Soy sauce or known as a stir-fry sauce first popularly appeared in Asian cuisine but today, it’s commonly used all over the world. The base ingredient of this sauce is soybeans, therefore, in general, soy sauce is quite good for our health.
However, there are several kinds of soy sauce and they tend to be pretty salty or sweet. So if you want to be truly healthy, you better find a low-salt or low-sugar kind.
Light thin soy sauce is usually used as a dip or to marinate food, whereas the thick one is more suitable to stir fry. So if you want to learn how to thicken the soy sauce to make your stir-fry dish more attractive and delicious, this article is for you.
How to thicken soy sauce with a starch thickener
Cornstarch is the favorite thickener of many people. The instruction to use this ingredient to make you soy sauce thicker is so simple as guided below.
Material
- 1 to 2 tsp. of cornstarch
- 1 to 2 tsp. of water
Tools
- A saucepan
- A bowl
- A spoon
Instruction
- Pour the soy sauce to a saucepan over the low heat
- Whereas, create a slurry from the above ratio of cornstarch and water (you can adjust the amount if needed but normally, equal water and cornstarch will go well)
- Stir the slurry into the soy sauce
- Remove the pan of your sauce from the heat when the thickness reaches the right consistency
Notes
- Make sure to pour the mixture of water and cornstarch into the sauce gradually, a little bit at once to avoid turning the sauce too thick
- You can also add the slurry directly to your stir-fry dish while adding soy sauce to make the dish a bit syrupy
- Flour, potato starch, rice starch or tapioca powder can be substituted for cornstarch (typically use equal parts of these thickeners and water and follow the same instruction as with cornstarch)
How to thicken soy sauce by reducing the sauce
Reducing the sauce is always an easy way to thicken it. Just let the heat do its job and after the water boils and evaporates, it will leave a stronger flavored and thicker sauce. Let’s see how this method works with soy sauce.
Material
- None
Tools
- A saucepan
- A spoon
Instruction
- Pour the sauce into a saucepan and put in the stovetop
- Bring the sauce to a boil then reduce the heat to allow it to keep simmering
- Stir the sauce occasionally until it is thickened as you expect
Notes
- Time will vary in this method depending on how much water you want to remove
- This way is normally time-consuming but it won’t change the flavor of the original sauce
- Keep an eye on the sauce to avoid burning
How to thicken soy sauce with brown sugar
Brown sugar can make your soy sauce a bit sweeter, but it does help to thicken the sauce. Therefore you can consider using this method instructed below to fix the sauce’s consistency.
Material
- 2 tsp. of brown sugar
- ¼ cup of water
Tools
- A saucepan
- A spoon
Instruction
- Pour the sauce into a saucepan and put in the stovetop
- Add the sugar and water to the sauce
- Stir the sauce frequently until it is thickened as you expect
Notes
- You can dissolve the sugar with water first before adding the mixture to the sauce
- Honey can be used to replace brown sugar as its consistency can help to thicken the sauce. Just simply stir a small amount of honey at a time until the sauce is at the right thickness
- Add a bit salt if desired to lower the sweetness of the sauce after adding sugar or honey
