Читать книгу YO Sushi: The Japanese Cookbook - Kimiko Barber - Страница 9

Soy sauce is probably the best known Japanese seasoning ingredient and is made from fermented soybeans, wheat, salt and water. Although there are many different types in Japan, there are three types that are available outside Japan. These are: dark, light and tamari. The dark all-purpose soy sauce is used for most of the recipes in this book unless specified otherwise. If you or anyone in your family suffers from wheat intolerance, use tamari, which should not contain wheat. However, as manufacturers often use the term loosely, always read the label carefully before buying. Slightly thicker and less salty than the other soy sauces, tamari is also used for dipping. Light soy sauce is much saltier than the dark variety and is used in cooking when dark soy sauce would discolour the food. Buy a small bottle of dark soy sauce if you prefer to keep only one type.

Available in glass or toughened plastic bottles, soy sauce is best kept tightly capped in a cool, dark kitchen cupboard or, better still, in the refrigerator, if you have room. Its subtle aroma does fade after several weeks so buy it in small quantities. You may find that small sodium crystals have begun to form around the cap during storage. These are not harmful – just wipe the bottle clean and continue to use it.

In response to recent concerns about daily salt intake, some reduced-sodium soy sauces are now available, but the flavour can be disappointing. If you want to reduce your salt intake choose recipes that require little or no salt, or dilute regular dark soy sauce with water or dashi (see pages 16–17). However, you will find that the recipes in this book use surprisingly little salt.