Gift Guide 2019: Hold the Soy Sauce

The first time I tasted Bonji - at Majordomo in L.A. - I was tempted to pick the bottle up and drink it.

It's like soy sauce, but subtler. Fermented and cold-pressed, it's made the same way traditional soy sauce is - only not with soy beans. The Momofuku Culinary Lab is reimagining Asian basics - they also make a miso subsitute called Hozon- for an American audience. Bonji is made from rye, and it's lighter and less salty than most soy sauces, with a sweet, almost fruity backtaste.

I've got a whole range of soy sauces in my pantry, from very expensive aged Japanese brands to a smoked version, one aged in cherry wood, another from Korea that's absolutely funky. But these days I find myself reaching for the Bonji: I just love the way it tastes.