Cooking Experiment: Soy Sauce Substitute - Take 1

As previously reported, I'm on a quest to formulate a truly low-sodium alternative to soy sauce specifically for use in my "savory oatmeal" recipe. If you've never checked the nutritional label on a bottle of soy sauce, take a look:

My habitual lunch is oatmeal flavored with soy sauce, bacon bits, and cayenne pepper. I use at least 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, so the amount of sodium is huge. No wonder it's so delicious! I considered switching to low-sodium soy sauce, but it's not that much better:

I did my first experiment last night to create a soy sauce substitute.

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Soy Sauce Substitute - Take 1

Ingredients 

• 2/3 c. chopped ginger root
• 2 T.  salt-free chicken bouillon
• 1/4 c.  Balsamic vinegar
• 1 T. Blackstrap molasses
• 1/4 t.  black pepper
• 2 T.  chopped garlic
• 2 c.  water
• 1/4 t.  salt

Preparation

1. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until liquified.
2. Pour into a sauce pan and simmer very gently until reduced by 1/3. 

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After blending the ingredients, the volume was 3 cups. My ceramic-top stove isn't the greatest appliance for fine temperature control, so I was very cautious while reducing the sauce. It took about 30 minutes to reduce it to 2 cups. The resulting sauce is thick--about the consistency of steak sauce. I took a taste with a spoon. The flavor profile comes mostly from the Balsamic vinegar and the finish is peppery. I'll be trying it in some oatmeal shortly.

I forgot to add fish sauce! That will hopefully go into my next experiment. Also, my grocery store only had salt-free chicken bouillon. I would have preferred beef.

Doing the math, 1 T. of this sauce contains 18.5mg sodium. I'd be willing to up the salt addition a bit if it's necessary to improve the flavor.

Post-Lunch Update

It took 3 T. of the sauce to approximate the dosage of soy sauce that I'd normally add to my oatmeal. I added the usual bacon bits and cayenne. The taste was good but very subtle. Upon taking a bite, the taste of ginger comes through along with the flavor of the oatmeal itself. Then the cayenne kicks in and dominates. This is much different from using soy sauce, which completely masks the flavor of the oatmeal.

Based on this test, I will give my next batch a little more punch.

Salt

Here's the deal.

A couple of years ago, I was diagnosed with high blood pressure. My GP spun the Wheel of Fate a number of times, trying out various drugs on me. I think he's finally got me on pills that keep my BP in the "Well, I guess it's okay" range.

Never has my doc suggested any lifestyle changes. That's okay, because I'm hip enough to know how I should be living my life. Eat right and exercise. Yeah... no.

But the "eating right" part is something I may wish to tackle. I know I should be watching my salt, but I have not been. I was shocked when I did a nutritional analysis of my daily lunch. I eat a "healthy" meal of oatmeal, soy sauce, bacon bits, and cayenne. Trouble is, the sodium in my hugely liberal soy sauce addition would come to about 1800 mg. That's most of my daily recommended allowance right there.

This got me thinking about all the other casual ways I'm taking in salt each day. A package of Combos Pizzeria Pretzels? Would you believe 810 mg?

So, starting today, I'm going to pay attention to the sodium content of the foods I buy. Since soy sauce is such an essential ingredient in my lunch of wont, I would like to find a substitute. The "Low-Sodium" soy sauce is still very high in sodium. This dilemma has lead me to a consider a homemade substitute for soy sauce. My googling turned up one recipe that was repeated frequently. I'm not sure this is the sauce I want, but here it is:

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons beef bouillon
• 4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons dark molasses
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 pinch white pepper
• 1 pinch garlic powder
• 1 1/2 cups water

Directions

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, stir together the beef bouillon, balsamic vinegar, molasses, ginger, white pepper, garlic powder and water. Boil gently until liquid is reduced to about 1 cup, about 15 minutes. 

So, here are my problems with this recipe. Bouillon contains tons of salt. I was able to find no-sodium chicken bouillon at the store this afternoon, but all the beef varieties were off the scale with sodium.

Powdered ginger may be great for cookies, but I think I'll need fresh ginger root or at least ginger paste for my own recipe.

Molasses--I'm suspicious. Actually I'm suspicious of any kind of "sugar" in a savory recipe. It could be that molasses is a key ingredient. I bought a jar at the grocery this afternoon to cover that possibility.

Garlic powder? No, I will use either fresh or prepared chopped garlic.

I'm thinking that a good dose of umami will help distract my mind from its expectation of salt. With that in mind, I think I'd want to add a good dose of Vietnamese fish sauce. 

In summary, it is my intention to perform experimental cookery with the goal of formulating a delicious, low-sodium alternative to soy sauce.

Stay tuned!