help you choose the one you like. As a soy sauce, though, the primary flavor was salt, and that’s just fine. This is precisely the flavor you need when making great dishes to bring out tastes in all the other ingredients. Just remember: When using generous amounts of soy sauce in your recipes, you can omit the salt.

This one is aged for two Japanese summers in cedar kegs, which adds to the complex flavor. It's also unpasteurized, so it retains the enzymes from fermentation, and it is naturally lower in sodium since the process used to make it involves less salt. It is also organic, kosher, and has no added preservatives. If you only keep one brand of soy sauce in your fridge door, let it be Kikkoman. This sauce is available at nearly every supermarket and big box store, so you’re never far from one of the best soy sauce options. Sometimes our Test Kitchen pros taste an ingredient and the perfect application for it comes right to mind (like how some San Marzano tomatoes just scream tomato soup). As soon as our testers sampled Lee Kum Kee Premium Soy Sauce, they thought: stir-fry. Other pantry staples like vinegar and olive oil are common gifts to give any seasoned or amateur chef, but soy sauce is a unique idea that is sure to please. There are five options of the Mikuni Wild Harvest Haku Japanese Shoyu soy sauce—all with different characteristics not found in typical soy sauces.

You can get it in a 10-ounce bottle with a special cap to help with pouring if it suits your needs, and at a good price, too. However, if you have a soy sauce-loving house, this low-sodium soy sauce is available in a 2-quart jug and a gluten-free 2-quart jug.It will add a deep flavor to any dish, but it will also create a dark brown color, especially in things that contain white rice or lighter-colored broth or noodles.

Fermented in bourbon barrels, Bluegrass soy sauce had a flavor unlike any other brand we tested. In addition to the salty, savory notes you’d expect from soy sauce, this brand also had some molasses and fruity flavors coming through making for complex and satisfying flavors.Soy sauce can be incredibly salty. If you need to watch how much sodium you’re consuming, regular soy sauce might be off the table. The good news is that this lower-sodium version is available from a popular grocery store brand. But this sauce is more than just the perfect consistency for dunking. Yamaroku soy sauce was strong with the right balance of cider vinegar-like acidity, sweetness and salt. This well-balanced sauce is a must for leveling up your regular takeout dishes and at-home creations. If the soy sauce will be used as a dipping sauce or its flavor is a major part of the recipe, it might be worth splurging on a sauce that was aged longer. Traditional soy sauces are aged for 5-8 months and are suitable for most uses, but for a real splurge, there are a number of soy sauces that are aged for up to 4 years.

Each brand was sampled blindly by our Test Kitchen team—both solo and with white rice. Our team was looking for the right balance of salt and umami. These aren’t the only tastes present in soy sauce, though, so our culinary gang kept careful notes on any other flavors they detected. Soy can sometimes taste citrusy, coffee-like or even funky—it is fermented after all! Our Test Kitchen-Preferred Soy Sauce BrandsLike wine or fine liquors, soy sauce may be aged. Longer aging creates deeper more complex flavors, but also adds to the cost. When the soy sauce will be mixed with other ingredients, used in a small quantity, or used primarily for the salty flavor, just about any sauce will suffice, whether it has been aged or not. While the exact ingredients and process differ depending on who is making it, traditional soy sauce is made from soybeans, wheat, and a fermenting agent—typically a mold—along with salt and water. The sauce is aged for 5-8 months, although some artisan sauces are aged much longer. There are also very inexpensive soy sauces that are made using a chemical process, while others are fermented for just three weeks instead of the more traditional several months. This one is from Kikkoman, a popular brand 20 generations strong that is known for its soy sauces. In addition to soy sauce and lemon juice, this ponzu contains sugar, vinegar, a bonito fish sauce, and salt. It may sound like it is full of sodium, but it has 480 milligrams per tablespoon serving—much less than regular soy sauce, making it a great option if you are watching your sodium intake. Ponzu is a citrus-flavored soy sauce that's used in dressings, as a dipping sauce, and as a marinade. It adds a tangy, acidic element to soy sauce and can really brighten up a dish thanks to the lemon and orange-like yuzu fruit juice that is often used.