Kikkoman soy sauce is the best-selling shoyu in the world. It has a complex natural brewing (fermentation) process – a special aspergillus mould is added to steamed soy beans and roasted wheat to produce a “koji” mash to which water and salt is added. This mixture called “moromi” is then left to naturally brew and develop in flavour and aroma over several months. After this time the moromi is slowly pressed and filtered to extract the raw soy sauce, then pasteurized to preserve the intense flavour and quality of the soy sauce.
Other types of soy sauce such as Chinese soy sauce are very different in style to shoyu. These tend to be chemically produced or partially brewed using little or no wheat or yeast and come in light and dark varieties.
Where Japanese shoyu contains just 4 ingredients, you can expect to see a minimum of 11-12 ingredients in Chinese soy sauces. Dark Chinese soy sauces often have caramel colouring E150 added to them and are thicker in texture and can have a sweetish aftertaste, and the light Chinese soy sauces often have a higher salt content than Japanese shoyu. They also do not have the same level of translucence and can look a bit “muddy”.
Kikkoman can be easily substituted for both light and dark soy sauces in recipes, whether in stir-fries, marinades, dipping sauces, dressings or as a universal seasoning in any type of dish.
Does Soy Sauce Contain Alcohol?
Kikkoman Naturally Brewed Soy Sauce contains <2% alcohol by volume. The alcohol is not added as an ingredient, but is a result of the natural fermentation process whereby the wheat starches are broken down to sugars and part of the sugar is changed into alcohol.
If you require a wheat-free soy sauce then you can use Kikkoman Tamari Gluten-free Soy Sauce. It is also certified halal by the Halal Feed And Food Inspection Authority (HFFIA) and their Halal logo is on the bottle label.
As recent of August 2025, Upscale Avenue has started exporting Kikkoman Halal Certified Soya Sauces to the Middle East via our Middle East partner and we are looking forward to increase our Kikkoman’s range in the coming weeks!
