What are your thoughts on soy sauce for toddlers/preschoolers?

[kozachka]

DH likes to cook on occasion, last night being one of those, but most if not all of his recepies include soy sauce either as a base for marinade or for stir-frying. For some reason I do not like the idea of DS having soy sauce. I don't know why but I remember reading something negative about it (or was it restaurant Chinese food in general) for adults before. I think it has something to do with too much sodium in it. Marinated chicken/meat that DH cooks oftentimes gets too saulty as he does not remember to cook it soon enough so that confirms my theory about sodium, right? DH refuses to use light soy sauce as "it does not have the right flavor".

Please enlighten me before I can on DH's case about soy sauce.

[Jenn98]

I don't see anything wrong with soy souce - maybe someone else can enlighten us? I try to give DD lots of flavorful things in an effort to keep her an adventurous eater, so I'd be all over soy sauce (DH is actually out picking up Chinese for dinner right now!). If you're worried about the salt in soy sauce you can always just be very careful about what else DS eats throughout the day and keep that low-sodium. HTH!

[ett]

I've never heard anything negative about soy sauce before, so if anyone knows anything I'd like to know too. Being Asian, DS does eat food cooked with soy sauce on a regular basis. If it's about the amount of sodium in soy sauce, then I would try to limit the amount you put into the dishes. You can also run into the same problem with putting too much salt in dishes, so I don't see how the sodium problem would be specific to soy sauce.

Sorry I don't have more helpful information.

[mudder17]

There is also low sodium soy sauce available if you're worried about the sodium.


Eileen

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/33734.gif 32 months...

http://www.tickercentral.com/view/6wrn/1.png

http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/p/dev317pp___.png

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/33732.gif for Leah

[JBaxter]

I never thought about it. Nathan has been having soy for probably a year. He loves california rolls when we have sushi. He insists on both using chop sticks and dipping in the soy. He also likes it in his egg drop soup when we have Chinese. We do use the low sodium though.

[maestramommy]

Actually I put soy sauce on Dora's rice sometimes to give it flavor, because she doesn't like bland food. We use the low sodium kind.

Of course when we go out to an Asian restaurant she'll eat whatever we have, so I can't really control the salt content, I just try to limit that in her diet overall, but since her eating took off I've been somewhat laid back about that kind of thing. Probably not the best thing, I know!

[stefani]

I would just think it is the sodium, unless someone is allergic to soy (like my DH). Check that it doesn't have MSG (Monosodium Glutamate), is one thing that came to mind.

My DS eats food with soy sauce a bit since we eat Asian food frequently.

[kozachka]

Glad to hear that you think soy sauce is OK. I am not going to bug DH about soy sauce anymore. One less thing to worry about.

I think the bad press regarding Chinese restaurant food was mostly related to MSG. Will have to check the label on our soy sauce to make sure that no additives, such as MSG, have been added to it. I do know there are low sodium soy sauces on the market but DH would not use anything but the original flavor and than only certain brands. And I do think he uses it "generously". Than again, if that's the price for having somebody else cook, I am perfectly willing to pay it on occassion . Hopefully the fact that we hardly use any salt compensates for that.

[kaylinsmommy2]

Yes, I think MSG is the concern. However, soy sauce has naturally occuring MSG in it (not as an added ingredient).

I personally have no problems with soy sauce and use it liberally when a recipe calls for it. However, I don't add MSG (despite what the recipe says) and will ask Chinese resturants to leave it out, if possible.

One of our favorite Japanese resturants switched to only serving light soy sauce at the resturant. BIL refuses to use it, and will bring in his own, regular soy sauce. :) I'm personally okay with the light soy sauce, but note that there's a difference between naturally brewed soy sauce and ones that aren't (I don't remember, but I saw it on Good Eats). :)

Caroline
mommy to Kaylin 6/5/04

http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/t/bunbunadb20040605_-9_Kaylin+is+now.png[/img][/url]

and one on the way, due 2/26/07

[Sillygirl]

There is at least one case report in the medical literature of a successful suicide by soy sauce ingestion. It has *that* much salt. Even the "lower-sodium" kind has 25% of an adult's daily needs in one tablespoon. We love soy sauce here but I am very careful about the amount Jonathan gets. I would rather use it as a table seasoning at the last minute than splash it around in a marinade, since I think as a marinade you lose lots of that distinctive soy flavor while keeping the salt.