I’ve been using Himalayan salt for cooking for two years. The one we originally had in the house is medium grain in a grinder that we bought from a local shop. Sometimes, it’s not so convenient to quickly sprinkle over food or use it as table salt. Therefore, I began searching for a fine grain Himalayan salt on Amazon. Then, I found the Sherpa Pink Himalayan Salt, extra fine grain which had very high reviews.
Updates in 2019: I’ve been using this salt for three years now and absolutely love it! I’m on my 7th bag now. I even use this Sherpa Pink Himalayan Salt when I make home-made MISO paste (I am Japanese) and it indeed makes the taste of MISO milder. Without a doubt, this is a high-quality natural salt that benefits your well-being and enhances cooking. I recommend this salt to anyone.
Product at Glance
- Sherpa Pink Himalayan Salt, Extra Fine Grain
- Company: San Francisco Salt Company
- Ingredients: All natural & pure Himalayan pink salt
- Price at Amazon: $9.99 (2 lb), $15.99 (5 lb), $28.99 (10 lb) … Please note that the prices on Amazon often change
- Review: 4.9/5 stars on almost 3900 reviews!
- Free shipping with Amazon Prime
- Shelf life: 10 years
- Usage: Cooking/food seasoning, table salt, or blend with herbs to create your own salt. Also used as a bath salt.
A 2-lb bag was a little less than $10, so I thought why not? This product was an Amazon Prime item and as a prime member, I didn’t have to pay for the shipping. In this post, I’ll share my overall experience with this Himalayan gourmet salt.
Smaller Bags are Available on Amazon
This Sherpa Pink Himalayan Salt is sold by a company called San Francisco Salt Company. I visited their website and it seems that this company specializes in all kinds of salt from cooking salt to bath salt. Sherpa Pink Himalayan Salt is one of their brand products.
On Amazon, they sell small 1lb bags to large 20lbs bags. Interestingly, however, on their official website, I could only find extra large 25 lbs bags available for online purchase.
So, if you want to first try a small bag, you may want to purchase it on Amazon.
Delivery was Swift
I ordered the salt late at night on Saturday, 4/9 and the salt was delivered on Wednesday, 4/13. So, it took only three business days.
Watch me unboxing Sherpa Pink Himalayan Salt. (3:46)
As I said in the video, the package was very simple but the product was in a good shape. You can also see how fine the grains are in the video. For me, it’s perfect for cooking and overall daily use.
How Dost It Taste?
It’s hard to describe taste with words but this Sherpa Himalayan Salt definitely tastes milder and has depth in the flavor compared to regular salts you find in a store.
Not sure in your food culture but I grew up in Japan where people taste the slightest difference in broth. Broth made from seaweed, anchovy, dried mushroom, dried shrimp, etc. totally determines the outcome of the dish even before you add any seasonings and we do taste the difference.
Perhaps because of this keen sense of taste, I’m very picky about salt and sugar that I use in cooking. And this is why I started using Himalayan salt in the first place.
Another favorite salt I often use is natural rock salt from Japan. I mainly use it for Japanese cooking. It’s something I have to order from a certain area in Japan and a 500-gram bag (1.1 lbs) costs about $15. Plus I need to pay for the international shipping so it’s not a cheap salt.
I compared the taste of the Sherpa Pink Himalayan Salt with this Japanese natural rock salt.
As I expected, the saltiness of Sherpa Pink is milder than the Japanese rock salt. I think this pink salt works wonderfully to enhance the natural flavor of the ingredient. It wouldn’t kill it or ruin it. You can sprinkle over salad, grilled veggies, white meat fish or chicken. I would love to sprinkle it over chilled tofu during summer! Tonight, I used Sherpa Pink salt to season a simple soup I made with tofu, mushrooms, veggies and shrimp, and it turned out great. ?
How is It Good for Us?
The benefits of natural Himalayan pink salt as a gourmet salt is explained at the company website.
“Himalayan salt, when left raw and in its natural state, is rich in nutrients and minerals. Since many of these elements found within each grain of salt naturally occur within us and in the environment, they are easily absorbed and utilized on a cellular level.
Pink Himalayan salt re-mineralizes the body with minerals and trace elements essential to our health and well-being.”
Himalayan pink salt was from some 300 million years ago when our planet was pristine. It’s a creation of an unpolluted ecosystem, hence completely pure. It cannot be harmful to our health like many other processed, unnatural foods out there.
It is still sodium so you shouldn’t overtake it. I’ve noticed my body doesn’t swell the morning after consuming Himalayan pink salt like it does with other refined salts.
If you would like to add this special salt to your seasoning shelf, start with a small bag of Sherpa Pink Himalayan Salt sold on Amazon. If you wish to use it as table salt, I recommend Extra Fine Grain and not Fine Grain.
In the case that you are unsatisfied with the taste of it after a purchase, which I doubt you would be, you can still use it as a bath salt.
Hope you found this post helpful. As always, feel free to leave any comments or questions below. If you already have an experience with Himalayan cooking salt, do share with us! What dishes do you use it for? I’m curious. ?
Yuko
10 Comments
This was really interesting! I must admit I’ve never heard of Sherpa pink Himalayan salt, but I think I’d totally be willing to give it a shot! I like the idea that it’s a bit more mild than regular cooking salt.
Could I use it to salt pasta or potatoes? Or even a good old fried egg? I know that’s not exactly Japanese cooking LOL, but it’s what I use salt for most often, other than in marinades or in my homemade bread. I guess what I’m asking is, is it a straight substitute for regular salt? Or more of a specialty topper?
Hi Marlaine,
Thanks for your comment. Sherpa pink Himalayan salt can replace any salt that you use for cooking. It just adds milder flavor to the cooking and healthier is all. I use this salt for fried egg, chicken katsu, pasta, potato salad, chicken soup, pretty much all the cooking that I do! My husband uses the mixture of this pink Himalayan salt and celery salt for the rim of his glass when he makes the cocktail “michelada” at home, and he loves the flavor.
Yuko
Hey Yuko…
I’ve noticed that specialty salts have become an “item” on the shelves at the local groceries and wondered why. Thank you for explaining about the taste differences. Such refinement of taste is beyond me, I’m afraid.
My own favorite is a Hawaiian salt — ‘alaea, which has a reddish tinge because it is dried in salt-drying ponds that have a ‘alaea clay in them. A special variety of the salt is processed and mixed with the clay found in certain deposits found in a few streambeds and is a medicine for female complaints. The clay is hard to find.
Hi Netta,
Haha, it was a surprise to me too when I first realized how significantly salt actually can affect the taste of a dish. Human beings are animals after all. I think deep within our DNA, we have the ability to instinctively distinguish what’s good to our bodies.
I used to live in Hawaii for many years and see Alaea salt in grocery stores all the time, but have never tried it for myself. Wish I knew how special the salt was back then. It seems that we can easily get it on Amazon now. I shall give it a try. Thank you for sharing the information!
Yuko
Hi Yuko,
I must say, that totally came in as a surprise. Haven’t thought that Himalayan salt can also be used for cooking, much more a pink colored one. Funny how I was just reading recently about Himalayan salt Lamps and their benefits but haven’t actually cross my mind that it’s edible too. Thanks for sharing this and for giving me additional information about them. I hope they can be available in local markets too so I can try them soon.
Good job!
Rocky
Hi Rocky,
The most well-known product of Himalayan salt is lamps. They are beautiful and work as a natural air purifier but after all, it’s natural salt so you can consume it too. Now I’ve totally switched to Himalayan salt for all the cooking and I just love the flavor. You can purchase this Sherpa pink salt at Amazon. It saves you time and hassle. Some natural food stores may carry it too. I didn’t find this at WholeFoods in my area but if you did find it in a local store, please report back and let us know!
Yuko
Excellent video! I was unaware of this type of salt and certainly feel enlightened. I may have to place an order soon!
Thank you for sharing Yuko!
Hello Pj,
I’m glad you enjoyed the video and found the information here helpful. 🙂 As salt is what we need to take into our bodies anyway, I recommend you to use pure and natural ones. Himalayan salt is what you can use with peace of mind and they are not even expensive. Give it a try, you will like it!
Yuko
Hello Yuko,
Thanks for your excellent review. I love using Himalayan pink salt in my cooking or on salads due to the various health benefits. I agree with you; it tastes milder than regular salt. I also feel I need to use less of the conventional salt from the supermarket. I must admit I don’t have such delicate taste buds like you. Therefore, it’s hard for me to describe the different taste. By the way, I do love Japanise cooking.
All the best from Anke
Hello Anke,
Nice to connect with a fellow Himalayan salt lover 🙂 It does add a special flavor to cooking, doesn’t it? I’ve been using this sherpa pink himalayan salt for both Japanese cooking and non-Japanese cooking since I purchased it, and it has been working wonderfully.
What kind of Japanese cooking do you like, I wonder? I sprinkled this salt on my “Onigiri” (simple rice ball) to take to work for lunch and I could totally tell the difference in taste. It was great with grilled fish too. Since we cannot avoid using salt in cooking, why not use a better one, right? Thank you for stopping by and commenting!
Yuko