Are there any good low/lower salt soy sauces?

I stopped adding salt to most things several months ago. For two weeks food seemed devoid of flavor, but now I’m acclimated to eating low salt. But now all types of soy sauce are far too salty to me. Though I used to scoff at the idea, I find myself looking for a low or at least lower salt soy sauce, because the regular ones are way too salty. I normally like to have a variety of different types on hand so any recommendations in any category (light, dark, sweet, tamari, etc.) are welcome.

Good luck. We’ve tried a dozen and still go back to KikKoman low sodium. Low sodium in Soy sauce is like ABV on wine these days. There must be a fudge factor. Unfortunately, there are very few good low sodium Soy sauces. And by the way, I’m still trying to find a Soy sauce that tasted like the ones I really enjoyed while living in Japan.

Randy, you’re confirming my fears, but hope springs eternal.

You know way more about healthy than I do, so I hesitate to even post this, but isn’t that liquid amino product low salt and tasty?

Rachel, if worse comes to worse, buy some MSG. Now that they dispelled the death factor, it can provide three times the flavor for half to a third the amount of actual salt. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

PS. Mark is describing it without using that “MSG” label.

MSG
MSG is a compound that contains sodium and glutamate, an amino acid. Glutamate is naturally high in protein-rich foods, so adding MSG to food enhances the pleasing, savory flavor associated with protein. Originally made form seaweed, MSG is now manufactured industrially and added to many canned vegetables, soups and processed meats. MSG contains about one-third of the sodium found in table salt and is commonly added in small amounts to food. According to the European Food Information Council, when MSG is combined with salt, it enhances flavor and lessens the need for salt, potentially reducing your intake of sodium by 20 to 40 percent.

I’ve bought Bragg’s in the past, but, frankly I’m a bit wary of it since they won’t say how it’s made. It’s not fermented like real soy sauce, and it has a high salt content for something that doesn’t add salt in the process (some people conjecture that the salt is a by product of how it’s made). Some people also claim it has high MSG content (they used to have an MSG Free sticker on it but that’s been removed). While Bragg’s has long been associated with health food, I’m a bit wary of it until they disclose more of how it’s made. I’d rather spend more money on a naturally fermented soy with lower salt content, assuming one exists.

Rachel - the only one I have found that is acceptable is the San-J Lite tamari. I generally prefer brands that are all soy and don’t use wheat. I typically use the regular black label San-J tamari and tried their Tamari Lite which has less sodium. It is in a white and green label jar.
Good luck in your search.
Let us know if you find one that you recommend.

It isn’t low sodium but this is excellent and unpasteurized so you get the live culture benefit http://amzn.com/B001A4DV88

Rachel,

It’s imperfect but the San J Organic Tamari Reduced Sodium is the best I’ve had (not the gluten free one, just the normal Tamari). It’s Tamari, obviously, and not shoyu but the flavor is there. It’s also about half the sodium of soy sauce whereas most “reduced” soy sauces are only reduced by 25% (similar to miso paste). Available at New Seasons/Whole Foods/Uwajimaya.

My other recommendation would be to make your own. Buy a good Nama (unpasteurized) Shoyu and cut it 1:1 with water that’s been steeped in aromatics such as kombu, mushroom, burdock, ginger, onion, etc. If you want to go that route, let me know and I’ll get you an exact recipe.

So you mean I am going to die a horrible death for consuming half that liter sized bottle of death amino sauce?

I knew not to trust my other “healthy” friend lol.

Thanks for the recommendations. I picked up a San J Low Sodium Tamari and one from Yamasa (never heard of it, but we’ll see) at Uwajimaya in Beaverton today. I hope one of them will be decent.

Paul, I really don’t want to get into making it, but if these are a bust, I might PM you for instructions (and thanks for the offer).

I definitely am in the same boat with getting acclimated to eating low-sodium & noticing any time something is too salty. My wife is gluten-free; I usually buy either the low-sodium San-J Tamari or low-sodium Joyce Chen soy sauce.
I also recently bought a bottle of Ojio “soy-sauce-alternative” which is a coconut-based product from the Philippines. Trying it straight (or using with sushi, etc) you can definitely taste a difference (sweeter, less umami) but it’s 1/2 the sodium of even the low-sodium products above and if making a dish where soy sauce is just an ingredient rather than a feature it makes a decent substitute.

We use the Yamasa and it’s decent enough for my tastes, plus Uwajimaya sells it in large refill containers as well.

Off topic, but I’m curious why you made that decision? High blood pressure?

My blood pressure is actually pretty low and I want to keep it that way, but salt is also associated with some other health issues that I’d also rather avoid in the future. OK, now I’ve opened the door to a giant debate on salt that I’d rather avoid.

For the record I use small amounts for some things (pots of beans for example), but I stopped using it as a routine thing where I just automatically add tons of salt to everything. It was an addiction I felt I could live without.

I like the flavor from Trader Joe’s low sodium.

Yeah…Automatically adding a ton isn’t something I’d recommend, though largely because I think it’s a culinary flaw. I don’t agree, based on pretty extensive reading of excellent research, with the correlation of a low-sodium diet with better health and lower risk of disease; but, in the end, none of my business what you eat - I was just curious.

Rachel, I don’t know if this is available in your market, but our favourite is Spiral Salt Reduced Tamari:

http://www.spiralfoods.com.au/category/5