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Soy Sauce

Soy sauce, an Asian condiment, is made by fermenting soybean mash and malted grains such as wheat, barley and rice. These are fermented along with aspergillus, water and salt for many months and then strained to be bottled. This dark brown-colored condiment, native to Far East Asian countries, adds a lot of flavor to the dishes that it is added to. Many varieties of this sauce are produced today, some even being made from roasted soybean grains giving the sauce a nice smoky flavor. Most of the soy sauce recipes are native to the Far East Asian cuisines such as Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, and Filipino. In fact, the special flavor of soy sauce has caught on even with the Indian food lovers. There are many culinary uses of this strong flavored soy sauce.
 

History of Soy Sauce Recipes
Soy sauce was first discovered in China about 2500 years ago. The use of the sauce in various recipes gradually spread to East and Southeast Asia, especially to Japan, where the sauce was introduced by the Buddhist monks in the 7th century. As salt was considered an expensive commodity in those days, the sauce was used as ways to supplement the saltiness in a dish. By the early 18th century, this sauce entered European countries, especially to Netherlands and then to other countries. With the introduction and regular usage of this condiment in various soy sauce recipes, the expensive “Shoyu” of Japanese origin was soon replaced by soy sauce in Europe. Today, many cuisines across the world have to their credit some delectable recipes that include soy sauce.

 

Culinary Uses and Types of Soy Sauce
Soy sauce is now available in the market under different brand names. This deep dark brown colored sauce not only adds color but also a tangy salty taste to the soy sauce recipes. The culinary uses of this sauce include cooking, seasoning, flavoring, sautéing and even coloring. The sauce comes in different strengths depending on its origin. Some popular types are –

  • Chinese Soy Sauce – This sauce is mainly made from soya bean mash with less of grains added to the ferment. It is available in two strengths i.e., light or fresh soy sauce, which is generally used for seasoning and the other variety being the dark and old sauce, which is a result of longer ageing of the fermented beans. This dark sauce is used for the purpose of cooking.
  • Japanese Soy Sauce – Shoyu, a type of soy sauce is popular in the Japanese cuisine. Most of the sauces made in Japan tend to be slightly sweeter than their counterparts, because of the inclusion of wheat in the fermentation process. Sometimes a little alcohol too is added to the sauce during fermentation.  Other varieties of soy sauce of Japanese origin are Koikuchi, usukuchi, Shiro, Tamaro, and Shaishikomi. In fact, there are many more other varieties available in the Japanese market, these days.
  •  Indonesian Soy Sauce – The Indonesian version of soy sauce, known as Kecap, is probably a variation of the English term ‘Ketchup’. There are five different types of this sauces used in the Indonesian cuisine these days, such as Kecap Asin, Kecap Manis, Kecap Manis Sedang, Kecap Inggris, and Kecap Ikan.
  • Korean Soy Sauce – The Korean variety of soy sauce is basically a byproduct of the soybean paste and this sauce is generally used for flavoring soups, dips sauce and also for seasoning.
  • Other popular soy sauce varieties come from the Taiwanese, Malaysian, Burmese, Vietnamese and Filipino cuisines.


 

Popular Soy Sauce Recipes of Various Cuisines
Soy sauce is popular in almost all the Far East and Southeast Asian countries; however, this sauce is now integrated into various other cuisines as well. Some popular Soy sauce recipes are –

  • Chinese Soy Sauce Chicken – This dish of Chinese origin is generally served with rice. The chicken pieces are sautéed and cooked in certain spices, including soy sauce. Oyster sauce and rice wine add more flavor to the dish.
  • Honey and Soy Sauce Marinade – Soy sauce, along with honey, rice sake, garlic and five spice powder, is one of the ingredients of this marinade. This marinade is generally used to marinate chicken, a prominent ingredient of Chinese cuisine.
  • General Tso’s Chicken – This is another popular Chinese soy bean recipe, along with Soy Sauce Chicken wings and Stir Fried Asparagus and Garlic, Chinese Steamed Sea Bass and Soy Sauce and Sesame Oil and also Citrus Soy Sauce, which is used as a salad dressing. Soy sauce is also used in many other gravy based dishes of various Asian cuisines and also in noodles and rice.

 

Nutritive Value of Soy Sauce and Soy Sauce Recipes
Soy sauce has a very high level of antioxidants, in fact 10 times more than red wine, making it ideal for preventing cardio-vascular diseases. The sauce also contains a good amount of lactic acid making it a potential anti-allergic agent. However, because of the high salt (sodium) content in it, people who are not sodium resistant should avoid soy sauce and its recipes. People, who are not resistant to gluten, also should avoid wheat based soy sauce.

 

Soy Sauce: Trivia
Soy sauce should be stored in a dark dry place away from direct sunlight for a longer shelf life.
Though naturally fermented soy sauce takes months to reach its desired taste and consistency, chemical or synthetic soy sauce can be produced within 3 days.