Is It Soy Sauce?

[Crab cake]

It seems like every Asian household that I've been to, there's a bottle of Maggi on the dining table. It must be a pan-asian thing because I've seen it in Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese households. Curiosity got the best of me so I decided to buy one from a local Japanese market. It looks like soy sauce, tastes like soy sauce, albeit more intense and smoky. Addictive, too. I find myself using it in everything from eggs to pasta. My girlfriend even puts in on her potato scallop. I can't tell what the ingredients are. Everything except the word "Maggi" is in Japanese. I think Nestle makes it because I see that on the label as well. So what is this thing really? Is it soy sauce? Why is it so MUCH more expensive than the other soy sauce? A small bottle of this is almost 3 times the price of a much larger bottle of Kikoman.

 

[brtspears2]

I think it's called Soya Sauce. I like it better when cooking since it adds more flavor to food.

Beats me what the difference is chemically. I call it liquid MSG.

 

[Jgtdragon]

It is soy sauce.

 

[Ranger X]

MSG-galore.

 

[Bryophyte]

http://importfood.com/sama6701.html

This stuff?

 

[Crab cake]

Why the BIG difference in price?

 

[Kelvrick]

Just another brand of soy sauce to me.

<== viet

EDIT: It does taste different from other brands though, such as the standard kikkoman and such.

 

[BCYL]

I am totally addicted to Maggi, use it in almost everything i eat...

 

[Crab cake]

Originally posted by: Bryophyte
http://importfood.com/sama6701.html

This stuff?

Yes, that's the one. Thank you!

 

[Doggiedog]

I have never seen it before in any Asian households and I'm Asian.

Must be a west coast thing.

 

[blackdogdeek]

Ingredients: water, hydrolyzed corn gluten and soy protein, salt, artificial flavor.

 

[alexeikgb]

Originally posted by: blackdogdeek
Ingredients: water, hydrolyzed corn gluten and soy protein, salt, artificial flavor.

mmmmm... hydrolyzed corn gluten ....

 

[amoeba]

I've seen another version of maggi using peanuts instead of soy.

 

[imported_Tomato]

Maggi is sooooooooooooo good on spaghetti with meat sauce.

 

[Doggiedog]

<Maggi seasoning, also known as Maggi sauce, is a dark - almost black -
seasoning sauce, made by the Maggi company of Switzerland, and widely
used in Asian cooking. It should be available from asian supermarkets in
case of difficulty. If it can't be found at all, then mix a little
Worcestershire sauce with an equal volume of dark soy sauce. The taste
isn't quite the same, but it will do. >

Swiss Asian I guess.

 

[arcain]

You'll notice that it doesn't say "Soy Sauce" on the bottle anywhere. And based on the ingredients, it doesn't seem like it is brewed like "real" soy sauce.

I'm Chinese and I don't know about this "bottle on every table" thing. I don't consider it "real" soy sauce as it does taste different.

 

[ghostman]

I see it in almost every Chinese kitchen, but I rarely see it being used. It's a shame. I like the flavor more than soy sauce. I'm from NY.

 

[HamSupLo]

good with rice

 

[ITCHY96]

i never heard of it before and never seen it <--- chinese

 

[ShowdOWN]

maggi is better then other soy sauce. it is more aromatic and the flavor is very distinctive. i eat a lot of it.

 

[tk149]

Crap, now I want a bottle of Maggi. I used to use that stuff all the time when I was growing up.

Me <-- Asian.

 

[richardycc]

believe it or not, it has some type of fish sauce in it, anchovies or something.

 

[AkumaX]

there isnt just one type of soy sauce, kikkoman has at least 50+ different types

maggi is a type of soy sauce, and it is a soy sauce

a few years ago nestle bought the rights to maggi and started marketing it around restaurants (such as mine) to make sure they duplicate the maggi taste right. my restaurant was getting free soy sauce for almost three years

there are also different types of maggi also (garlic maggi for example)