How much sodium is in Asian salty sauces?

Salty sauces like soy, fish or hoisin sauce are a key feature of Asian cuisine and are used in countless ways as marinades, splashed into stir fries and soups, as a basting sauce on roasts and barbecues, as a dipping or a table sauce. These sauces are an easy way to add flavour to meats, fish, vegetables and plain rice or noodles. Their one drawback is the huge load of salt (sodium) they deliver. Read on for the best and worst of these sauces and how you can minimize their damage.

Most of these sauces are very low in fat and kilojoules (Calories). However, all tend to be high in salt which ranges from 3 to a whopping 20 per cent salt! This high salt content (combined with a low moisture content and often a high sugar content) gives them a long shelf life which means they can be stored unrefrigerated almost indefinitely. Even though the storage instruction say to refrigerate them after opening, honestly I’ve had some bottles in my kitchen for years and they’re fine. They take the place of the table salt in Western diets.

Eight types of Asian salty sauces

Of course, you’ll spot more than these eight, once you start adding in oil, chilli oil, rice wine and peppercorns, but these are the most popular sauces used by home cooks. There’s also teriyaki, sweet ‘n’ sour and ponzu sauces but these tend to be minor. The serve size varies from a small 10 mL, or 2 teaspoons, to a more standard 20 mL which equates to a tablespoon.

Soy sauce

This most popular of Asian sauces is essential to Chinese and Japanese cooking. It’s added  to marinades, stir-fries, noodle dishes and used as a dipping sauce.  In Indonesia, you’ll find Ketjap manis is a popular sweet soy sauce. 

Gluten-free, wheat-free, tamari is one of the authentic sauces introduced to Japan from China. It is made from soy beans and has a slightly stronger flavour than regular soy sauce. It’s traditionally used to flavour longer-cooking foods such as soups and casseroles, but it can be used as a marinade or as a dipping sauce. Interestingly many soy sauces contain alcohol so if this is important to you then shop around, Ayam Light Soy and PureHarvest Organic Tamari are both alcohol and gluten free.

Fish sauce

Made by dissolving anchovies in salt over a long period of time, fish sauce loses its pungency when cooked or mixed with other ingredients. Used in Thai and Vietnamese dishes. 

Oyster sauce

This sauce is made from oysters, soy sauce, salt and spices.

Chilli sauce

Comes in many variations e.g. sweet, hot and with garlic flavour. Can be added to soups, stir-fries and noodle dishes to add heat and enliven the flavour.

Black Bean

This sauce is made from fermented soy beans and adds a nutty barbecued flavour.  Good for pork and chicken.

Hoisin Sauce

Made from soybeans, garlic, vinegar, sugar and spices, hoisin sauce has a sweet and spicy flavour. It can be added to a stir fry, used as a dipping sauce or to glaze a roast. 

Satay sauce

This delicious sauce contains peanuts, coconut milk, chilli and spices.  Traditionally it’s served as a dipping sauce with chicken skewers or to top an Indonesian Gado Gado salad.

Char Siu sauce

This is a pleasantly sweet and rich-tasting traditional Chinese-style barbecue sauce which gives pork that characteristic red glaze. 'Char Siu' in Cantonese means barbecued pork. This pork dish is a typical Cantonese delicacy.

Sodium (salt) in the 8 types of Asian sauces 

The bottom line

 Which is the worst for salt? Take a look at the table where we have grouped these sauces into categories for you to compare – easily.

• If you’ve been told to reduce your salt intake, stick to a thin smear or a tiny side of your favourite – not a huge glug.

• Wherever you can, buy them in salt-reduced form. I know this is possible with soy sauce but not with the others. Your only other choice is to avoid really high-salt categories such as fish sauce.

• Buy those sauces with the lowest sodium content (sometimes there is a fourfold difference in sodium).

• When you use these sauces in a recipe, don’t add any more salt - it doesn’t need it. 

Credit: Thanks to dietitian Marthury Jeyalingan for help compiling the table.