Essential Japanese Sauces for Authentic Taste

Discover the authentic flavors of Japan while learning about the culinary traditions of Japanese cuisine and the essential ingredients used when creating traditional Japanese sauces. The sauces of a national cuisine can be viewed as a culinary reflection of the traditions, agriculture, and history of their origins. The foods and cuisine of Japan have been influenced by its geography, imports from mainland China, and the introduction of Buddhist religion.

Geographically, Japan is an archipelagic country with access to a wide variety of fish, sea vegetables, and edible seaweeds. Tofu, another culinary mainstay, was introduced in Japan during the 6th century AD; around the same time as Buddhism. It is believed that the increased use of soybeans and tofu escalated during this time due to the adoption of Buddhism, and the corresponding practice of non-violence towards birds and animals.

Another important concept applied throughout Japanese cuisine is “the principle of fives”. The principle of fives is steeped in the framework of Wu Xing, a Chinese concept rooted in Taoism. The foundation of Wu Xing is based on the interaction between the natural elements; fire, earth, metal, water, and wood. Each elemental pairing has an impact that either restrains or intensifies the other, such as fire melting (restraining) metal or fire feeding (intensifying) wood. Today, the principle of fives can be found throughout Japanese culture in medicine, music, and the culinary arts.

In Japanese cuisine, the principle of fives is applied to tastes (gomi), senses (govan), colors (goshiki), preparation methods (goho), and key ingredients (ryori). The five key ingredients represent the fundamental flavors used in creating Japanese sauces; (satō) for sugar,(shio) for salt, (su) for vinegar, (shōyu/seuyu) for soy sauce, and (miso) for miso paste. These ingredients are harmoniously aligned with the five tastes - sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and umami. Sauces, like their ingredients, are designed to complement and enhance the other ingredients in a dish. Each ingredient plays a unique role and is added in a specific order.

Umami is readily found in commonly used ingredients throughout Japanese cuisine. Traditional Japanese sauces are crafted from complementary, umami-rich foods such as miso paste, edible seaweed, tamari, and mirin. When thoughtfully combined the savory flavors of a Japanese sauce adds a savory and complex flavor profile to your culinary experience.

Five Key Ingredients - Sa, Shi, Su, Se, So

Using these five essential ingredients, Japanese sauces impart flavor, luster, color, texture, and visual appeal. Each ingredient is traditionally added in a specific order according to its role in the dish and the impact it has on the other ingredients. Understanding each ingredient provides a roadmap for adjusting the flavors to your preferences.

Sugar and salt are singular ingredients and are to be added first to your sauce. These two ingredients do more than add flavor to your food; they change texture, enhance flavors, and prevent spoilage.

Sugar (satō)

1. Taste – sugar adds sweetness, and it also balances other flavors like acidity and bitterness
2. Color & Flavor – when sugar is heated to a specific temperature it causes caramelization, which creates a golden-brown color and the highly desirable flavor of caramel which can only be created with sugar.
3. Texture – through multiple chemical reactions, sugar creates the texture of many favored foods, such as ice cream, candies, jelly, and baked goods.
4. Fermentation – sugar provides energy during the fermentation process by providing carbohydrates for oxidation in an otherwise oxygen-poor environment
5. Preservation – sugar is hygroscopic, which means that it absorbs the water from its environment allowing for the extended life of foods made with sugar

Sugar comes in liquid or granular form. Liquid forms of sugar, such as brown rice syrup also add a glossy, thick texture to your sauce.

Salt (shio)

Five culinary attributes of salt:

1. Taste – Salt acts as a flavor enhancer by amplifying the positive qualities of an ingredient. Salt can also subdue or modify unwanted flavors like bitterness and sweetness. As one of the five tastes, the singular flavor of salt is pleasing as well.
2. Color – Salt can enhance and maintain or prevent the loss of color in food. When making bread, for example, salt is used to give the crust a caramelized, golden color.
3. Texture – Salt changes the structure of proteins and their interaction with other nutrients like fat, other proteins, and water. For example, when the right ratios are achieved salt can make meat more tender & juicier. In the making of yeast breads, salt slows chemical reactions impacting rates of fermentation and the formation of gluten (a wheat protein).
4. Binding – When salt binds with the protein in meat, it restructures the proteins forming protein gels that act as a binder or emulsifier preventing water and fat loss during cooking.
5. Preservation – Salt acts as a preservative by making the environment around it uninhabitable for microbes by depriving them of water. Salt also has antibacterial properties to halt bacterial growth and prevent spoilage.

Vinegar (su)

The third ingredient is rice vinegar, also referred to as rice wine vinegar, as it is made from fermented rice. Vinegar is considered a sour/bitter ingredient with a mild, slightly sweet flavor. The fermentation process uses the acetic acid bacteria to act on the rice sugars thereby transforming them first into alcohol and then acetic acid. The resulting rice vinegar is nuanced and less bitingly acidic in flavor than a typical white or red wine vinegar.

Five styles of rice vinegar:

1. White Rice Vinegar – simple, variable use vinegar with a tangy flavor and a clean finish
2. Seasoned Rice Vinegar - white rice vinegar with added sugar or spices for flavor
3. Brown Rice Vinegar – made from whole grain brown rice gives brown rice vinegar more nutrients than white rice vinegar made from hulled white rice; subtly sweet, with a smooth, clean acidity, and a toasted-caramel color
4. Black Rice Vinegar – mixed black rice, wheat, and grains to create a complex, deep, umami flavor
5. Red Rice Vinegar – like black rice vinegar, fermented rice, and assorted grains give it a distinct, sweet-sour taste with a bit of funk

PRO TIP: If you are using high-quality brown rice vinegar you can make a suitable substitute for sake in your recipes following this conversion method:

Brown Rice Vinegar instead of Sake:

1 cup of sake = ¼ cup Brown Rice Vinegar + ¾ cup water 

Soy Sauce (shōyu/seuyu)

Soy sauce is a traditional, time-honored sauce ubiquitous in Japanese cuisine. The fourth ingredient stands alone as a dipping sauce or marinade as well as an ingredient in a recipe. Soy sauce is not exclusive to Japanese cuisine; Korean, Chinese, Malaysian, and Indonesian cuisines have their traditional types of soy sauce as well. While all soy sauce varieties share soybeans as their main ingredient, they can differ widely in taste, quality, acidity, preparation methods, and/or ingredients.

Japanese-style soy sauce (shōyu), is made from wheat, soybeans, and a special fungus called koji (Aspergillus oryzae). The wheat is crushed, roasted then added to steamed, defatted soybeans, and koji. After a period of fermentation, it is strained and bottled. Shōyu has a subtly sweet, and smooth flavor with a slightly salty taste.

Tamari is a form of shōyu that stands in a category all its own. Unlike other soy sauces, tamari is produced during the fermentation process for making miso paste. As miso paste ferments it produces two products – miso and tamari. When the time is right the tamari is removed, pasteurized, and bottled.

Five types of shōyu:

1. Koikuchi Shōyu (Dark Soy Sauce) – an all-purpose, commonly used type of shōyu; good for marinades, sauces, gravies, stir-fries, and braising liquids; the flavor is lightly salty with deep umami flavor notes
2. Usukuchi Shōyu (Light Soy Sauce) – a lighter, thinner general-use type of shōyu that is good for lighter-colored soups, braising liquids, or marinades; saltier flavor than dark shōyu with slight sweetness and acidity
3. Tamari Shōyu – a form of shōyu that is a by-product of miso making with a higher soybean content; frequently referred to as a gluten-free shōyu because it is typically made without wheat; good for dipping, seasoning, and glazing; higher soybean content gives tamari a lustrous, thick texture, a strong savory, umami flavor with toasted-caramel notes
4. Shiro Shōyu (White Soy Sauce) – in contrast with tamari, Shiro shōyu is made using more wheat giving it a lighter color and mild flavor; good for clear broths, mild fish, or vegetables, and is most often used when another type of shōyu would overpower the other ingredients
5. Saishikomi Shōyu (twice-brewed soy sauce) – made with the same process as koikuchi shōyu replacing salt water with an already prepared tamari shōyu or Shiro shōyu giving it a deep, powerful umami punch of flavor; good for dipping, marinades, stir-fries, and braising liquids.

Miso Paste (so)

Miso paste is made utilizing a two-stage fermentation process to produce the distinct savory flavor, texture, and aroma of authentic miso. The first stage of fermentation forms the koji by inoculating prepared rice with a special fungus called Aspergillus oryzae (a type of fungus cultivated on rice or other grains) and salt. The koji is fermented for about 48 hours (approximately 2 days), during which it produces the necessary enzymes for making fermented food products like miso, mirin, soy sauce, and sake. The final ingredient in making miso paste is the fermentation or aging time.

Traditionally, the main three types of miso are Shiro (White Miso), Shinshu (Yellow Miso), and Aka (Red Miso). Each type of miso paste is aged (fermented) for a specific time interval (15 days up to 10 years) until the desired flavor and consistency are reached.

Traditional miso paste types are characterized by their color, taste, texture, and aging time. Non-traditional miso pastes are usually described by their unique ingredients, such as barley miso or chickpea miso. When miso paste is made using traditional fermentation methods the color of the paste implies other important characteristics such as flavor, texture, and the length of time given for the miso paste to ferment. High volume commercially produced miso pastes commonly use a short-cut to artificially induce the color with additives and accelerants to shorten the fermentation process.

There are more than 1,300 types of miso paste, each with a distinct flavor profile. Variations are created by using different ratios of soybeans to koji, modifying the aging time, changing the grains used to make koji, or using a bean or legume other than soybeans.

Five types of miso paste:

1. Red Miso (Aka) - Red miso paste is a traditional type of miso made from soybeans & rice koji with a higher ratio of soybeans to koji. Red miso is considered a long-term miso because it is aged longer (6 months to 1 year) to develop a deep, rich flavor, creamy texture, and dark red color.
2. White Miso (Shiro) - White miso is a traditional type of miso made from soybeans & rice koji with a higher ratio of rice to soybeans. White miso is a short-term miso because it is aged for shorter periods (15 days to 1 year) giving white miso a light color and a mild, delicate flavor that has a light cakey-sweet taste and texture.
3. Brown Rice Miso (Genmai) - Brown rice is a traditional type of miso paste made from soybeans & rice koji made using brown rice instead of white rice. Brown rice miso is considered a long-term miso because it is aged longer (6 months to 1 year) to develop a sweet, earthy flavor and dark red color.
4. Barley Miso (Mugi) - Barley miso paste is a traditional type of miso paste made from soybeans & barley koji which is fermented using barley instead of rice to make koji. Because the use of barley instead of rice means that it is not gluten-free. Barley miso is considered a long-term miso because it is aged longer (minimum 1 year) and can vary in color and flavor. Shorter aging times create a light-yellow miso paste with a sweet flavor. Longer aging times result in a rich, savory taste with a dark red color.
5. Chickpea Miso - Chickpea miso is a modern style of miso paste made with chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans) instead of soybeans. Chickpea miso is a soy-free, short-term miso paste that is aged for shorter periods (minimum 30 days). The resulting miso paste is light-colored, lightly sweet-salty, with a mild flavor.

5 Japanese Sauces Recipes

All of the ingredients highlighted here are integral components in Japanese cuisine and can be combined in countless ways resulting in flavor combinations that are sure to please all five senses of taste. In fact, adding a sauce changes the whole tone of a dish, taking it from snoozy to snazzy, by effortlessly enhancing the flavors!

Making sauces is quick and easy! Skip the commercially made sauces – homemade sauces give you the ability to customize the flavor and ingredients eliminating artificial colors, preservatives, and added sugar.

• Tamari : Not only the foundation for many of these sauces, but also stands alone as a great dipping sauce or marinade.
 
• Okonomiyaki Sauce : Savory and sweet with a sharpness of flavor that is typically served with a traditional Japanese-style pancake. It can be used for dipping, as a sauce, or to boost flavor in a soup or stir-fry.
 
• Ponzu Sauce : A bright and tangy dipping sauce with intense flavor and a clean citrus finish.
 
• Teriyaki Sauce : A popular sauce that is salty and sweet with any number of great variations. This is also a universal sauce that can be used as a dip, marinade, or glaze. It can also be added to a soup or stir fry.
 
• Tonkatsu : Japanese-style BBQ sauce made with 4 simple ingredients.  Skip the expensive store-made sauces and whip up this quick and easy sauce at home.