Vietnamese Sweet Soy Sauce

We always have Sweet Soy Sauce in a bottle in the refrigerator and use it on steamed rice, over grilled meats, in stir frys, and with vegetables.

Click on the hyperlink Vietnamese Sweet Soy Sauce to download a printable copy of the recipe.

Vietnamese Sweet Soy Sauce

Ingredients

3 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

3 Garlic cloves, minced

1 Shallot, minced

1/4 teaspoon dried Red Pepper Flakes

1 cup regular Soy Sauce (I use Kikkoman)

1/2 cup dark Soy Sauce

1/4 cup Rice Vinegar

1/2 cup Sugar

1/2 cup Water

1/2 teaspoon Sesame Oil

Directions

Heat up cooking oil.

Add minced shallot and fresh minced garlic to the cooking oil. Fry it for about 30 seconds to 1 minute until the garlic and shallot become golden but not burnt. Once it is all fried, remove the shallot and minced garlic and keep the oil in the pan.

Add the dark soy sauce and regular soy sauce to the oil. Add sesame seed oil, rice vinegar, water, sugar and red pepper flakes; bring the mixture to a boil. Cook it for about 10 minutes at the simmer until the mixture thickens.

You can keep the Sweet Soy Sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

You will be needing so many little airtight containers, and I have found a way to keep all the lids and containers organized!

{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }

Denise December 30, 2014 at 5:35 pm: Hi, I love your site but am having trouble subscribibg on my computer. Is it possible to subscribe me from your end?
Regards
Denise.
Ramona January 5, 2015 at 3:38 pm: No, I’m sorry that I can’t subscribe for you….exactly what is the error?

Maybe I can help,
Ramona
LULU July 15, 2015 at 3:09 pm: Your recipe said Rice Wine but you said rice vinegar. They are different things, no? Which one should I use?
Ramona July 15, 2015 at 4:21 pm: Rice Vinegar…sorry..
jannybaptist July 21, 2015 at 12:38 am: I need the recipe for the dark sauce for bahn bieu…the little rice cake in small plates…

thank you
Ramona July 21, 2015 at 9:16 am: I’m sorry, but I’m not familiar with the dark sauce you are looking for….does it have a specific name?
Tom December 31, 2015 at 1:24 pm: Just making this for the peanut sauce, so I haven’t tried it yet. However, I do have a couple of comments:

First, after frying the shallots, garlic and pepper flakes in oil, you then say to remove the shallots and garlic. I think the pepper flakes will have to come out too as their all mixed together and hard to separate. That might be clearer in the video, but I didn’t have time to watch it.

Later, in the directions, you say to add chilli peppers but they aren’t mentioned in the ingredients. Perhaps the recipe has changed over time and now the heat comes from frying the red pepper flakes.

Thanks for making your recipes available online. I will continue trying them.

Tom
Ramona December 31, 2015 at 1:32 pm: Sorry, for the typo…I have updated the text..the download is correct… 🙂

Heat up cooking oil.

Add minced shallot and fresh minced garlic to the cooking oil. Fry it for about 30 seconds to 1 minute until the garlic and shallot become golden but not burnt. Once it is all fried, remove the shallot and minced garlic and keep the oil in the pan.

Add the dark soy sauce and regular soy sauce to the oil. Add sesame seed oil, rice vinegar, water, sugar and red pepper flakes; bring the mixture to a boil. Cook it for about 10 minutes at the simmer until the mixture thickens.

You can keep the Sweet Soy Sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Tom January 1, 2016 at 3:27 pm: Hi Ramona

Thanks for the quick response. The way I prepared the sauce, adding the red pepper flakes to the oil and discarding them with the garlic and shallots, worked well for me. The resulting sauce was just spicy enough for my taste and will be a great addition to my other Asian dishes. Also, your peanut sauce recipe worked out very well, everyone loved it. I had lots left over which will also contribute to another dish sometime.

Tom
Ramona January 1, 2016 at 4:34 pm: I’m so glad it worked out for you…the peanut sauce can be frozen for future use.
Karen October 11, 2016 at 4:38 pm: I want to make the peanut sauce but I’m confused…what is dark soy sauce? My son took us to eat Pho and it was the best thing I’ve ever eaten! They served it with several things including peanut sauce and I’d like to try making Pho at home.
Ramona March 20, 2019 at 10:33 pm: You can purchase Dark Soy Sauce in Asian Markets… Aged for a longer period of time and with molasses or caramel and a bit of cornstarch added, dark soy sauce is thicker and darker in color than light soy sauce, with a more full-bodied flavor.
Rita R. Kneisley June 28, 2020 at 10:10 am: I have high hopes trying to get something similar to Mamma La’s special sauce from Kim Son in Houston, pretty famous, and I went when they had a lunch buffett.
Thanks so much for sharing.
Skip October 16, 2021 at 4:10 pm: This recipe is GREAT! Thank you!!! I used a Japanese Gluten Free dark soy sauce [GANKO TAMARI SHOYU] & Tamari & and made a GF version. Going to use it with home made spring rolls tonight. 🤤🤤🤤