Soy sauce imparts unique flavor
to Chinese cuisine
Li Anlan | March 10, 2016
| Shanghai Daily
SOY sauce is a quintessential ingredient in Chinese kitchens,
enhancing soups, stews and other dishes with a unique flavor that
defines the cuisine.
Samuel Muston, food editor at The Independent
Magazine, described soy sauce as “an eternal beacon, guiding
troubled dishes into softer waters.” If he had to pick something to
take to a desert island, it would be a “gargantuan bottle of soy
sauce,” he said.
Most Chinese would agree with that
praise.
“Soy sauce not only salts dishes, but it also give
them flavor and color,” said Grace Wen, who lives in Shanghai and
likes to cook at home. “It can turn simple ingredients into
something very special and delicious.”
One of the oldest condiments in the world, soy sauce
figures prominently in many Asian cuisines. In Chinese, it’s called
jiang you, which translates as “sauce oil.”
In ancient times, this preserved seasoning was
brewed from fresh meat, similar to today’s fish sauce, and it was
used exclusively for the imperial court. The condiment expanded to
the general public when soybeans were found to produce a similar
flavor at a much cheaper cost.
In the Song Dynasty (AD 960–1279), soy sauce was
mentioned in several books. The folk recipe book Wu Shi Zhong Kui
Lu, compiled by a woman surnamed Wu, featured a steamed crab dish
that called for wine, soy sauce and sesame oil as
seasonings.
Soy sauce was introduced to neighboring countries in
Asia by Buddhist monks. Japan, Korea and Southeast Asian countries
went on to develop their own versions of soy sauce.
The magic of soy sauce has spread to Western recipe
books. Common salad dressings, like honey mustard, often call for a
few drops of light soy sauce to boost the flavor. And bottles of
soy sauce often sit in the condiment tray on restaurant
tables.
Making soy sauce is a bit of an art. That’s why
there are so many different varieties on supermarket shelves. One
of the most common brands in the West is Japan-made Kikkoman
all-purpose soy sauce. China’s Pearl River Bridge superior light
soy sauce is also widespread.
Though soy sauce is rich in amino acids and packs a
great amount of antioxidants that are quite beneficial to health,
the sodium levels in the very salty condiment are also very high.
Today, many soy sauce manufacturers produce reduced-salt
versions.
In China, soy sauce is divided into two main
categories: shengchou, or fresh soy sauce, and laochou, or dark soy
sauce.
Fresh soy sauce is light and aromatic, with a hint
of sweetness. It’s often used to make cold salad dishes, dipping
sauces or as soup seasoning. High quality fresh soy sauce can give
simple vegetable dishes an umami, or glutamate, taste.
Dark soy sauce is used to add color to stews,
stir-fries, and braised and roasted dishes. It is not necessarily
saltier, though it is fermented for a longer period of time than
light soy sauce and sugar is often added to give it a sweeter
taste.
Chua Lam, the famous gastronomist, food critic and
television host, wrote that the soy sauce produced by Kowloon Soy
Company represents the soul of Hong Kong, with its very rich, thick
and sweet texture.
There are two common blended soy sauces in China.
The mushroom dark soy sauce adds straw mushroom broth in the aging
process for a richer flavor. It is used in the same way as common
dark soy sauces in cooking.
The Suzhou-style shrimp soy sauce is a light variety
brewed with fresh shrimp and seasoned with sugar, white spirits,
ginger and spices. It is used as dressing or dipping
sauce.
Jiang you gao, or soy sauce paste, is a solid form
that originated in the Yulin region of Guangxi Province. The locals
there traditionally seasoned stir-fried pork slices with the paste,
though it’s now harder to find because liquid versions are so much
more popular.
In Shanghai, there is a local seasoning sauce called
la jiang you, which translates as “spicy soy sauce.” For the
Shanghainese, la jiang you is the soulmate of deep-fried pork
chops. But despite the name, it has nothing to do with common soy
sauce. It’s actually a Worcestershire sauce from 19th century
England that was so named because of its resemblance to traditional
Chinese dark soy sauce.
In the popular Japanese TV series “Shinya Shokudo”
(Midnight Diner), adapted from the manga series by Yaro Abe, one
episode featured a dish called butter rice. It was cooked with only
three ingredients: rice, butter and soy sauce.
The dish was made by placing a small cube of butter
atop a bowl of hot cooked rice. When the butter melted, soy sauce
was drizzled over it. Voilà! Comfort food, quick and
easy.
The episode used the famous Kikkoman soy sauce, made
by the Noda, Japan-based company founded in 1917. Kikkoman has
production plants in China, the United States, the Netherlands,
Singapore and Canada. The iconic bottle with a red cap was designed
by Kenji Ekuan.
Soy sauce is called shoyu in Japanese, and there are
several different types of soy sauces, including the most common
koikuchi-shoyu, usukuchi-shoyu and tamari-shoyu.
Kikkoman soy sauce is the koikuchi-shoyu variety,
which is somewhat thicker than usukuchi-shoyu.
Because koikuchi-shoyu is brewed with soybeans and
wheat, it is clearer and thinner than Chinese soy sauces produced
only from soybeans. It also has a sweeter taste.
Tamari-shoyu is more similar to the traditional
Chinese dark soy sauce and contains little or no wheat.
The Japanese grade soy sauces in three official
levels, based on the nitrogen content. The highest grade, tokkyu,
contains more than 1.5 percent nitrogen.
Other Asian countries also have their own soy
sauces. In Indonesia, it’s the molasses-like kecap manis, a sweet
sauce fermented with soybeans and flavored with generous amounts of
palm sugar. It’s often used in satay dishes.
It’s all a bit confusing when you want to buy some
soy sauce in the supermarket. On Chinese shelves, there are rows
and rows of different types and brands.
For light soy sauce, the top three choices are Lee
Kum Kee salt reduced light soy sauce (8.5 yuan (US$1.3 for a 500ml
bottle). It’s produced by a Hong Kong-based company. Or you might
try Shinho June premium soy sauce (at 11 yuan) or Haitian’s gold
label premium light soy sauce (at 7 yuan).
Hoda Organic has a reduced sodium light soy sauce
for babies, though it comes with at a pricey 30 yuan for small
160ml bottle. No matter which soy sauce you choose, it’s best to
feed it sparingly to children because of the salt
content.
For dark soy sauce, try Lee Kum Kee selected dark
soy sauce (at 10.4 yuan per bottle) or Haitian mushroom dark soy
sauce (at 8 yuan).
In the Japanese food aisle, there are various soy
sauces for sashimi, sushi and other dishes.
Kikkoman soy sauce sells for about 23 yuan for a
150ml bottle.
Though soy sauce has a long shelf life, it’s still
essential to keep the bottles tightly capped when not in use and to
store them at room temperature.
