Soy sauce facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Soy sauce |
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A bowl of soy sauce
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Mandarin Chinese name | |||||||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 醬油 | ||||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 酱油 | ||||||||||||||
Literal meaning | "sauce oil" | ||||||||||||||
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Cantonese/Hokkien name | |||||||||||||||
Chinese | 豉油 | ||||||||||||||
Literal meaning | "fermented bean oil" | ||||||||||||||
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Burmese name | |||||||||||||||
Burmese | ပဲငံပြာရည် | ||||||||||||||
Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||||
Vietnamese | xì dầu or nước tương | ||||||||||||||
Thai name | |||||||||||||||
Thai | ซีอิ๊ว (RTGS: si-iw) | ||||||||||||||
Korean name | |||||||||||||||
Hangul | 간장 | ||||||||||||||
Literal meaning | "seasoning sauce" | ||||||||||||||
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Japanese name | |||||||||||||||
Kanji | 醤油 | ||||||||||||||
Kana | しょうゆ | ||||||||||||||
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Malay name | |||||||||||||||
Malay | kicap | ||||||||||||||
Indonesian name | |||||||||||||||
Indonesian | kecap | ||||||||||||||
Filipino name | |||||||||||||||
Tagalog | toyo |
Soy sauce (US) or soya sauce is a fermented sauce made from soy beans (soya beans), roasted grain, water and salt. It is commonly used in Chinese, Japanese and Korean cuisine. It appears in some Western cuisine dishes, especially as an ingredient in Worcestershire sauce. Real soy sauces are fermented with kōji (麹, the mold Aspergillus oryzae or A. sojae) and other related microorganisms. Almost all soy sauce has some alcohol added during bottling. This acts as a preservative to protect it from going bad. For this reason, soy sauce should always be kept in the fridge. It should also not be put in direct light. An opened bottle of soy sauce that has been left unrefrigerated could become slightly bitter.
Although there are many types of soy sauce, all are salty and earthy-tasting brownish liquids used to season food while cooking or at the table. What some westerners can only describe as a flavorful, kind of sweet taste is a distinct basic taste called "umami" by the Japanese and "xian-wei" (鲜味, lit. fresh taste) by the Chinese.
Although this seasoning was first used in China, it is used several cuisines across Asia and is a particularly important flavoring in Japanese cuisine. There are many types of sauce.
Images for kids
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Soy sauce is made from soybeans
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Toyomansi, a typical Filipino dipping sauce composed of soy sauce and calamansi spiced with siling labuyo
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Left, ABC brand Kecap manis sweet Indonesian soy sauce is nearly as thick as molasses; right, Kecap asin
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Soft serve usually topped with Thai sweet soy sauce served at Yaowarat, Bangkok, Thailand
See also
In Spanish: Salsa de soya para niños