Kikkoman is a Japanese dark (Koikuchi Shoyu) Yi Pin is a Chinese light (生抽).
A Japanese dark is a dipping sauce (although can be used as all purpose). Many Japanese chefs will tell you that a Japanese light (Usukuchi Shoyu) is better for cooking. Japanese dark soy is essentially a finished product that you can add more to.
A Chinese light is an all purpose sauce and isn’t usually used as a dipping sauce straight out of the bottle unless you’re a broke university student. It contains way less wheat (or is sometimes completely gluten free, depending on how traditional the maker is) and is therefore less sweet. At the very, very minimum, you’d add some spring onion and/or a drizzle of sesame oil before you start dipping dumplings in it. It’s a building block that you can use as a finished product in a pinch.
Kikkoman is a Japanese dark (Koikuchi Shoyu) Yi Pin is a Chinese light (生抽).
A Japanese dark is a dipping sauce (although can be used as all purpose). Many Japanese chefs will tell you that a Japanese light (Usukuchi Shoyu) is better for cooking. Japanese dark soy is essentially a finished product that you can add more to.
A Chinese light is an all purpose sauce and isn’t usually used as a dipping sauce straight out of the bottle unless you’re a broke university student. It contains way less wheat (or is sometimes completely gluten free, depending on how traditional the maker is) and is therefore less sweet. At the very, very minimum, you’d add some spring onion and/or a drizzle of sesame oil before you start dipping dumplings in it. It’s a building block that you can use as a finished product in a pinch.