The difference between soy sauce light soy sauce and dark soy sauce
Release time : 10/28/2025 09:30:02
The difference between light soy sauce and dark soy sauce is mainly reflected in color, taste, use and production methods.
So, what are the differences between the four aspects? This section will elaborate on the distinctions between light soy sauce (light ketchup) and dark soy sauce (dark ketchup), allowing you to correctly distinguish between the two. Additionally, it will introduce other knowledge points about soy sauce.
Soy sauce, light soy sauce and dark soy sauce are different types of soy sauce. Soy sauce is a common condiment used in many dishes. However, some people may not be able to distinguish between light soy sauce and dark soy sauce.
Ma Ma Dictionary teaches you how to correctly differentiate soy sauce and dark soy sauce based on color, taste, use, and preparation methods.
Differences in color Light soy sauce: Light soy sauce color is relatively light and reddish brown.
Soy sauce: Added caramel color, the color is very dark, brown and shiny.
Differences in taste: Light soy sauce: It is used for general cooking and tastes salty.
Dark Soy Sauce: It has a sweet and slightly savory taste when eaten.
Differences in use: Light soy sauce is used for seasoning. Because of its light color, it is used more when making general stir-fried dishes or cold dishes.
Browning: Generally used for coloring food.
For example, it is better to use it when making dishes that need to be colored such as braised pork.
Differences in production: Light soy sauce: Light soy sauce is a variety of soy sauce. It uses soybeans and flour as the main raw materials, is artificially grafted with human koji, is naturally exposed, and fermented.
The product is ruddy in color, delicious and harmonious in taste, rich in soy bean flavor, clear and transparent body, and unique in flavor.
Soy sauce: Soy sauce is based on soy sauce. The pressed soy sauce is dried for another 2-3 months, and then precipitated and filtered to become soy sauce.
Its product quality is more intense than soy sauce.
The freshness of soy sauce is dependent on the concentration of amino acids and peptide nitrogen, which generally increases with higher levels. This means that as amino acid and peptide nitrogen content increases, the quality of the soy sauce also improves.
According to the standards of brewing soy sauce in China, amino nitrogen > 0.8g/100ml is considered extra-premium.
>0.7/100ml is classified as a primary level.
>0.55/100ml is classified as secondary.
>0.4/100ml is classified as level 3.
However, this does not mean that the higher the amino acid phthalide nitrogen, the better the soy sauce.
Because the nitrogenous acid phthalide and helium used in soy sauce is also very high, or some illegal suppliers add a lot of umami agents to it, the amino acids are also very high, but this does not mean that it is a good soy sauce.
Nutritional content of soy sauce When talking about the nutritional content of soy sauce, I can't help but mention the main raw materials for making soy sauce (soybeans, wheat and salt). Therefore, the main nutritional components of soy sauce are amino acids, salt, sugars, and various trace elements. and organic acids.
Nutritional ingredients 1. Salt soy sauce generally contains about 18 g/100 ml of salt, which gives the soy sauce a salty taste and supplements the salt lost in the body.
2. Amino Acids The content of amino acids reflects the quality of soy sauce.
Amino acids are products derived from the decomposition of proteins. There are 18 kinds of amino acids in soy sauce, including 8 essential amino acids for the human body. They have extremely important physiological functions to the human body.
Nutrients 3, starch and sugars are the raw materials of amylase. They are hydrolyzed into dextrin, disaccharides and monosaccharides by amylase. All these substances have reducing properties. They are an important source of heat energy for human body. 60-70% of the heat energy for human activities is supplied by them. They are also an important component in organisms. They participate in many life processes in cells.
Some sugars and proteins can synthesize glycoproteins, and fats can form glycolipids.
The organic acids in the fermented soy sauce include lactic acid, acetic acid, succinic acid and citric acid, etc. They play an important role in improving the flavor of the soy sauce, but if the total acidity is too high, it will make the taste of the soy sauce overpowering and reduce its quality.
This organic acid has alkalizing effect, can eliminate the excess acid in the body, reduce urinary acidity and reduce the possibility of forming stones in the bladder.
Nutritional components 5. Various trace elements in soy sauce also contains many trace elements, such as calcium and iron.
The role of soy sauce, soy sauce is added to dishes, allowing people to appreciate its freshness and delicacy.
Therefore, one of the functions of soy sauce is to increase people's appetite, but in addition to this, soy sauce also has anti-cancer and cancer, swelling and itching, and lowering cholesterol.
Here is a detailed understanding of the role of soy sauce: The role of soy sauce 1. It can enhance people's appetite. When cooking food, adding a certain amount of soy sauce can increase the aroma of the food and make its color better, thereby enhancing appetite.
Soy sauce is primarily made from soybeans, and the beans and their products are rich in minerals such as selenium that have cancer-preventing effects.
2. Reduce cholesterol and reduce the incidence of cardiovascular diseases. Soy sauce contains a variety of vitamins and minerals, which can reduce the level of cholesterol in the human body and reduce the incidence of cardiovascular diseases, and can also reduce the damage to the body caused by free radicals.
Tang zao is used to treat scalds and itching caused by fire, water or insects stings.
The role of soy sauce is four, cancer prevention and cancer fighting.
Because soy sauce is mainly made of corn and soybeans, it has the effect of cancer prevention.
American experiments prove that soy contains special substance, isoflavone, can slow down or inhibit the growth of cancer.
German medical scientists have found that flavonoids can inhibit the formation of new blood vessels, thereby preventing malignant tumors that depend on new blood vessel supply for nutrients from dying.
Singapore study found that soy sauce contains more than one anti-oxidant. The time of each component to eliminate oxidation base is different.
It helps to reduce the damage of free radicals to the human body, and its effect is more than 10 times that of common anti-oxidants such as Vitamin C and Vitamin E.
The making process of soy sauce is an essential ingredient in daily life. It has a unique umami flavor, which is a major contributor to the deliciousness of dishes.
So, how is the hero of delicious food - soy sauce made? Let's take a look at the process of making homemade soy sauce: Soy sauce is mainly made from soybeans, wheat, and salt through processes such as oil extraction and fermentation.
Soy sauce is complex in its composition, with the main components being salt, as well as a variety of amino acids, sugars, organic acids, pigments, and flavors.
Soy sauce preparation: 1. Soybean meal is added to water and moisturizer, with the amount of water being 47-50% of the moisture content of the steamed fermented material as the standard.
2. Blending: After moistening with water, the bran is thoroughly mixed with crushed wheat and bran to ensure uniformity.
3. Steaming: Use a rotary steamer to pressurize (0.2 MPa) the material, causing the protein to be slightly denatured, starch to be fully gelatinized, and microorganisms attached to the raw materials to be inactivated.
4. Cooling and inoculation: The clinker is rapidly cooled to 45°C, followed by the introduction of 0.3-0.4% pure expanded culture of Aspergillus maltosa into the clinker.
5. Thick-layer ventilation fermentation: After inoculation, the fermented material is transferred into the fermentation chamber and vat.
Firstly, ventilate intermittently, then continuously.
The temperature of the fermentation is controlled between 30-32℃ during spore germination and no more than 35℃ during mycelium growth.
During this period, we will need to perform both re-flanging and scraping.
The enzyme production is most vigorous during the initial stage of spore germination, and the temperature should be controlled between 30-32℃.
6. After fermentation, the temperature of sorghum is mixed with 12-13°B' hot salt water and then placed in the fermenter. The temperature of the sorghum is maintained at 42-45℃ for about 20 days until it is basically matured.
7. Immersion oil soaking: The three oils left by the previous production are heated to 85°C, and then sent into the mature soy sauce paste for soaking, allowing soy sauce to dissolve completely in it. Then, the raw soy sauce (head oil) is slowly released from the bottom of the fermentation pool through a salt layer, with the concentration and salt content being replenished.
Boil-off is the process of separating soy sauce from the residue.
Generally, it is used to soak multiple times, and pour out the top oil, second oil and third oil in order. Only by recycling can basically extract all the ingredients of the soy sauce.
After sterilization, the processed soy sauce is heated to 80-85℃ for sterilization, then prepared (adjusted), clear and quality inspection, and finally, it obtains a qualified product.
Is it true that consuming too much soy sauce can cause dark skin? There is no concrete evidence to support the claim that consuming too much soy sauce leads to dark skin. Therefore, the belief that consuming too much soy sauce causes dark skin is not scientifically proven.
In the Chinese conception, there's an idea that "shape-fitting-shape". And soy sauce is dark, and people think that if you eat too much of it, your skin will turn black.
Some expectant mothers even believe that consuming too much soy sauce can cause their baby to turn black, leading them to avoid it.
The claim that eating more soy sauce can cause skin to darken has not been proven by research. It is understood that the pigments in soy sauce, which are regulated according to national standards, do not directly enter the skin and do not affect the synthesis of melanocytes.
On the contrary, when we omit soy sauce from cooking, many delicious dishes lose their flavor.
The claim that consuming soy sauce during pregnancy causes the baby to turn black is baseless. Actually, whether a baby is black or white is determined by genetics and has nothing to do with consuming soy sauce during pregnancy. Additionally, soy sauce contains amino acids, which are beneficial for our bodies after consumption. There's no need to worry! Consuming soy sauce can darken wounds, but this does not affect skin color. However, if you have an injury, there should be separate considerations.
Whether pigmented foods such as soy sauce will affect the color of wounds will vary from person to person due to differences in scar size and physical constitution.
However, if you have a trauma, it is best to temporarily "alienate" the soy sauce, otherwise it will easily make the scar darker.
The medical part covered in this article is for reading and reference only.
If you feel unwell, it is recommended to seek medical attention immediately, and the medical diagnosis and treatment will be subject to offline diagnosis.