Recipes

21 Excuses to Break Out the Soy Sauce

It adds color, flavor, and a salty umami hit. Is there anything soy sauce can't do?
Quartered stalks of baby bok choy topped with sauted finely chopped garlic and shallots on a white platter.
Alex Lau

It adds color, flavor, and a salty umami hit. Is there anything soy sauce can't do? We've got 21 ways to find out.

  • Image may contain Jar and Food
    Alex Lau
    3/21

    Soy-Sesame Dressing

    Far less sweet than the bottled version, but equally delicious on a salad or tossed with some soba noodles.

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  • Image may contain Dinner Food Supper Meal Roast Animal Seafood Lobster Sea Life Fruit Plant Pear and Apple
    Christopher Testani
    4/21

    Glazed and Lacquered Roast Turkey

    A little soy sauce in the glaze ensures the burnished mahogany skin that holiday memories are made of. But it’s not just for looks; this brined and buttered bird is seasoned inside and out.

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  • Spicy Tofy Crumbles recipe
    Peden + Munk
    5/21

    Spicy Tofu Crumbles

    Try these tossed into stir-fries, as a burrito filling, or folded into sautéed greens.

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  • Image may contain Food Roast and Bread
    PHOTO BY CHELSIE CRAIG, FOOD STYLING BY ANNA BILLINGSKOG
    6/21

    Salmon Teriyaki

    Teriyaki gets an image makeover in this classic dish without losing its sweet and salty glaze (thanks, soy sauce!).

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  • Image may contain Vegetable Plant Food Spinach Fruit and Pineapple
    Danny Kim
    9/21

    Sautéed Spinach with Soy and Sesame

    The earthiness of the spinach is balanced by the soy sauce and vinegar.

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  • A plate of Bulgogi plated in a beige bowl on a pink surface
    Photographs Elliott Jerome Brown Jr., Prop Styling by Christine Keely, Food Styling by Taneka Morris
    10/21

    Basic Bulgogi

    Cutting the meat into very thin strips allows it to absorb the hot-sweet-salty marinade in minutes, not hours.

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  • Image may contain Plant Food Dish Meal Vegetable Platter and Nut
    Alex Lau
    11/21

    Kung Pao Brussels Sprouts

    A vegetarian twist on a Chinese take-out standard, these sprouts deliver crunch, spice, and zing.

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  • A serving dish full of stirfried bok chop topped with caramelized garlic and shallots.
    Photograph by Elliott Jerome Brown Jr., Prop Styling by Alex Massillon, Food Styling by Emilie Fosnocht
    12/21

    Garlicky Bok Choy

    The soy-based sauce for these Asian greens is irresistable.

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Senior Associate Web Editor. When she’s not torturing herself by grinding coffee beans by hand and making her own butter, Rochelle writes about cooking techniques and seasonal eating for bonappetit.com. She comes to BA by way of a small farm in Central New York, where she worked as a farmhand ... Read More