I just discovered that Kylie Kwong recommends Pearl River Bridge soy sauce, the brand that I’ve been using for a number of years. Kylie Kwong explained that “[s]ome inferior versions are full of chemicals, so make sure you buy naturally fermented soy sauce.” The ingredients for Pearl River Bridge Superior Light Soy Sauce are water, soya beans, wheat flour, salt and potassium sorbate. The label indicates that the soy sauce is naturally brewed, but then again so did the label on the Haday Superior Light Soy Sauce, which included the “other” ingredients.

I usually use Pearl River Bridge soy sauce. However, because I have been busy as of late, I had to send others to shop for groceries in my place. As a result, we have started to venture into other brands of foodstuffs, like Haday Superior Light Soy Sauce. Not being familiar with this brand, I took a quick glance at the ingredients as saw some familiar ingredients and some foreign.

I understand water, soy beans, wheat flour, salt, and sugar. That’s the plain English ingredients. Yeast extract may sound like yeast, but it isn’t. Instead, yeast extract contains glutamic acids, and is used as a flavoring like monosodium glutamate (MSG). Next up is Disodium 5′-Inosinate and Disodium 5′-Guanylate. These are flavor enhancers used with glutamates (from the yeast extract) to create 鲜味 in Chinese cooking. Finally, sodium benzoate is a common food preservative.

Next time I am at the grocery store, I have to see if the Pearl River Bridge brand contains the same ingredients.