Soy Sauce: a Prehistoric Condiment

What would take-out Chinese food be without little packets of soy sauce? The innocuous brown condiment is synonymous with Asian cuisine. Few people know about the sauce's long history.

Soy sauce was developed in China more than 2500 years ago. Originally it was a byproduct. Without refrigeration meat and fish were treated with salt to preserve them. The liquid that leeched from the preserving foods was kept as a seasoning. When Buddhism and its vegetarian practices became popular in China the meat-based sauce was replaced by one made of salty, fermented grains.

A Japanese Zen priest discovered this tasty invention and started work on his own concoction in Japan. He changed it slightly, using fermented soy beans and grains in equal parts. The result was a more mellow sauce that complimented food instead of overpowering it. Soy sauce, the modern version, was born.

Today, some soy sauce is still made the traditional way; fermented for six months to three years before it is bottled and sold. The traditionally created blends are prized for their age and taste, like fine wines. As time has marched on innovations have come to the soy sauce industry. A chemical process used by some manufacturers can create soy sauce in a week.

All soy sauces are not created equal. While the brown sauce has its origins in China, its use has spread all over Asia. The taste of the sauce varies from country to country. In China, soy sauce is available as light and dark. The light sauce is used for seasoning, and its color doesn't generally discolor the foods it's added to. Dark soy sauce is a darker, thicker, and sweeter liquid that has had molasses added. It adds both color and flavor to food.

Japanese soy sauce is divided into five different types. Wheat is the primary ingredient and they have a sweeter, wine-like flavor, than their Chinese counterparts. Koikuchi, Usukuchi and Tamari are popular types of Japanese soy sauce.

Korean soy sauce is made from a byproduct of the Korean bean paste doenjang, It is salty and strong, and generally used only in traditional disheas. Koreans generally use Japanese-created soy sauces.

Soy sauce is both good and bad for you. A study from Singapore concluded soy sauce has 10 times the antioxidants of red wine. That is tempered with the high salt content of many soy sauces. Excess salt can lead to a host of illnesses.

The next time Chinese take-out arrives at your door and you open a little plastic packet of soy sauce remember the brown liquid has its roots in prehistoric times.