Soy sauce (si-io)

Essential Ingredients pad thai

There are three basic types of soy sauce in Thai cooking-light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and sweetened dark soy sauce which the Thais prefer to call "black soy sauce". Generally soy sauce is used to season Chinese influenced dishes, especially most stir-fry and noodle dishes. Yet for those with relatively strong indigenous culinary embedments like pad thai or mi krop, and most stir-fried curry dishes as phat phrik kaeng or phat prik khing, the single most important seasoning is still Thai fish sauce.

Soy sauce (si-io)

 Soy sauce (si-io)

In Thai cooking with soy sauce as a seasoning, light soy sauce is extensively used, almost at the exclusion of dark soy sauce. Light soy sauce is lighter in color and thinner in consistency than dark soy sauce. However, when dark color is needed in the food, as obviously the case of phat si-io and other fried noodles, sweetened dark soy sauce is added. However, this very product from Thailand is labeled as "black soy sauce". For the sake of right understanding, "Sweetened dark soy sauce" is used in the book's recipes.