Soy sauce versus tamari sauce – what the heck is that darker cousin to our beloved go-to stir-fry sauce, anyway?

Definitions:

• Soy sauce: a salty, fermented sauce much used on fish and other dishes in the Orient, prepared from soybeans.
• Tamari: a rich, naturally fermented soybean sauce containing little or no wheat and thicker than soy sauce.

Soy sauce:

• Has many forms found throughout Asia.
• Contains wheat.
• Has a lighter color.
• Has a super salty flavor.
• Is not great as a dipping sauce.

Tamari sauce:

• Is from Japan specifically.
• Can be, but isn’t always, gluten-free.
• Has a darker color.
• Has a richer, but more mellow, flavor.
• Is good as a dipping sauce.

The Reluctant Gourmet says, “When the sauce is going to be the star of the show, as for a dipping sauce for sushi or a quick and easy sauce for noodles, I’d choose tamari. When you just need to add some salty flavor to a stir-fry, reach for the bottle of soy sauce.”

While both soy sauce and tamari sauce are byproducts of fermented soybeans, tamari is thicker, darker, and has a milder flavor than soy.