One of the frequent questions I get asked when teaching cooking class is “Do I need different kind of soy sauce for Asian cooking?” The answer is both yes and no, depending on what you're cooking.
In my own kitchen I have soy sauce from various countries. When I cook Japanese food I use Japanese soy sauce, Chinese food with Chinese soy sauce, and Thai food with Thai soy sauce—you get the idea. Believe it or not they don’t taste the same, from sodium content to aroma. My goal is to achieve the authenticity of each cuisine.
Having said all that, do not fret! If you are just starting out with Asian cooking or only wanting to cook certain cuisine, then by all means just buy one preferred brand.
A regular soy sauce is made of a fermented soybean with yeast and wheat product made in several steps and aged for up to two years. Here's a few more options:
Black soy sauce: The sauce is aged longer and is mixed with bead molasses at the end of processing, which gives a dark color and thickness. Use sparingly in stir-fried dishes and heartier dishes such as red meat.
Sweet soy sauce: A sweetened black soy sauce. It can also be used as dipping sauce.
Tamari: A rare Japanese dark soy sauce brewed without wheat. Not to be confused with other Japanese soy sauce (shoyu).
Shoyu: This Japanese soy sauce contains more wheat and is thus sweeter and less salty than the Chinese origin.
Other Asian seasoning sauces
Fish sauce: Nam-pla in Thai, nuoc mam in Vietnamese, is made by fermenting anchovies with brine in barrels over period of months, resulting in clear amber liquid. Used in Southeast Asian cooking.
Hoisin sauce: Made from brownish red member of soybean family. The flavor is sweet, garlicky and spicy with a hint of five-spice powder. The texture is thick like mayonnaise.
Oyster sauce: Made from oysters, water and salt. Use in stir-fries to add depth of flavor and to thicken the sauce.
