Soy sauce is a liquid condiment from East and Southeast Asia, crafted from fermented soybeans, wheat, yeast, and salt. Its origins trace back to China, evolving from a thick paste of meat and millet into a soybean-based liquid. The Japanese further refined it by roasting wheat to prevent harmful bacteria. This mixture is then fermented with Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae mold for months, after which it gets pasteurized and filtered. It is a staple in Japanese cuisine, with dark and light varieties, and is also common in Chinese-style versions that use wheat flour. Some studies suggest soy sauce has antioxidant and anti-allergic properties, but it should be used in moderation due to its sodium and histamine levels.

What ingredients are used to make soy sauce?

Soy sauce, a traditional East and Southeast Asian condiment, is made from fermented soybeans, wheat, yeast, and salt. The Japanese make soy sauce by roasting and crushing wheat, which is added to steamed defatted soybeans. Then Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae mold is added to start the fermenting. The mixture is typically left to ferment for eight months to a year, then pasteurized and filtered. Chinese-style soy sauce uses wheat flour instead of roasted crushed wheat. Mass-produced soy sauce in the United States uses hydrolyzed vegetable protein to shortcut the fermentation process.

How is soy sauce typically made?

Soy sauce, a traditional East and Southeast Asian condiment, is made from fermented soybeans, wheat, yeast, and salt. Its origins trace back to China, where a meat-based paste called jiang evolved to use soybeans around 2,000 years ago. The Japanese further refined soy sauce, or shoyu , by roasting and crushing wheat and adding it to steamed soybeans. The mixture is then fermented using Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae mold for months, after which it is pasteurized and filtered. While the Chinese style uses wheat flour, the Japanese style uses roasted crushed wheat. Some mass-produced soy sauce uses hydrolyzed vegetable protein to speed up the fermentation process, but it is considered inferior in taste.

What flavors does soy sauce add to food?

Soy sauce, a traditional East and Southeast Asian condiment, is made from fermented soybeans, wheat, yeast, and salt. It delivers a unique umami taste, described as savory or meaty, enhancing the complex flavors of various foods. The soybeans in soy sauce contribute a strong, pungent taste, while the wheat adds sweetness. There are different types of soy sauce, like dark and light shoyu, with the light variety being saltier. Polysaccharides formed during fermentation also give soy sauce antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

How is soy sauce used in cooking and preparing meals?

Soy sauce, a traditional East and Southeast Asian condiment, is made from fermented soybeans, wheat, yeast, and salt. It is a staple in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, and Indonesian cuisines. Soy sauce is widely used as an all-purpose seasoning. In Asian cooking, it's often added to stir-fries with ginger and garlic. It has a savory taste, called umami , derived from glutamate, enhancing the flavors of meat, seafood, and vegetables. There are two main types, dark and light, with the dark variety being the most common.

What are some different types of soy sauce found in various cultures?

Soy sauce, a traditional East and Southeast Asian condiment, is made from fermented soybeans, wheat, yeast, and salt. Originating in China as a thick paste called jiang , it was made with meat and a millet-based fermenting agent. Around 2,000 years ago, soybeans replaced meat. The Japanese variant, shoyu , includes roasted and crushed wheat to prevent harmful bacteria. Two main types of shoyu exist: dark and light, with the dark variety being more common, except in certain regions. Tamari is a type of soy sauce that uses little to no wheat and is popular in Nagoya and its surrounding areas. Chinese-style soy sauce uses wheat flour instead of roasted crushed wheat. Mass-produced soy sauce in the United States uses hydrolyzed vegetable protein to speed up fermentation, which some consider lower in quality.

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A hand pours soy sauce from a bottle with a red cap into a small white dipping bowl on a table, with chopsticks and a plate in the background.

A worker wearing a blue cap and mask stirs fermenting soybeans in a large clay vat, surrounded by rows of covered fermentation vessels outdoors in Rugao, Jiangsu, China.

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Top Questions

What is soy sauce?
Soy sauce is a liquid condiment from East and Southeast Asia, crafted from fermented soybeans, wheat, yeast, and salt. Its origins trace back to China, evolving from a thick paste of meat and millet into a soybean-based liquid. The Japanese further refined it by roasting wheat to prevent harmful bacteria. This mixture is then fermented with Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae mold for months, after which it gets pasteurized and filtered. It is a staple in Japanese cuisine, with dark and light varieties, and is also common in Chinese-style versions that use wheat flour. Some studies suggest soy sauce has antioxidant and anti-allergic properties, but it should be used in moderation due to its sodium and histamine levels.
1 Britannica Source
1. soy sauce
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What ingredients are used to make soy sauce?
Soy sauce, a traditional East and Southeast Asian condiment, is made from fermented soybeans, wheat, yeast, and salt. The Japanese make soy sauce by roasting and crushing wheat, which is added to steamed defatted soybeans. Then Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae mold is added to start the fermenting. The mixture is typically left to ferment for eight months to a year, then pasteurized and filtered. Chinese-style soy sauce uses wheat flour instead of roasted crushed wheat. Mass-produced soy sauce in the United States uses hydrolyzed vegetable protein to shortcut the fermentation process.
2 Britannica Sources
1. miso
2. soy sauce
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How is soy sauce typically made?
Soy sauce, a traditional East and Southeast Asian condiment, is made from fermented soybeans, wheat, yeast, and salt. Its origins trace back to China, where a meat-based paste called jiang evolved to use soybeans around 2,000 years ago.

The Japanese further refined soy sauce, or shoyu, by roasting and crushing wheat and adding it to steamed soybeans. The mixture is then fermented using Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae mold for months, after which it is pasteurized and filtered. While the Chinese style uses wheat flour, the Japanese style uses roasted crushed wheat. Some mass-produced soy sauce uses hydrolyzed vegetable protein to speed up the fermentation process, but it is considered inferior in taste.
1 Britannica Source
1. soy sauce
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What flavors does soy sauce add to food?
Soy sauce, a traditional East and Southeast Asian condiment, is made from fermented soybeans, wheat, yeast, and salt. It delivers a unique umami taste, described as savory or meaty, enhancing the complex flavors of various foods.

The soybeans in soy sauce contribute a strong, pungent taste, while the wheat adds sweetness. There are different types of soy sauce, like dark and light shoyu, with the light variety being saltier. Polysaccharides formed during fermentation also give soy sauce antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How is soy sauce used in cooking and preparing meals?
Soy sauce, a traditional East and Southeast Asian condiment, is made from fermented soybeans, wheat, yeast, and salt. It is a staple in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, and Indonesian cuisines.

Soy sauce is widely used as an all-purpose seasoning. In Asian cooking, it's often added to stir-fries with ginger and garlic. It has a savory taste, called umami, derived from glutamate, enhancing the flavors of meat, seafood, and vegetables. There are two main types, dark and light, with the dark variety being the most common.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What are some different types of soy sauce found in various cultures?
Soy sauce, a traditional East and Southeast Asian condiment, is made from fermented soybeans, wheat, yeast, and salt. Originating in China as a thick paste called jiang, it was made with meat and a millet-based fermenting agent. Around 2,000 years ago, soybeans replaced meat.

The Japanese variant, shoyu, includes roasted and crushed wheat to prevent harmful bacteria. Two main types of shoyu exist: dark and light, with the dark variety being more common, except in certain regions. Tamari is a type of soy sauce that uses little to no wheat and is popular in Nagoya and its surrounding areas.

Chinese-style soy sauce uses wheat flour instead of roasted crushed wheat. Mass-produced soy sauce in the United States uses hydrolyzed vegetable protein to speed up fermentation, which some consider lower in quality.
1 Britannica Source
1. soy sauce
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

soy sauce, traditional East and Southeast Asian liquid condiment made of fermented soybeans, wheat, yeast, and salt that is prominent in traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, and Indonesian cuisines, among others.

Soy sauce has a long history. It was first made in China in the form of a thick paste called jiang and was originally a blend of meat and a millet-based fermenting agent along with salt. This was then placed in a jar, sealed, and allowed to ferment for at least 100 days. The meat dissolved, leaving behind a strong umami taste and a liquid condiment called jiang you. About 2,000 years ago, Chinese jiang makers began to substitute soybeans for meat.

The Japanese variant on this condiment was originally a paste, the origin of both soy sauce and miso. The two were eventually differentiated, miso remaining a paste but soy sauce, or shoyu, taking a liquid form. Japanese soy sauce is made by roasting and crushing wheat, which impedes the formation of harmful bacteria, and adding it to steamed defatted soybeans. Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae mold is added to start the fermenting process. Traditionally, soy sauce is a seasonal product, begun in April and extending through the hot summer into the cooler fall and winter. It is usually left to ferment for a period of eight months to a year. It is then pasteurized and filtered. Some specialty sauces are aged for much longer, and one variety, saishikomi shoyu, or “second fermentation soy sauce,” is not pasteurized.

Chef tossing vegetables in a frying pan over a burner (skillet, food).

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Soy sauce is ubiquitous in Japanese cuisine. It is used as an all-purpose seasoning and is consumed with almost every meal throughout the archipelago. There are two principal types of shoyu, dark and light, the latter being saltier than the former. Most Japanese restaurants and kitchens use the dark variety, which accounts for more than 80 percent of domestic sales. The light one, however, is favoured in Ōsaka and Kyōto prefectures. Tamari, a kind of soy sauce, uses the same processes and ingredients except for wheat, of which it contains little to none. Tamari shoyu is particularly popular in Nagoya and its surrounding areas.

Soy sauce is widely used in East Asian and Southeast Asian cuisines, although it tends to be of the Chinese style, which uses wheat flour instead of roasted crushed wheat. Both Japanese and Chinese varieties are popular in Europe, while the Japanese style is more widely used in the United States owing to the large number of military personnel who have been stationed in Japan. Mass-produced soy sauce manufactured in the United States uses hydrolyzed vegetable protein in order to shortcut the fermentation process, yielding a product that Japanese purists and food connoisseurs consider to be inferior in taste.

Soy sauce contains polysaccharides produced during the fermentation process that have antioxidant properties, reducing inflammation and benefiting the production of gastric acid. Soy sauce is also thought to have anti-allergic properties, although comprehensive clinical studies remain to be done. Soy sauce contains elevated levels of sodium, which can be unhealthful if consumed too frequently or abundantly, although those levels are lower than ordinary table salt. People who are sensitive to histamines, produced during the fermentation process as well, should use soy sauce sparingly.

Gregory Lewis McNamee

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