Here's What Happens When You Add Soy Sauce To Brownie Batter

Sinking your teeth into a soft, freshly baked brownie is one of life's greatest pleasures. Some dessert fiends swear the middle piece is the most precious one in the entire batch. It's always the first piece to go, plucked up as if Gollum were snatching the ring and scampering into the shadows, then wharfed down before the rest of the tray is finished cooling. No problem, as the texture-loving brownie eaters are happy with the crunchy corner pieces along the sides of the pan.

Depending on what brownie recipe you're using and your flair for experimentation, you can create some truly delicious and chocolate-filled magic in the kitchen. Going rogue instead of following the directions on your boxed brownies by subbing out ingredients can be an easy way to make them taste homemade. Anything from salted caramel to a bit of Guinness can prove to be a rewarding decision once you take that first bite. If you're feeling especially adventurous, you can opt instead for an even more savory, flourless concoction with the addition of black beans in your brownies.

And what about a trick for people who love the famous sweet and salty combo? Scientific research shows that our taste sensing ability, specifically the tongue's SGLT1 receptor, is responsible for enhancing sweeter tastes with the addition of salt. But instead of using salt to enhance the sugar and chocolate in your brownies, grab a bottle of liquid umami and try something different.

The idea of adding soy sauce to brownies comes from Hetty McKinnon, bestselling cookbook author and lover of veggies, who goes into detail about her umami-infused dessert in her 2020 cookbook, "To Asia, With Love." You might worry that your soy sauce brownies will emerge from the oven tasting of last night's stir fry, but you've got to trust the process! The soy doesn't overpower any of the flavors; "instead, the chocolate just tastes somehow more chocolate-y, with a deeper caramelized note and just a hint of salt," according to Food Gal, who tried the recipe and said it might be their new "go-to." 

If you're treading carefully, use just a tablespoon of soy sauce during the initial mixing stage. In fact, the difference is so subtle that you can go as far as dumping several spoonfuls of the stuff into your brownie batter, as experimental cooking channel Flavor Lab did in one YouTube video. (Seriously, the man just kept going). In the end, you'll be left with brownies that chef Chris Kimura says have a "fuller, richer flavor" and a complexity that will have your guests asking, "Can I have the recipe?"