Tamari

Why tamari is rated low

Tamari is Low FODMAP at the serving people actually use, which is a splash for seasoning rather than an ingredient by volume. Its rating is estimated from what tamari is made of rather than from a weighed serving, and the serving data for it is qualitative: a Small serving reads low, while a Large serving reads moderate. No FODMAP subgroup is recorded for tamari, so the honest explanation is simply that the tested serving comes in low and that the level climbs once the splash becomes a pour. Low here means low at that serving, not unlimited. The thing to watch is not tamari on its own but the rest of the bowl it lands in.

What changes your risk

• Splash versus pour This is the lever. A Small serving reads low and a Large serving reads moderate, so tamari used to season a stir-fry behaves very differently from tamari used as a dipping bowl that a whole plate of dumplings gets dragged through.
• The sauce it is mixed into Tamari rarely turns up alone. Stir-fry sauces, teriyaki glazes, marinades and dressings built around it often carry onion powder, garlic powder, garlic paste or onion based stock, and that is usually what causes trouble rather than the tamari itself.
• The whole meal's total load A low rating is per serving, not per meal. Tamari alongside a bowl that already carries several borderline components adds to the total, so it is worth looking at the plate as a whole rather than at any single item.
• Read the label on the bottle Tamari is sold in regular and gluten free versions and in blended sauces that are only part tamari. Anything with onion or garlic in the ingredient list is a different product with a different profile.
• Cooking does not reduce it Simmering tamari into a sauce or reducing it in a pan concentrates the liquid rather than removing anything, so a sticky reduction is a bigger serving of it, not a smaller one.

What else works

Tamari itself is one of the more useful low FODMAP savoury seasonings, so the real work is naming the lookalikes that are not equivalent. Bottled teriyaki, hoisin, oyster sauce, stir fry sauce blends and most marinades sold as soy based carry onion and garlic, and those are not swaps for plain tamari. Whole soy beans at ordinary servings are high FODMAP even though tamari is not, while firm tofu is low and works well in the same dishes. To build flavour around tamari without adding risk, reach for garlic-infused oil, fresh ginger, the green tops of spring onions, chives, rice vinegar, sesame oil and a pinch of asafoetida. Maple syrup or plain table sugar balances a savoury glaze without pulling anything else in.

How to keep it low

Keep a plain bottle of tamari with a short ingredient list rather than a pre mixed sauce, and build the sauce at home so the onion and garlic never enter the pan. Measure with a spoon straight into the wok instead of tipping from the bottle, since free pouring is how a Small serving turns into a Large serving without anyone noticing. Put dipping sauce in a shallow dish rather than a deep one so a single piece picks up less. When ordering out, ask for the dish seasoned with plain soy or tamari and no garlic or onion in the sauce, because restaurant stir fry bases almost always include both. If gluten is also being avoided, check for a gluten free label, which is a separate matter from the FODMAP level.

Common questions

is tamari low fodmap

Yes, at the serving people normally use. A Small serving reads low on the published data for this food, and a Large serving climbs to moderate.

how much tamari can i use

Keep it to a Small serving, which is the rung recorded as low. A Large serving reads moderate, so tamari works better as a seasoning splash than as a dipping bowl or a poured sauce.

can i have tamari on the elimination phase

Plain tamari at a Small serving is suitable during elimination. The thing to check is the label, since blended and bottled sauces built on tamari often carry onion or garlic.

is teriyaki sauce the same as tamari

No. Teriyaki and most bottled stir fry sauces are blends that commonly contain onion and garlic, so they do not carry the same low rating that plain tamari does.