Tauco substitutes

Ground fermented yellow soybeans in a jar, the nearest relative on a mainstream shelf.

Best for

tauco ayam, stir-fried greens, steamed fish, braised tofu, noodle sauces

Made the same way from the same bean, so the savoury-salty-fermented base lands almost exactly right. Two things change: most jarred yellow bean sauce is smooth and slightly sweetened, so you lose the whole beans that give tauco its rustic texture, and the dish comes out a touch sweeter. Cut any sugar in the recipe by about a third and stir in a few rinsed, mashed cooked soybeans if the texture matters to you.

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

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 ½ 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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.