Soy Sauce – YAMASA EUROPE

What is Soy Sauce?

Soy sauce is made only from soybeans, wheat, and salt. The protein in soybeans changes to components that produce flavour and color unique to soy sauce as they are acted upon by microorganisms. Meanwhile, wheat is rich in starch, and is mainly used to create the unique aroma to soy sauce.

It is a glutamine acid that takes very important role in making soy sauce’s UMAMI. A thick and high quality soy sauce contains about 1.5 %. This is just about 1/10 of salt content. In fact, the glutamine acid content as UMAMI to the salt in soy sauce is close to that ratio and it has scientifically proven balance of delicious taste.

“Shoyu”, the Japanese name for soy sauce, first came into usage during the Muromachi Period, and the word appears in a dictionary written in the early 1500s. Thus, it can be assumed that during the mid-Muromachi Period soy sauce began being used as a liquid seasoning.

During the Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1573-1603), under the rule of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the development of a monetary economy among the merchant and artisan class served as the gateway to the modern era, increasing the circulation of goods. Against this historical background, soy sauce spread quickly among the common people, and demand for the product increased.

During the Edo Period (1603-1867), wheat was used to produce a fragrant kind of soy sauce called koikuchi shoyu, perfect for flavouring the fish caught in the Edo Bay, the popularity of which contributed greatly to the culinary culture particular to the era. In response, the first soy sauce factories emerged during the late 16th century and early 17th century.

How is Japanese traditional Soy Sauce different?

Countless varieties of soy sauce are available in the world. Japanese traditional brewed soy sauce stands out from other soy sauce. For example, it has clear color and rich flavour. On the other hand, chemically produced soy sauce has dark color and unpleasant aroma. Some soy sauce has added MSG and other additives. However, Japanese traditional soy sauce is brewed.

“Colour”

To make dishes more elegant

Most people believe that the color of soy sauce is blackish red, but you may find clear and shiny red. This vivid, beautiful red is the sign of delicious soy sauce, and the color will stand out and stimulate your appetite.

“Aroma”

Glamorous aroma inside

The many aromatic substances within soy sauce give you the most enjoyable flavour with deep satisfaction. About 300 aromatic substances were found, such as rose, apple flower, fruit, whisky, and coffee. These diversified fragrances and flavours are all balanced to create a harmonious, pleasant aroma. Furthermore, if we heat up soy sauce, the aroma changes from that of raw soy sauce into the scent of Teriyaki.

“Flavour”

No interfering with other ingredients

If you use soy sauce, foods becomes delicious. This is due to the glutamine, which is UMAMI essence, that enhances more than adding just soy sauce flavour. The glutamine acid is one of the amino acids that brings a strong UMAMI. However, if you add 5’ inosinic acid, UMAMI essence from dried Bonito and from meat, food becomes even tastier because of their synergistic effect.

Ingredients are mixed.
Koji Starter is added.

Something akin to sourdough starter called Koji starter is added.

Koji is cultivated.

This mixture spends three days in a warm and humid Koji room, a process critical to final color, aroma and flavour.

Brine & Koji are mixed.

Mormon mash is made of brine and Koji.
Mormon is fermented in controlled tanks with several air agitations.

Fermentation & Aging

Moromi continues to change in the tank.
Enzymes, yeast, and microorganisms such as lactic acid bacilli, produced from Koji, work actively in the tank.

Decomposition of ingredients during fermentation process makes Moromi tasty by producing various important components for soy sauce. Flavour, color and aroma of soy sauce are generated and improved slowly during this time. (Experts at the factory stir Moromi with fresh air in order to create favorable environment for microorganisms.)

Moromi is pressed.

After the agent of Moromi is completed, Moromi is wrapped in a cloth and squeezed slowly as long as three days. This is called raw soy sauce.

Soy Sauce is sterilized & packaged.

The soy sauce is bottled in our factory and finished – ready to be sold.

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