With their wealthy aromas and umami notes, soy sauce and tamari do not simply add savory depth to the dishes they’re utilized in, in addition they improve delicate flavors you in any other case would not discover—like salt, these sauces can assist make one thing style extra of itself. Soy sauce has been round for hundreds of years: The fermented condiment originated in China over 2,000 years in the past, and finally unfold to Korea and Japan through the sixth and eighth centuries, respectively. As we speak, the ingredient is a staple in lots of Asian cuisines, with quite a few variations, together with gentle soy sauce, darkish soy sauce, and tamari, a wheat-free sauce created in Japan through the 14th century.

Whereas many soy sauces look related and have frequent substances, akin to soybeans and salt, they’ve distinct traits and preparation strategies that set them aside. To be taught extra in regards to the variations between tamari and different soy sauces, I spoke with Andy Matsuda, chef and founding father of the Sushi Chef Institute in Torrance, California, and Erik Bruner-Yang, chef and proprietor of the Michelin Bib Gourmand–successful Washington D.C. restaurant Maketto.

The Key Variations Between Soy Sauce and Tamari

Each soy sauce and tamari are salty sauces that add umami to meals. Nonetheless, how soy sauce is made impacts its taste and texture, and there are key variations which may make you attain for one over the opposite.

Manufacturing of Conventional Soy Sauce vs. Tamari

Conventional Soy Sauce

To make conventional soy sauce, brewers soften soybeans by soaking them in water for a number of hours earlier than steaming them. As soon as they’re cooked and whereas they’re nonetheless heat, the beans are blended with roasted wheat flour and a mildew known as Aspergillus oryzae to type a mash known as koji. This course of produces enzymes, primarily proteases and amylases, that give soy sauce its signature umami taste. Whereas Japanese soy sauces are usually made with an equal quantity of soybeans to wheat, Chinese language soy sauces are normally made with extra soybeans than wheat, with ratios of 4 components soybeans to at least one half wheat or seven components soybeans to 3 components wheat.

The koji is then left to take a seat for 3 days in a wood barrel. Within the ebook FoodUnfolded, science author Samantha Oton explains that this resting interval is an important step within the fermentation course of. “It’s throughout this era of fermentation that starches are damaged down into easy sugars, proteins into amino acids, and oils into fatty acids,” she notes. “Considered one of these less complicated molecules is glutamic acid,” the amino acid liable for the umami notes in meals.

After this resting interval, the koji is blended with salt and water and left to ferment for a number of months or years. How lengthy the combination is aged and the vessel used play giant roles in figuring out the sauce’s shade, consistency, and taste. The shorter the fermentation, the lighter and thinner the sauce. (Although wooden barrels are conventional, many soy sauces are fermented in stainless-steel vats right this moment for effectivity and consistency from batch to batch.) As soon as the beans have fermented, brewers press the mash via fabric to extract and filter the fragrant sauce.

Tamari

In contrast to different soy sauces, tamari is wheat-free. Historically, tamari refers back to the liquid that naturally swimming pools on the floor of miso after the paste has fermented for a couple of month. As a consequence of tamari’s recognition right this moment, many producers have needed to abandon the standard technique in favor of a business course of that yields greater outcomes and quicker outcomes. 

As we speak, most tamari is made with a way much like the one used to supply different soy sauces. As soon as the soybeans are steamed, they’re formed into balls, then coated with Aspergillus oryzae. After three to 4 days, a salt brine is added to the beans, and the combination is left to ferment in wooden barrels for six months to 3 years. As a result of tamari is usually fermented  longer than soy sauce, it’s usually thicker than soy sauce (although there are conventional soy sauces which might be fermented for a number of years, too).

Taste

Soybeans are excessive in pure glutamic acid, which supplies soy sauce its distinct savory and umami-packed taste. Tamari has a wealthy, full-bodied taste with a savory tang, and is much less sharp and salty than different soy sauces. In line with Matsuda, true Japanese tamari skimmed from fermenting miso is richer, smoother, and sweeter than tamari that’s commercially made within the US.

Bruner-Yang tells me that as a result of tamari incorporates no wheat, he finds that it usually tastes mellower than most soy sauces, and describes its taste as nearly watered down.

Viscosity

One other distinction between conventional soy sauce and tamari is consistency. Tamari is usually just a little thicker and darker than common soy sauce, however not as viscous as darkish soy sauce, which is sort of syrupy, says Matsuda. Many darkish soy sauces are aged for as much as 5 years, and a few commercially produced darkish soy sauces are enhanced with sugar to present them a treacly texture.

Value and Availability

In america, soy sauce is extra ubiquitous and usually cheaper than tamari, seemingly as a result of it’s broadly utilized in varied cuisines, together with Chinese language, Japanese, and Korean, amongst others. Within the US, soy sauce has been a pantry staple for a lot of because the Sixties, when the growing variety of Japanese eating places opening throughout the nation made it a extra well-known ingredient for a lot of Individuals. 

Tamari, however, was principally reserved for Japanese cooking within the US till the rising macrobiotic motion within the mid-Seventies made tamari a staple at well being meals shops. The ingredient grew to become more and more widespread within the US and different nations within the 2010s as extra individuals began consuming gluten-free diets, however tamari nonetheless typically prices barely greater than the typical soy sauce you may discover on the grocery retailer. For comparability, a 10-ounce bottle of Kikkoman soy sauce prices $3.29 at Safeway in Colorado, and the identical dimension bottle of San-J tamari prices $4.29. 

Premium brews are their very own story: For instance, natural and imported tamari can fetch $35 and up for a 17-ounce bottle (about $2 an oz), whereas premium aged soy sauces can price greater than $12 an oz.

Finest Makes use of for Soy Sauce and Tamari

Soy sauce is a staple in lots of Asian cuisines, and a few dwelling cooks might wish to inventory their pantries with a handful of totally different varieties. Matsuda, as an illustration, retains at the very least 4 varieties in his Japanese pantry, together with tamari, darkish soy sauce, and even a uncommon clear soy sauce, however he principally makes use of common soy sauce.

Soy Sauce

Soy sauce’s saltiness and skinny consistency make it preferrred for flavoring braises and stir-fries. (You should utilize tamari in a stir-fry, however  you should definitely style as you go and season accordingly.) Soy sauce can be nice for ending off congee or egg drop soup. 

Gentle soy sauces are good for stir-fries, too. The ingredient is particularly known as for in lots of Southeast Asian recipes, together with these from Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Laos. It pairs exceptionally properly with substances which have a fragile taste, together with seafood, the place you don’t need the darker soy sauce’s heaviness and darkish shade to masks the primary substances. Gentle soy sauce will also be utilized in mixture with different sorts of soy sauces to present dishes a extra advanced taste.

Darkish candy soy sauce is nice for making stir-fried noodles akin to lo mein and pad see ew, because the condiment’s extra sugar helps encourage caramelization. Darkish soy sauce may add depth to noodle soups like ramen and soba, and braises like moo palo (Thai pork stomach stew). Unsweetened darkish soy sauce can be a staple in Chinese language delicacies, the place it stars in dishes akin to  soy sauce hen and stews.

Tamari

Tamari has a mellow taste that enhances many meals with out overpowering them, whereas its thicker consistency means it coats meals properly. Historically, the ingredient is used for dipping sauces, together with ponzu and eel sauce, in addition to marinades and glazes for grilled meats, akin to teriyaki. It’s glorious as a of entirety to dishes the place you desire a extra pronounced umami taste, together with sushi, poke, and steak. Tamari’s milder taste additionally makes it simple to pair with oils and vinegars for salad dressings.

Tamari’s gluten-free nature makes it the go-to sauce for these with the autoimmune dysfunction Celiac illness and gluten sensitivities, in addition to those that merely choose to keep away from gluten and wheat merchandise.

Can You Substitute Soy Sauce for Tamari and Vice Versa?

Whereas tamari and soy sauces can typically be used interchangeably, there are some variations to bear in mind.

As a result of tamari generally tastes much less salty than soy, you would possibly want to regulate the salt in your recipe accordingly. Conversely, substituting soy sauce for tamari in recipes might lead to a saltier-tasting dish, so begin with half the quantity known as for after which style and alter your seasoning as wanted.

“It is undoubtedly interchangeable, but it surely’s additionally a matter of private choice,” says Bruner-Yang, who switched to utilizing tamari in his restaurant completely in 2015. “It permits us to seize the essence of the dishes that we have been doing whereas being as pleasant to dietary restrictions as attainable,” he says. 

Bruner-Yang has used tamari for therefore lengthy that he now finds common soy sauce too salty, and recommends that cooks attempt a number of totally different manufacturers and sorts of soy sauce to search out out what works finest for his or her cooking.

The Takeaway

Understanding the variations between tamari and soy sauce can improve your cooking and let you select essentially the most acceptable condiment to your dishes. Whereas each present a pleasant enhance of umami in no matter they’re utilized in, their totally different manufacturing strategies and taste profiles make every a singular ingredient which may be higher fitted to sure purposes. Whether or not you go for tamari’s wealthy, easy style or soy sauce’s salty, sturdy taste, each have worthwhile locations within the culinary world.