The Worst Korean Soy Sauce (Sempio)
CHEMICAL SOY SAUCE
Can you guess which ones have it?
Sempio is Korea’s oldest soy sauce manufacturer and most trusted brand. Most Koreans know by now just how bad some of their soy sauces are. But does everybody? Because everybody should have the choice whether or not they want chemical soy sauce in their homes. Not trust a company blindly and believe their marketing bullsh-t that a certain product makes for a happy kitchen addition.
What is Chemical Soy Sauce?
Chemical soy sauce takes defatted soy meal (highly processed ground soybeans) and mixes it with hydrochloric acid. This process is called hydrolysis and breaks down proteins into amino acids and becomes a powerful flavour enhancer. The acid is then neutralized with sodium carbonate then filtered. The result is a brown sauce full of flavour enhancing properties. Sugars, caramel colouring and flavour additives are then added to imitate natural soy sauce. There is no fermentation during this process.
In Korea, it is illegal to sell 100% hydrolyzed soy sauce to consumers (unfortunately it is totally fine to sell it to restaurants!). Companies navigate this annoying restriction by blending it with some naturally-brewed soy sauce. Sempio has decided to formulate their entire JIN GANJANG (Jin Soy Sauce) lineup in this way.
What is Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein?
Hydrolysis of any protein-rich food (corn, wheat, soy) yields what the industry calls Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein. Manufacturers love HVP because it processes fast and cheap (more profits!). HVP usually uses grounds of these plant-based foods or low-quality GMO ingredients to chemically extract only proteins and flavour-enhancing amino acids. It is then ready to be an ingredient in many commercially-made products we enjoy buying.
“Flavour-enhancing amino acids” should raise a red flag in your subconscious. The amino acid that is recognizable to most will be glutamate. Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein contains 10%~30% MSG (monosodium glutamate). This is what makes it the perfect raw ingredient to use in many packaged goods. It’s a protein-rich flavour bomb.
Common Foods with HVP
Inexpensive soy sauce is the culprit we will discuss here, but there are countless products with HVP as a primary ingredient. Here are some familiar foods that have it.
Campbell’s Condensed 25% Less Salt Chicken Broth (Soy Protein Isolate)
Hungry Man Homestyle Meatloaf Frozen Dinner (Hydrolyzed Soy Protein)
Original Impossible Vegan Burger (Textured Wheat Protein)
As you can see, HVP can be listed in numerous ways.
(3) The term natural flavor or natural flavoring means the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional. Natural flavors include the natural essence or extractives obtained from plants listed in §§ 182.10, 182.20, 182.40, and 182.50 and part 184 of this chapter, and the substances listed in § 172.510 of this chapter.
Hydrolized “Soy” Sauce
devil’s advocate
Some people may not mind highly processed soy sauce. These are the best-selling budget products.
The benefits of hydrolyzed sauce is that it is very affordable. The completely chemical component allows it to retain its strong flavours no matter how you cook with it (naturally fermented soy sauce may lose some flavour when cooked with high heat- although it’s really a negligible difference you may not even detect). Also, it’s carefully attuned to please our palates so you will find it dependably tasty. Lastly, most restaurants use this type to cut down on costs which- let’s be honest- makes for happy customers.
The following are Sempio’s “blended” soy sauces (hydrolyzed soy sauce + brewed YANGJO soy sauce):
Jin Ganjang 진간장 (Jin Soy Sauce) S = 93% chemical sauce + 7% brewed soy sauce)
Jin Ganjang 진간장 (Jin Soy Sauce) Gold S = 90% chemical sauce + 10% brewed soy sauce
Jin Ganjang 진간장 (Jin Soy Sauce) Gold F3 = 70% chemical sauce + 30% brewed soy sauce
Guk Ganjang 국간장 (Soup Soy Sauce) = 80% chemical sauce + 20% brewed soy sauce
best korean Soy Sauce to Buy from Sempio Brand?
Sempio Joseon Ganjang
A real, homemade traditional Korean soy sauce is made with only 3 ingredients: Water, MEJU and salt. Meju refers to dehydrated blocks of fermented soybeans. It is saltier than the mostly savoury-sweet taste of soy sauce we expect, but this is what was used originally. You can use much less when making soups or marinades but can also dilute it yourself if you want some sweeter soy sauce for dipping or dressings.
How to make traditional Korean Soy Sauce in an All-Purpose Soy Sauce
The point is to dilute and sweeten this sauce= add sugar + water
Make a broth with flavourings of your choice. Typical ingredients are:
Apples/Korean Pear/Dried Dates/Onion (sweet)
Anchovy/Kelp (flavourful broth)
Bring broth to a boil then simmer for 40 minutes. Add traditional Korean soy sauce. Bring to a boil, then take off heat. Cool and store in the fridge, consume within 2 weeks.
The amount of water will depend on the amount of soy sauce you want to make. Try a ratio of 1:3 soy sauce to water. You can adjust to your taste preferences. If the subtle sweetness of fruits and onion is not enough, feel free to add a sugar of your choice. Common substitutes are sugar, oligosaccharide syrup. Honey or maple syrup is fine too if you enjoy those flavours, but many find their flavours too prominent.
We can only hope for a good facsimile of the original when buying commercially-processed products, but I think Sempio’s Joseon Ganjang comes pretty close. Only containing Water, Meju, Sea Salt, Fermented Spirits.
Sempio Yangjo Ganjang 501
Sempio’s Yangjo Ganjang (Naturally Brewed Soy Sauce) #501 is Korea’s best-selling soy sauce. Most households will stock this as their all-purpose soy sauce. It tastes good for dipping right out of the bottle and does well with all the cooking needs you will have with Korean recipes.
Yangjo Soy Sauce is made with the addition on wheat. Wheat is inoculated with active mold so the fermentation is more stable. Also, as wheat ferments, it sweetens and adds delicious flavours of its own. This product is fermented for 6 months. The Sempio Yangjo 501 and 701 are both brewed in the same way. The only difference is in their name, the 501 contain 1.5% TN (Total nitrogen is a measure to the content of protein levels) and the 701 has 1.7% TN.
TN or Total Nitrogen is an important indicator of quality in Korea and Japan and is a legal requirement for it to be listed. Regulations are not the same outside of those countries however, and if you buy a bottle with an English label, you won’t find it listed.
The recommendation for Yangjo Soy Sauce 701 is because it’s only a couple of dollars more for a better quality (unverified assumption) product. The differences in ingredients show that the 701 uses oligosaccharide additives instead of sugar (probably fructose/glucose). Are oligosaccharide additives really superior? If you know, please tell me, I’d love to know.
Conclusion, Chemical Soy Sauce
Hydrolysis is a chemical process that’s been used in the industry for over 50 years. The process was first invented to provide an inexpensive, nutritious protein source for developing countries. However, the cost-effectiveness of the practice has taken over food production globally. Will people stop loving the taste of McDonald’s and chips (you can take the bag of chips out of my cold, dead hands)?
We will not stop going out to eat, buying packaged/canned products or eating “junk food” on occasion. And that is what I hope this article achieves. Don’t feel like chemicals in food products and processing are to be avoided at all costs and demonized. They serve a purpose: to give choices of tasty foods, at an affordable price.
If you cook at home, you’re most likely putting in an effort to look out for your health. By knowing what is in the product you’re using, you have control over what goes into your body. Save the chemicals and unsavoury ingredients for things that are worth it, like Doritos and frozen honey garlic chicken wings. Not soy sauce.
Interesting Reading:
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I made a video about it too, check it out here 😁
