The soy sauce label check

The quality of your soy sauce is just as important as the quality of the fresh ingredients you cook with. Soy sauce connoisseurs can recognise a premium soy sauce by making a few very simple checks. We’re going to explain what those checks are. Test it out next time you’re shopping at the supermarket.

Check the label first!

Here’s what you should be able to see on the label:

• A short ingredient list. This is something that applies to many foods: the shorter the ingredients list, the better the quality! Kikkoman Soy Sauce has just four ingredients: soybeans (GMO-free), wheat, water and salt. A premium soy sauce doesn’t need any further ingredients.
• The descriptor “naturally brewed”. The longer a soy sauce is brewed, the better. Kikkoman’s fermentation process takes six months.
• No additives, flavour enhancers or preservatives. A good quality soy sauce doesn’t need them!
• No information about genetically modified ingredients.
• Good nutrition facts. The higher the protein content, the better the soy sauce. The sauce’s protein content is what gives it its Umami components. Kikkoman Soy Sauce has a high protein content of 10g per 100ml, which is why it is officially categorised as “special grade” soy sauce.

Do the bottleneck test!

You can tell whether you’re holding a bottle of premium soy sauce or not by performing the bottleneck test. Shake the bottle slowly and gently. Naturally brewed Japanese soy sauce like Kikkoman Soy Sauce is reddish-brown, transparent and thin in consistency. Other soy sauces, such as the chemically produced ones, have a syrup-like consistency, and they are dark in colour or opaque.