Re: Difference between Soy sauces..

Please, Maangchi or anyone correct me if I’m wrong. I know a lot of this is just from my family’s personal use and preferences.

In my household there are these types of soy sauces:

jo seon gan jang = the korean soy sauce

this is our soy sauce. the korean soy sauce. this soy sauce is really salty, super earthy, very pungent. its a direct biproduct of making doenjang (korean miso).

‘normal’ ganjang = kikkoman soy sauce (japanese soy sauce)

my parents are from a batch of korean’s that immigrated here in the late 70’s and early 80’s. back in the day there wasn’t a lot of Korean products that they could get without having to make it themselves. So, I think for many Koreans who immigrated at that time this became their ‘normal soy sauce’ . My parents and all my parents’ korean friends used this soy sauce. i think it was the most similar thing that they could find from their mainland without having to make too much sacrifice in flavor.

jin gan jang = has a lot of flavor, its a premade variety

i honestly don’t know too much about this soy sauce other than its not just ‘salty’. it has a lot of other flavors in there that dont’ make it your typical soy sauce. My family doesn’t use this soy sauce all that much but typically it is used in banchans (not main dishes or soups)

gook gan jang = soup soy sauce.

this is the soy sauce for soups. it gives soups that salty taste without compromising the broth to a darker hue.