Chicken is light in flavor, but the more you chew it, the more the umami spreads. That's why it's surprisingly delicious even with simple seasonings like just salt or soy sauce. It goes well with classic dishes like teriyaki and fried chicken, as well as stir-fries and simmered dishes, and blends seamlessly with any seasoning, making it a natural addition to your everyday meals.

Soy sauce is what really brings out the best in chicken.
Dark soy sauce, tamari soy sauce, dashi soy sauce... The flavor changes drastically depending on the soy sauce you choose. Even if it's the same fried chicken, just changing the soy sauce can make it taste "different from usual."

Shokunin Shoyu No.

As a fried chicken lover, I recommend these three soy sauces for marinating chicken.

My favorite chicken dish is fried chicken. The flavor of fried chicken changes completely depending on how you season it. That's what's so appealing about it; you never get bored of it if you change the seasoning, so I end up eating too much.

All five soy sauces in this set are recommended for fried chicken. Each has its own unique character, and it's fun to compare the different flavors. Among them, I would especially recommend these three!!

▼ Deep-fried chicken with a rich flavor

Traditional soy sauce / Kaneiwa Soy Sauce (Wakayama Prefecture)

Made with whole soybeans from Hokkaido, wheat from Shiga Prefecture, and sun-dried salt from Nagasaki Prefecture, the soy sauce is carefully aged for two years in large cedar barrels. Kaneiwa Soy Sauce's warehouses and barrels are home to yeast and microorganisms that have been passed down through generations for nearly a century, creating a unique ecosystem. The mashed flavors that mature there have a well-rounded umami taste, and the soy sauce extracted from them is truly "authentic." It is characterized by a strong, full-bodied flavor with a tangy soy sauce taste, a deep black color, and a rich aroma.

If you use it to season fried chicken, it will turn out to be "izakaya-style fried chicken" that goes well with beer. The key is to add ginger so that it has a strong flavor but a refreshing aftertaste.

▼Punchy garlic flavor

Garlic soy sauce/Takatori soy sauce (Okayama Prefecture)

This incredibly fragrant garlic soy sauce is made simply with soy sauce and raw garlic from Takko Town, Aomori Prefecture. Even without the use of extracts, the aroma and richness are strong, yet not overpowering. That's why it's the kind of flavor you'll want to use again and again. The reason you can really taste the garlic flavor, yet there's no unpleasant lingering odor, is due to the pickling method. Instead of cutting or crushing, the raw garlic is pickled whole in authentic brewed soy sauce for two months.

Just marinate the chicken in garlic soy sauce for 30 minutes to create delicious, juicy fried chicken that goes perfectly with rice! The garlic aroma and umami flavor fill your mouth. It's mild, so it's also great for lunch boxes.

Mild and mild fried chicken

Miso Tamari / Ishimagoto Honten (Akita Prefecture)

"Miso Tamari" is the umami component of naturally fermented amber-colored miso. Made from soybeans and rice from Akita Prefecture, it is further fermented by adding rice koji and Shima Mars from Okinawa. It has a refined taste with a subdued sweetness, umami, richness, and a pleasant saltiness. The method of squeezing is also unique; squeezing with too much force would cause the miso to become cloudy, so it is squeezed in a "hanging bag" without any pressure, and only the natural drips are bottled. This results in a clear amber color.

Just a little rubbing will make your fried chicken tender, like it's been marinated. It's lighter than soy sauce, with a mellow and gentle flavor. The flavors blend well, making it an easy way to create authentic seasonings!

Recreates the flavor of oyakodon you'd find at a specialty restaurant

A gentle umami flavor, soft-boiled eggs, and a lightly fragrant dashi stock. When all three elements are combined, a delicious oyakodon is finally created. I have tried and tested countless times in pursuit of this ideal taste. "Making a delicious oyakodon" is like an eternal theme for me. Of course, a soft-boiled egg is important, but the balance of dashi stock and soy sauce is the deciding factor!

It was during this time that I came across a convenient dashi soy sauce that allows you to achieve the perfect balance of dashi and soy sauce in one bottle. Using this, you can quickly bring the flavors together and achieve a taste like you would get at a specialty store.

▼Recreating the oyakodon from a specialty restaurant

Dashi soy sauce made with domestically produced organic soy sauce / Adachi Brewery (Hyogo Prefecture)

Adachi Brewery's factory is JAS organically certified. JAS organic certification is only given to products that meet the "JAS Standards for Organic Agricultural Processed Foods" established by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Without this mark, products cannot be labeled as "organic." The key to their dashi soy sauce is the soy sauce brewed in wooden barrels. They add plenty of fragrant bonito flakes and a hint of ishiru (sweet red bean paste) as a secret flavor. They use only carefully selected ingredients, such as raw sugar from Kikaijima Island and Mikawa mirin, and absolutely no artificial seasonings. Their low-salt, fragrant soy sauce has a refined flavor that highlights the gentle sweetness and umami of the dashi.

For an oyakodon, simply diluting it with 5 to 7 parts water will make it delicious, but if you take the extra step of diluting it with dashi, the flavor will become richer and it will taste like something you'd get at a specialty restaurant.

The glossy teriyaki makes it hard to stop eating rice.

Glossy teriyaki is delicious even before you start eating it. The juicy meat is coated in a rich, glossy sauce...one bite and you won't be able to stop eating rice.

For this kind of teriyaki, we use tamari soy sauce and mirin. It creates a classic sweet and salty, rich flavor. On the other hand, if you use miso tamari, it will have a soft, gentle flavor, almost like it has been marinated in koji. The great thing about it is that it has a mellow finish even without any seasoning.

It's fun to try different teriyaki seasonings depending on your mood that day. Do you want a rich or light teriyaki?

Sweet and salty teriyaki with a rich flavor

Takayama Whole Soybean Tamari / Nakasada Shoten (Aichi Prefecture)

This gluten-free tamari soy sauce is made only from soybeans and salt produced in Aichi Prefecture. It is made by squeezing soybean miso that has been naturally fermented for three years in a large cedar vat. Because tamari soy sauce contains less salt water, it looks more like miso. The liquid that has accumulated in a cylindrical pipe is scooped up and poured back over the stone, a process known as "kumikake." Squeezing is hard work, requiring workers to enter a vat over two meters high and dig out and carry the liquid with a shovel. The process of making tamari soy sauce involves preparation in the winter, and pumping and squeezing in the summer, so there is no time to rest.

The aroma and gloss of tamari soy sauce are enhanced by cooking it. When used in teriyaki, the fragrant aroma and rich, sweet and salty flavor fills your mouth, making it impossible to stop eating rice!

Golden and juicy teriyaki

Miso Tamari / Ishimagoto Honten (Akita Prefecture)

"Miso Tamari" is the umami component of naturally brewed amber-colored miso. It is made by adding rice koji and Okinawan Shima-masu to miso made from soybeans and rice from Akita Prefecture, then fermenting it again. It is a precious extract, with only about 10 liters extracted from 1,000 kg of miso. It has an elegant taste with a subdued sweetness, umami, richness, and a pleasant saltiness.

Miso tamari creates a rich flavor, like that of koji marinade, without the need for seasoning. It makes for a tender and juicy teriyaki dish. This golden-colored teriyaki dish with a subtle miso aroma is light in color but has a strong salty flavor, so the trick is to use it sparingly.

Delicious minced meat rice for everyone, anytime

Minced chicken rice is a staple side dish in our home because it's easy to make and can be frozen. It's great for lunch boxes, meals for kids before lessons, and even a late-night snack. I think it's a versatile dish that's delicious anytime, and no matter who eats it. But surprisingly, I think there are a lot of people who make minced chicken rice "just because."

Just changing the soy sauce completely changes the flavor, and eating it with an egg will give it a fresh taste. I recommend adding a little grated ginger to give it a spicy kick. The balance of sweet and spicy is just right, making it a flavor you'll want to eat again and again.

▼It has a strong, crisp taste that goes well with rice.

Traditional soy sauce / Kaneiwa Soy Sauce (Wakayama Prefecture)

We use whole soybeans from Hokkaido, wheat from Shiga Prefecture, and sun-dried salt from Nagasaki Prefecture. The first and most important step in soy sauce production is making koji. The quality of this process greatly influences the taste of the soy sauce. For three days during the koji production process, the brewers watch the thermometer day and night, checking the temperature with their hands, and assessing the condition with their eyes. They smell the aroma, feel the heat, and keep watch while sharpening their five senses. The brewers' five senses are the sensors of their expertise. The finished koji is then combined with salt water and placed in wooden barrels, where it is carefully aged for two years. It is characterized by a strong, full-bodied flavor with a tangy soy sauce taste, a rich dark color, and a rich aroma.

For minced meat, which goes well with rice, we recommend a rich, dark-flavored sauce that stands up to the umami of the meat. This exquisite balance creates a pleasant depth of flavor in your mouth.

▼The umami of the dashi stock is the deciding factor

Dashi soy sauce made with domestically produced organic soy sauce / Adachi Brewery (Hyogo Prefecture)

The base is a dark soy sauce brewed in wooden barrels at a JAS-certified organic factory. Adding a generous amount of bonito stock and Noto's "ishiru" fish sauce as a subtle flavor, this is an authentic dashi soy sauce. It's made with carefully selected ingredients, including raw sugar from Kikaijima Island and Mikawa mirin, and is free of any artificial seasonings. The moment you open the bottle, the aroma of fish stock gently spreads, making it irresistible. This concentrated soy sauce offers an appealing balance of the umami of the soy sauce and the sweetness of the dashi.

When making minced meat, use a little less soy sauce instead of your usual soy sauce. The umami of the soy sauce, the umami of the dashi, and the umami of the chicken all come together to create a luxurious minced meat rice dish!

▼Refreshing ginger flavor

Miso Tamari / Ishimagoto Honten (Akita Prefecture)

"Miso Tamari" is an amber-colored miso made with naturally brewed miso, containing the umami component. Made from soybeans and rice from Akita Prefecture, it is fermented once more with rice koji and Okinawan Shima Marsh added. It has less water than soy sauce brewing, and is characterized by its high concentration. While low in salt, you can enjoy its mellow umami and soft richness.

Minced meat made with miso tamari has a slightly different flavor than soy sauce. It gently brings out the sweetness of the chicken, resulting in a light and refreshing dish. Adding grated ginger creates a perfect balance of sweetness and spiciness, and the subtle aroma of miso is also excellent. In fact, of all the different minced meat seasonings, miso tamari is my favorite.

Text: Mori (Shokunin Soy Sauce)