Soy – The most versatile sauce in the world
It’s hard to imagine any oriental cooking without including a splash or a dash of soy sauce – an essential ingredient for hundreds of fantastic dishes.
This sticky brown sauce comes in a variety of types and is used for everything in Japanese cooking. When heated it makes a tasty, sticky marinade, delicious with meat or vegetables or it can be added to other sauces as a seasoning or simply used as a dipping sauce for delicious sushi rolls or nigiri.
Soy beans have hundreds of different purposes in the Far East and are used for lots of different foodstuffs including Soya milk and tofu. Today, most eastern countries have their own version of soy sauce.
There are different theories as to how Soy Sauce evolved. A popular one is that it was discovered in China from the process of preserving food known as jiang. Before fridges, finding new ways to preserve food was a big deal and soy beans and wheat were ideal to use as raw materials for preservatives as they grew in abundance. Modern Japanese soy sauce usually includes both these ingredients though there are wheat free brands available.
There are five different types of Japanese Soy Sauce or Shoyu as it is known and each type is included in different recipes and ways of cooking. The most common is Koikuchi or dark soy sauce and Tamari is a wheat free version of this made from the process of fermenting miso. Usukuchi is a light soy sauce but can have a saltier flavour and Saishikomi is twice brewed making it much darker and stronger in flavour than koikuchi. Finally, Shiro is a very light soy sauce using mostly wheat and is a popular accompaniment to sashimi.
It is impossible to eat sushi without a small dish of glossy soy sauce. The rich salty flavours perfectly compliment bundles of rice, fish and vegetables. Soy sauce is so important in Japan it even warrants its own tableware including attractive ceramic soy sauce dispensers and small sauce dipping dishes and you will never see a table set without some receptacle for soy.
Mixed with honey, soy sauce makes a delicious marinade for chicken or beef or it can be mixed with a splash of rice vinegar and a blob of wasabi for a fiery Japanese salad dressing. You can even add a few splashes to stews or casseroles to add a rich flavour or shake it over a stir fry or noodles for an instant eastern flavour.
It truly is one of the most versatile sauces in the world and an essential for the kitchen cupboard for anyone who loves to cook.
