Soy Sauce

Soy sauce (or soya sauce) is a salty brown Oriental sauce used as a seasoning to enhance and heighten the flavour of various foods such as meats, poultry, fish and cheese. In the East, it is used as a staple condiment, both in cooking and at the table in place of salt, whilst in the West it has become a common ingredient in barbecue sauces, marinades steak sauces and salad dressings. It is known in Japan as 'shoyu', whilst in China it is known as 'see yau' in Cantonese and as pinyin jiàngyóu in Madarin. To use soy sauce, simply sprinkle a few drops into savoury dishes and adjust the seasoning to taste before adding any more.

Making Soy Sauce

True soy sauce is made from a naturally fermented mixture of soya beans, ground roasted wheat or barley and a starter mould known as koji. After the mixture has aged for three to five days, a brine of sea salt and water is added and then allowed to mature for approximately six months.

Many commercially prepared soy sauces are chemically fermented from defatted soya bean pulp and are typically coloured with caramel; however, these synthetic sauces often lack the full flavour of the natural or traditional sauces. Good soy sauce has a rich aroma and a flavour that is both salty and pungent. When choosing soy sauce, shake the bottle vigorously until bubbles form at the top; naturally fermented soya will form a thick, foamy head that will take some time to disperse.

Soy Sauce Varieties

Although there a number of different varieties of soy sauce, there are two major types: dark soy sauce and light soy sauce. In addition, there are many other sauces made using soy sauce, such as Teriyaki marinade (soy sauce, sugar, ginger and spices) and Worcestershire sauce.

1. Dark Soy Sauce

Dark soy sauce is aged for longer than light soy sauce and has a thicker consistency and a sweeter, richer flavour. It typically contains molasses and other seasonings, making it dark, almost black in colour. It is used extensively in Japanese or Chinese cuisine for hearty dishes such as beef, duck, chicken or pork recipes and for stir-fries, marinades, glazes and stews.

Kecap manis is an Indonesian dark soy sauce, with a thick, almost syrupy consistency and a pronounced sweet, treacle-like flavour, which comes from the addition of palm sugar, star anis and garlic. It is generally used as a condiment, flavouring agent or as a marinade.

The Japanese version of dark soy sauce is known as tamari; a dark, strong flavoured sauce made mainly from soya beans, with only a small amount of wheat. It is thicker and stronger than Chinese soy sauces, and is generally used for dishes that require long cooking times, such as soups, stews and casseroles. It may also be used as a sauce for raw fish or as a marinade, seasoning, dipping sauce or salad dressing.

Other dark soy sauces include flavoured sauces such as mushroom soy sauce, which is made with dried mushrooms that give it an earthy flavour that works well with marinades and meat stews.

2. Light Soy Sauce

Light soy sauce is thinner, saltier and more sour than the thick and sweet dark soy sauce. As it is also lighter in colour, it is often used to flavour clear soup, soup bases for noodles, white fish, seafood and vegetable dishes. It has a shorter shelf life than the darker sauces, and so should be used shortly after opening.