Korean soy sauce, (called Joseon ganjang=조선간장, in Korean) is a byproduct of the production of doenjang (Korean fermented soybean paste). Joseon ganjang, thin and dark brown in color, is made entirely of soy and brine, and has a saltiness that varies according to the producer. Traditionally in Korea, we have different kinds of soy sauce, depending on the length of the fermentation time. Basically we use 2 types of soy sauce the most. One is normal soy sauce, which is fermented for more than 3 years. The other is soup soy sauce which is fermented for 1 or 2 years. The longer you keep the soy sauce the darker color, and the stronger flavor. Nowadays, many Korean people just buy soy sauce from the store instead of making it at home since it is difficult and time consuming.
- Use:
Seasoning, Sauce- Storage:
Keep in the cabinet.- Brand:
I highly recommend the Korean brand of soy sauce called
“Sam Pio.”
Is kikoman Japanese’s soy sauce same as ganjang? Can I use kikoman instead of ganjang to make Korean dishes?
hi Bella,
I didn’t buy kikoman soy sauce yet, but some of my Korean friends around here use it for their Korean cooking. So I guess you can use it. 😀
hi aeri….!
actually I don’t really like salty soy beans,can I exchange some of reciepe with sweet soy beans?
(P.S= I do love sweet and hate sour or salty food)
hi ziezah,
well.. sweet soy beans sounds a little weird to replace this.. how about just reduce the amount of soy sauce.. so it will not be salty but still will have some of the original flavor for the dish.. ^^
hi aeri!
wht is the best substitute for the korean soy sauce? is it Thai fish sauce? can i use tht? its salty, clear and brownish with strong smell. im not sure whthr or not i cn get sampyo soy sauce in malaysia and there are thgs regarding halal products tht matters me. =)
hi Han Su Rii,
Do you have soy sauce in your country ?? even it’s not Korean soy sauce, I think.. you can use other country soy sauce.. it will be similar enough to use..but not fish sauce.. as you said..fish sauce has it’s own strong smell and flavor.. so soy sauce will be better to use than fish sauce… ^^
we do have it in malaysia. of course!=)
but the thing is, here we have sweet soy sauce and salty soy sauce…for sweet i did try it whenener i cook korean foods but the taste is really weird ;p
for salty soy sauce, its quite thick and viscous compare to korean soy sauce…it doesnt make foods looks good =)
hi Han Su Rii,
Oh.. we don’t have sweet soy saue.. that’s why that tasted weird..hehe if you can find japanese soy sauce..that will work for Korean food too..
Sempio macau tak Ada kat Malaysia tapi itu kikkoman punye pun boleh 😉
Can you explain the differences in letter selections of Korean soy sauce? I’m always at a loss at emart because I see one says F, another says S and yet another has SF. What do they mean? I must have purchased a different bottle from the first one because my marinades are very salty now when they were simply flavourful before. I’m grateful for the photo recommendation above! I see you have the S grade.
Hi Tamara,
To answer accurate to your question. Here is a link from Sempio site.
http://sempio.com/eng/products/List.asp?mc=020101
If you click you can see different kinds of soy sauce..and each one has own detailed explanation about the products. Hope it is helpful for you.
Thanks
Do you have a recipe for homemade korean (seoul) soysauce ?
hi John Luich,
I didn’t make a recipe for it to post yet..but I will add it to my list. thanks 🙂
Hi, can i know does this sempio soy sauce content alcohol?
hi Haro,
I just checked sempio soy sauce ingredient label for you. Nope..they do not have alcohol in it.. so you can use it without worry. 🙂 Thanks
I have been trying to find ganjang sauce forever. I found a bottle but it wasn’t the same as the “ganjang” that I used to eat in Korea on fried chicken. How do I achieve the same flavor? It was sweet and the bottle of ganjang I bought wasn’t.
hi Sophia,
The sweet fried chicken has other ingredients than just soy sauce. Korean soy sauce is not sweet actually. It is just salty. Maybe you can try this recipe. You can see what the fried chicken cooked with. http://aeriskitchen.com/2013/07/gyochon-chicken/ Thanks
Aeri, our family is using this ganjang now. We love its smooth taste very much! Thanks for your introduction!
hi Layping Pauwels,
I saw your food picture with ganjang in it on facebook..hehe ^^ I’m happy to hear from you as always.. stay cool ^^
Hi Bella, I’m Gena from Indonesia, i just bought that soy sauce ‘샘표’. I bought that because in ingredient it is non Alcohol. But I’m not really sure when I saw in ingredients that spirit. It is halal? Thank u for you answer..
Hi Gena,
I do see “spirit” as one of the ingredients in my Sempio soy sauce. However, I’m sorry but I don’t know much about halal.. so I googled..and find this link to share with you. Some people answered the same question you wondered.. hope this is a little helpful for you. https://islam.stackexchange.com/questions/11440/is-food-containing-spirit-vinegar-halal