The history of Soy Sauce

Soy sauce, a flavourful condiment and preservative, is a mainstay of Chinese cooking. It is made by boiling and fermenting soybeans, which are then covered with salted water for several weeks, resulting in a thin, reddish-brown liquid whose primary flavors are salt and umami. Read on to learn about the long history of this well-known seasoning.

Soybeans have been cultivated in China for thousands of years. A highly versatile crop, it can be pickled or fermented; soaked and ground to make soy milk; curdled to make tofu, or even used as a fertilizer. Outside of China, it is perhaps most famous as the primary ingredient in soy sauce.

Soy sauce can be added directly to food, and is used as a dip or salt flavour in cooking. It is often eaten with rice, noodles, sushi or sashimi, or can also be mixed with ground wasabi for dipping.

Originally, a common Japanese condiment was gyoshō (魚醤), which was fish based. When Buddhism came to Japan from China in the 7th century, they introduced vegetarianism and brought many soy-based products with them, such as soy sauce, which is known as shōyu (醤油) in Japan. Shoyu exportation began in 1647 by the Dutch East India Company.