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[Sappho]

Um... Not much. We don't often buy more food than we're going to use for the next couple of meals. There's sugar, as I said. I could run out to the corner store and buy some sour cream or yogurt or something like that, but they don't have much in the way of fresh foods. We've got whole bunches of spices but I doubt they'd be much use on their own. I dunno, I think when my flatmate gets back I'll ask him if he'd eat this dip with me if I fixed it with more beans, and if he says no maybe I'll just let it go. It took about 40 minutes to make, which is a bummer of wasted time, but the ingredients weren't expensive and honestly, it's not like I was going to do some wildly productive thing with that time anyway. I just need something to eat for dinner if I'm not eating this...

[Sappho]

Rice and beans are generally a good mix. But what if it still tastes awful and then I've wasted expensive rice? (The rice I have probably costs more than all the ingredients of the dip, but Basmati is totally worth it!)

[RedKing]

Keep in mind that tofu will soak up the soy sauce flavor like a sponge....cause that's more or less what it is. But it won't necessarily soak up that much of the actual sauce (I'm guessing from your description, it was tamari?)

What you've got is an overabundance of umami (and probably saltiness as well). Starches would be a fix for both, but not so easy in a dip. Adding more beans does add more starch, but they're not as readily absorbent of salt as say, pasta or bread (or rice) would be.

Another idea would be to add some lime juice. The acid will denature the soy proteins, so that might cut down the "soy" flavor, not so sure about the salt.

[Sappho]

No easy place to obtain tofu or lime juice I'm afraid, but thanks for trying. Also, did I mention that this dip is all mashed up? It looks like refried beans, though it smells like a big ol' bowl of soy sauce still. Will mashed beans absorb the flavor? Although again, that would mean doubling the amount of dip, which was already a bit too much for just me.

EDIT: I don't know exactly what kind of soy sauce it is. It just says "dark." I was so excited to find real soy sauce in the supermarket (in this country they have a different kind of soy sauce which is only slightly related to real soy sauce) that I didn't check if it was any special kind.

[counting]

A big brand of soy source manufacturer product menu in here where I live. (With English lists)
http://www.kimlan.com/en/e_products01.php
See the soy source series.

Dark is just richer and more concentrate usually. In fact, there are some soy source that are actually sweet, or low sodium soy sources. I am not sure how you can buy them in foreign country though.

[DJ]

I'd go with some mashed potatoes, those can soak up a LOT of salt. Neutralizing salt with sugar doesn't work out so well in my experience.

Oh, and lime juice idea sounds promising. Since you don't have that, try just squeezing a fresh lemon into the sauce, I reckon it's close enough to be worth a try.

[Hitty40]

A big brand of soy source manufacturer product menu in here where I live. (With English lists)
http://www.kimlan.com/en/e_products01.php
See the soy source series.

Dark is just richer and more concentrate usually. In fact, there are some soy source that are actually sweet, or low sodium soy sources. I am not sure how you can buy them in foreign country though.

Drive over there any buy them, that's my guess.

[Sappho]

Okay I think I'm throwing in the towel. I tried adding mashed-up potato and it didn't help at all. I'm guessing RedKing is right: it's not the saltiness, it's the umami, and I don't think I can counter that. Anyway even if I could get rid of it, it wouldn't taste the way this recipe was originally supposed to taste. I guess I'll try making this recipe again tomorrow, being much more cautious about soy sauce when I get to it, and let this batch die. For tonight I'll just make a salad and have some cheese and bread.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, I appreciate all the advice even though it didn't work out!

[DJ]

Don't waste the ingredients you used up for this, though. Freeze it, and use a bit of this failsauce instead of soy sauce on your next attempt. I reckon you could do 3-4 proper batches this way.

[Dwarmin]

You win today Soy Sauce. *fist shake*

[Nikov]

Protip. Acids and bases neutralize eachother. Sweet and bitter do not.