Dark or light soy sauce?

[Ella]

I like a dash of soy sauce on my noodles and also to flavor savory meals and soups. I always thought there was only one kind until I discovered dark soy sauce which I prefer. Some people find it too heavy, but it's richer and tastier. Many restaurants only carry the light one, but if you ever get to try the dark one, it may change your mind. Also you tend to use less as it's more concentrated.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Never knew that there was a difference in color, except that to me, light would mean lower sodium, which I have that.
Kikoman Lite Soy Sauce. I mainly use it for Chinese cooking.

 

[Caribbean girl]

I am familiar with the dark soya sauce. I do not usually use this at home though. The only time I would use soya sauce is if I go out to a restaurant and they have it on the counter for you to use. I like to use it on pasta and chowmein noodles. Even though it gives the meal a nice flavor, I find it a bit too salt, so I would use only a small amount. I have never seen the light soya sauce, however. I do not know if this would contain less salt.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

There are plenty of different soy sauces, not just light and dark, which are basically the Chinese methods for brewing soy sauce. Japanese options include Koikuchi, Usukuchi, Tamari, Shiro, Saishikomi to mention a few, then you need to consider Taiwanese, Korean, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Burmese variants just to name a few others...

 

[Delftse Post]

Never knew that there was a difference in color, except that to me, light would mean lower sodium, which I have that.
Kikoman Lite Soy Sauce. I mainly use it for Chinese cooking.

Here is the confusion!

Chinese light soy sauce is saltier than the Chinese dark soy sauce. Dark is often used during cooking for colour, whereas the light version is used more for seasoning.

 

[Ella]

Most Chinese use light soy sauce for cooking as a seasoning and dark is used more for sauces or for dipping. If I am cooking for myself I will add dark soy sauce as I prefer it, but many people do prefer light soy sauce, especially for rice and noodle dishes. Light is saltier and better for seasoning and dark is a bit sweeter and good for marinades.

 

[kammy]

I choose the dark soy sauce on any given day as it's richer and it even give my dishes a better flavor; i especially like to use the dark soy sauce when i am cooking stewed pork as it really enhance its flavor.