Tauco substitute

Substitutes for Tauco with ratios

1. 2White or Yellow Miso

   Different texture

   Use the same amount by volume, then taste before adding salt

   The swap most kitchens can actually make tonight, since white miso is now in ordinary supermarkets.

   What changes

   Best for

   tauco ayam, stir-fries, braises, dipping sauces, marinades

   Miso is fermented with a different mould and often with rice, so it is cleaner, sweeter and noticeably less funky than tauco, and it is smooth rather than beany. A tauco ayam made with plain miso tastes rounder and gentler, a little like a mild Japanese braise. Add about 1/2 teaspoon of light soy sauce per tablespoon of miso to restore the savoury salt, and stir it in late, because a hard boil drives off miso's aroma fast.

2. 3Korean Doenjang

   Close match

   Use the same amount

   A dark, coarse-textured fermented soybean paste that is close to tauco in character.

   What changes

   Best for

   tauco ayam, braised pork, long-simmered dishes, sambal tauco

   Of the easy options this is the best on flavour, because doenjang keeps a rough bean texture and a real fermented pungency rather than miso's sweetness. It is deeper and more assertive than tauco, so the dish tastes stronger and browner, with a stewed rather than a fresh savoury note. It also holds up to long simmering. Use slightly less if your brand smells very sharp out of the tub.

3. 4Doubanjiang (Chili Bean Paste)

   Different taste

   Use the same amount and remove or halve the chilli elsewhere in the recipe

   Sichuan fermented broad bean paste with chilli, which brings the right fermented body and a lot of heat.

   What changes

   Best for

   stir-fries, braised fish, tofu dishes, anything you want spicier

   The fermented bean depth is excellent and arguably richer than tauco's, so the savoury job is done well. The change is obvious: it is spicy and it is broad bean rather than soybean, so the dish comes out hot, redder and distinctly Sichuan. Cut or drop the fresh chilli in the recipe or you will end up with a dish that is only heat. Fry it in oil for thirty seconds first to bloom the colour.

4. 5Fermented Black Beans (Douchi), Rinsed and Mashed

   Different taste

   Use 1 tbsp rinsed mashed beans for every 1 tbsp tauco

   Salt-cured black soybeans, much more concentrated than tauco.

   What changes

   Best for

   steamed fish, stir-fried greens, clams, spare ribs

   Rinse them briefly first, because they are saltier and more intense than tauco, and mash roughly with the flat of a knife. The result is darker in colour and considerably more pungent, so a sauce made with them tastes deep and almost winey rather than mellow. Use them where a bold savoury hit suits the dish and skip the recipe's added salt entirely.

5. 6Soy Sauce Alone

   Taste and texture differ

   Use 1 tsp light soy sauce for every 1 tbsp tauco, as a last resort

   The honest least-good option, included because it is what most people have.

   What changes

   Best for

   emergencies, thin stir-fry sauces

   Soy sauce gives you the salt and some of the fermented flavour, and nothing else. You lose the body, the beany texture and the way tauco clings to meat and thickens a sauce slightly, so the dish comes out thinner, sharper and flatter, with a savoury taste that sits on the surface rather than through it. Adding a teaspoon of tahini or mashed cooked soybeans per tablespoon helps with the body if not the funk.