What to use instead of soy sauce
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
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Salt and savoury depth in a stir-fry, braise or marinade
It is salt delivered in a fermented liquid loaded with free glutamates, so it seasons and deepens in the same spoonful.
TamariGluten-free
1:1
Darker, rounder and slightly less sharp because there is little or no wheat in it. Often saltier, so taste before you add more.
Coconut aminosSoy-free
1 1/2 tbsp per 1 tbsp soy sauce, plus 1/8 tsp salt
Noticeably sweet and much less salty, and the extra sugar browns and burns faster in a wok.
Fish sauceRan out
3/4 tbsp per 1 tbsp soy sauce
Saltier and funkier, and it adds no colour, so a braise you expected to go mahogany stays pale.
White miso thinned with waterRan out
1 tbsp miso + 2 tsp water per 1 tbsp soy sauce, plus a pinch of salt
Clouds the sauce and thickens it slightly. Boiling it hard flattens the aroma, so stir it in near the end.
What doesn't work: Worcestershire sauce. It is built on tamarind, vinegar, sugar and clove, so it brings sourness and a fruity spice where soy brings clean fermented salt. A stir-fry made with it tastes like brown gravy.
Colour and gloss on a braise or glaze
Dark soy carries caramel and extra sugar, which stains the surface and sets to a shine as the liquid reduces around it.
Kecap manisRan out
1 tbsp per 1 tbsp soy sauce, minus 1 tsp of the recipe's sugar
Syrupy and sweet, glazes beautifully, and scorches on the pan bottom if the heat is above medium.
Browning sauceRan out
1/4 tsp per 1 tbsp soy sauce, for colour only
Colours hard and adds nothing else. Past half a teaspoon in a dish it turns bitter.
Molasses stirred into light soyRan out
1/4 tsp molasses per 1 tbsp soy sauce
Deep brown with a faint smokiness, and it thickens the glaze a little.
What doesn't work: Balsamic vinegar for the colour. It reduces to a sour glaze that looks the part and tastes like salad, and the acid stops the meat browning properly.
A tablespoon of soy sauce carries about 1/2 tsp of table salt, so put that back if you take the soy out.