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What are the tradeoffs between soy sauce and salt to pick when to use which between the 2?

Does it come down to dry vs wet? Both seem to do the same job of being mediums for adding sodium/saltiness to something. One in a dark liquid form and the other in solid form. Are there other subtleties and nuances for optimizations? I've personally mostly phased out soy sauce out of laziness and minimalism, salt doesn't have an expiry date unlike soy sauce to my understanding. I'm curious as to what I may be losing out on in terms of options.

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user1821961
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5 Answers5

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Soy sauce is not just salty, it has a strong taste of its own. So, to answer your question: you would use soy sauce when you want the taste of soy sauce, and salt when you don't and just want saltiness.

Your question is a bit like comparing pure sugar and mint syrup: both add a lot of sweetness, but the syrup has a lot of extra flavors, you can't just substitute one for the other.

Najkin
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Perhaps the most significant reason to use soy sauce is that it adds umami, a flavor that is different from saltiness. In addition to the umami, additional flavors soy sauce brings are expected in dishes that use it as an ingredient. These flavors are not provided by salt alone. Also, soy sauce might have a "best by" date (of significant length), but it doesn't expire.

Enivid
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moscafj
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Soy sauce is pretty broad category of sauces from light soy to dark soy sauce, ponzu citrus soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, tamari which is a bipoduct of making miso, also the fermentation agents and methods differ greatly from japanese soy sauce (aspergillus oryzae) to say Korean soy sauce (natural yeasts and lactic acid producing bacteria). Also by salt do you mean table, sea, or kosher salt just to name the common ones? TLDR you have to clarify your question. Also to answer your question or what I think your question is, why use soy sauce over salt? Soy sauce has high levels of glutamate giving it the ability to enhance the natural flavor of your proteins that you cook and/or marinade in it, also it has salt in it so it's a flavor enhancer and a seasoning. Down sides the salt is not going to be evenly distributed in the liquid so always stick to a recipe and/or taste your dishes when using different brands and/or types of soy sauce, soy sauce can burn giving your food a bitter taste, isoflavones, https://www.webmd.com/diet/foods-high-in-estrogen, https://www.healthline.com/health/estrogen-in-men.

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elias altenberg
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I just happened to stumble upon a post on instagram that should answer your question pretty well - albeit specifically with regards to applications concerning grilled fish. However, I think the general idea applies - that soy sauce does enhance and contribute new flavors to whatever you are marinating with it, with much more complexity than what just salt alone can do.

Quoting from the author's post caption:

In my previous IG posts, I sometimes referred to the background/reason why soy sauce reduces fishy odor, why soy sauce becomes darker upon heated, and why soy sauce creates good flavor upon heated. So, I learned that all these functions of soy sauce contribute to the palatability of the food, which could also be confirmed by the chart of correlation values on the last slide.

None of this content is mine, all credits go to @takashi_tamari.

culinascience
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Salt is Vegan, Soy Sauce may might not be depending on the brewing process.

Also, some people cannot consume Soy for dietary reasons, my wife being one.

Criggie
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