Can light soy sauce be replaced with soy sauce?

There are many kinds of soy sauce, including light soy sauce and dark soy sauce. Each type of soy sauce has different functions and tastes. Sometimes you need to use light soy sauce when cooking, which can make the dishes taste better. But sometimes certain condiments in the home may run out. So, if the light soy sauce used for cooking is used up, can we use the soy sauce at home instead?

If you don’t have high requirements, you can consider using dark soy sauce instead.

Both dark soy sauce and light soy sauce are called soy sauce, but dark soy sauce is slightly sweeter than light soy sauce and is more expensive than light soy sauce. Generally, Haitian’s dark soy sauce and light soy sauce are more common, while Lee Kum Kee’s are more premium.

Soy sauce is divided into "light soy sauce" and "dark soy sauce". Where does this saying come from? The answer is that it comes from Guangdong and other regions in my country. The word "抽" comes from the traditional brewing process of soy sauce - the raw materials are fermented in a soy sauce jar, and the original soy sauce juice will slowly seep out. Because the soy sauce jar cannot be dumped, the original liquid has to be "抽" out.

The word "抽" in "light soy sauce" and "old soy sauce" actually means pumping water. Light soy sauce can be eaten directly as a dip, while dark soy sauce needs to be cooked before consumption. After being drawn out of the sauce jar, soy sauce begins to be differentiated. Some soy sauce can be used after simple processing, and this is light soy sauce. The other part has caramel color added to it, and then goes through a special process to make the color richer. This is dark soy sauce.

Generally speaking, light soy sauce is more often used as a seasoning for cooking, for mixing cold dishes, and as a dipping sauce. Dark soy sauce has a darker color, so it is generally used in braised dishes that need to be colored. In some parts of our country, there is no distinction between light soy sauce and dark soy sauce. Caramel is added to adjust the color when cooking braised pork. If dark soy sauce is used, it is equivalent to the factory adding caramel on your behalf.

In addition to light soy sauce and dark soy sauce, different regions in my country also have other names for different types of soy sauce. During the interview, the reporter found that in Shanghai alone there are ways to distinguish between raw soy sauce and cooked soy sauce, red soy sauce and white soy sauce. These different names can sometimes be confusing. For example, "white soy sauce" actually refers to light soy sauce, and its color is still soy sauce color instead of white. "Cooked soy sauce" also refers to "raw" soy sauce. Because it can be directly used as a dipping sauce, it is considered to be "cooked". The dark soy sauce that is generally used for coloring, also known as raw soy sauce, needs to be "cooked" together with fish, meat and other ingredients before it is suitable for consumption.

The use of light soy sauce and dark soy sauce are not mutually exclusive. If you want the dish to look less "heavy" while maintaining its flavor, you can use light soy sauce for seasoning first, and then use a small amount of dark soy sauce for coloring.