Sauce – “Less Sodium Soy Sauce”

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I have here a bottle of Kikkoman "Less Sodium Soy Sauce". According to the label, it contains 37% less sodium than regular soy sauce (575 mg per 15 ml serving, versus 920 mg). How is this stuff made, and how will it compare to regular soy sauce in flavor?

An optimist would hope that it's made just like regular soy sauce, but less salt is added, so that it would still have the same soy/umami flavor but be less salty.

A pessimist would suspect that they just take 1 part regular soy sauce and dilute with 0.58 parts of water.

What is the truth?

These questions are related, but don't answer my question:

Best Answer

Well, this is what Kikkoman has to say about it:

Kikkoman Less Sodium Soy Sauce is brewed exactly the same way as all-purpose Kikkoman Soy Sauce. However, after the fermentation process is completed, approximately 40% of the salt is removed. Although there is less sodium in Less Sodium Soy Sauce, all the flavor and quality characteristics remain because it is aged before extracting the salt. However, to maintain this full flavor, we recommend using it during the latter stage of cooking in braising sauces, soups and stews, vegetables or stir-frys.

Huffington Post claims otherwise:

Another category of soy sauce is low-sodium, which is made with extra chemicals. Cooking instructor and author of "The Chinese Takeout Cookbook" Diana Kuan recommends diluting regular soy sauce if you want less sodium instead of buying the low-sodium stuff.

The ingredient list on my Kikkoman Less Sodium Soy Sauce includes lactic acid, which is not on the ingredient list of Kikkoman Original Soy Sauce, but as it is a by-product of fermentation, I'm not sure that it means anything.

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