Hey y'all, just in the posting mood today! I was writing another post and thought about my love for good vegan alternatives. I am not personally vegan, but as someone who takes great pride and pleasure as a cook serving other people food, I want to serve my vegan comrades as best as I can, so I try to taste test a lot of vegan stuff. I'm not a carnist who believes that the vegan option can never taste as good, I just have a lot of allergies so I have to be cautious about eating things that aren't meat. However I've tasted and heard from vegans, certain things like cheese simply aren't as good as the non-vegan counter part. I feel like we hear about this stuff way too much though, as there are so many interesting flavors vegans use that carnists don't.
My personal pick for this topic is coconut aminos. Soy sauce is a great way to add umami flavor into almost anything you're making, so I was disheartened at first when I heard that soy sauce wasn't vegan. But one of my vegan friends got me a bottle of coconut aminos to try, and it blew my mind. The extra sweetness in it makes so many things you'd use soy sauce for way better. Teriyaki sauce should always be made with coconut aminos, fried rice gets a slight sweetness that really lends well to the veggies in it, it's so fucking good.
You'd really have to go out of your way to find non vegan soy sauce, especially in the west.
Western soy sauce just isn't that good though. I live in the midwest, we have 3 options for soy sauce at the supermarket, and they're (Kikkomans, PF Changs, or La Choy) just mid, if that was the only soy sauce I could use I'd definitely feel like I'm missing out. I'd much rather just get coconut aminos and not worry about the brand because it'll taste better anyways
I was talking more soy sauce available in the west, not necessarily brewed here. I get my soy sauce at Asian markets and I can't remember the last time I checked the ingredients on a bottle and it wasn't vegan. It's just not certified since vegan certifications in Asia are just starting to become a thing.
The cheap "western" store-brand soy sauce from my local supermarket is actually made in China. It is not as good as Kee Kum Lee or PRB but there nothing wrong with it.
Hit up your local Asian market for soy sauce. Big box groceries stores generally have shit for ethnic food.
My local store has like a quarter of an isle worth of shelf space just for soy sauce.