Soy sauce

Soy sauce, also known as soya sauce in British English, is a salty, umami-rich liquid condiment that originated in China. It is traditionally produced by fermenting a paste of soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and either *Aspergillus oryzae* or *Aspergillus sojae* molds (collectively called kōji).

The condiment can be used directly on food, as a dipping sauce, or as a seasoning during cooking. It commonly accompanies rice, noodles, sushi, or sashimi, and is sometimes mixed with ground wasabi for dipping. Bottles of soy sauce are frequently found on restaurant tables worldwide for seasoning dishes. When stored properly, soy sauce remains shelf-stable indefinitely.

**History**

**Asia**

**China** Soy sauce is nearly as old as soy paste, a fermented soybean product that appeared during the Western Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) and was recorded on bamboo slips from the Mawangdui archaeological site. Early precursors include *qingjiang* (清醬), listed in AD 40 in *Simin Yueling*, and later *jiangqing* (醬清), *chizhi* (豉汁), and *chiqing* (豉清), documented in *Qimin Yaoshu* in AD 540. By the Song dynasty (960–1279 AD), the term *jiàng yóu* (醬油) became the standard name for the liquid condiment, appearing in the books *Shanjia Qinggong* and *Pujiang Wushi Zhongkuilu*.

Originally, soy sauce served as a way to extend salt, which was historically expensive. During the Zhou dynasty, fermented fish with salt was used as a condiment, with soybeans added during fermentation. By the Han dynasty, this evolved into soy paste and its by-product soy sauce, with soybeans as the main ingredient, while fermented fish sauces developed separately into fish sauce. The 19th-century Sinologist Samuel Wells Williams described the best Chinese soy sauce as made by boiling beans soft, adding an equal amount of wheat or barley, fermenting the mass, then adding salt and three times as much water, leaving it for two to three months before pressing and straining.

**Japan** Before soy sauce, Japan had a fish sauce called *gyoshō* (魚醤). When Buddhist practitioners arrived from China in the 7th century, they introduced vegetarianism and soy-based products, including soy sauce, known as *shōyu* (醤油) in Japan. The Dutch East India Company began exporting shoyu in 1647.

**Korea** Soy sauce brewing in Korea likely began during the Three Kingdoms era. *Jangdoks* (fermentation pots) appear in 4th-century Goguryeo mural paintings from Anak Tomb No. 3. The *Samguk sagi* records that *ganjang* (soy sauce) and *doenjang* (soybean paste), along with *meju* (soybean block) and *jeotgal* (salted seafood), were prepared for King Sinmun's wedding in February 683. The *Sikhwaji* section of *Goryeosa* notes that *ganjang* and *doenjang* were included in relief supplies in 1018 after a Khitan invasion and in 1052 during a famine. Joseon texts like *Guhwangchwaryo* and *Jeungbo sallim gyeongje* detail brewing procedures, while *Gyuhap chongseo* explains how to choose a brewing date, what to avoid, and how to store the sauces.

**Philippines** Soy sauce was likely first recorded in the Philippines through documentation of the traditional dish adobo in 1613 via the San Buenaventura paper. Food historian Raymond Sokolov suggested that ingredients in adobo, including soy sauce, were likely present in native cuisine before the colonial-era record.

**Europe** The Dutch East India Company listed soy sauce as a commodity in 1737, shipping seventy-five large barrels from Dejima, Japan, to Batavia (present-day Jakarta), with thirty-five barrels then sent to the Netherlands. In the 18th century, diplomat and scholar Isaac Titsingh published accounts of soy sauce brewing, focusing on the Japanese version. By the mid-19th century, Japanese soy sauce largely disappeared from the European market, and the condiment became synonymous with the Chinese product. Europeans could not produce it because they lacked *Aspergillus oryzae*, the fungus used in brewing. Instead, European cookbooks from the late 18th century disseminated recipes for soy sauce made from ingredients like portobello mushrooms. A Swedish recipe for "Soija" appeared in the 1770 edition of Cajsa Warg's *Hjelpreda i Hushållningen för Unga Fruentimber*, flavored with allspice and mace.

**United States** Soy sauce production in the United States began in the Territory of Hawaii in 1905 with Yamajo Soy Co, renamed the Hawaiian Soy Company Ltd by 1909. La Choy introduced hydrolyzed vegetable protein–based soy sauce in 1933. Until the popularization of authentic Chinese cuisine in the 1970s, some Americans pejoratively called the sauce "beetle juice," a slur that had heavily declined by 1976.

**Production** Soy sauce is made either by fermentation or by hydrolysis. Some commercial sauces combine both fermented and chemically produced sauces.