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Shoyu (醤油)

Shoyu - Soy Sauce Today, shoyu, or soy sauce, the primary staple in Japanese cooking, is an internationally used condiment. In the mid-thirteenth century, a Japanese Buddhist monk, Kakushin, brought from China to his temple in Yuasa City, Wakayama Prefecture, the technique of pickling summer vegetables, such as cucumber, eggplant, melon and ginger, in a base of soybeans and grains, along with salt, as a way to preserve the precious vegetable harvest. After several months of pickling in the hot and humid weather, the monks soon discovered in the wooden vat, a thin layer of golden brown, aromatic and savory liquid covering the top of the preserved vegetables. It was so delicious that the monks began to use it in their cooking. It is said that this liquid was the first step in the development of Japanese shoyu, as we know it today. The production of shoyu begins with applying koji, a fermentation starter, to roasted-and-cracked wheat along with steamed soybeans. Forty hours later, the batch in which the koji mold has grown is combined with salted spring water and left to ferment for 12 to 24 months. Fermentation produces essential flavor elements in numerous amino and organic acids. Thus, shoyu offers saltiness as well as delicious flavor to any dish to which it is added. There are more than two hundred identifiable aroma components found in good quality shoyu.

Introduction

Shoyu is categorized into three types according to the materials employed - one is made from a combination of soybeans and wheat, another from nearly all wheat and one from all soybeans. The variations within the first type are determined by the length of fermentation, the difference in color and the degree of saltiness. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that shoyu is used in almost all Japanese preparations, from tempura dipping sauce, noodle sauce, simmering broth, ponzu sauce, tare sauce, marinades and flavored rice. Today, the role of shoyu is even greater. As Western-style dishes spread deep into Japanese culinary culture, both chefs and cooks create "Japanized" Western dishes by adding shoyu as a hidden ingredient to enhance and modify the flavor of "foreign" preparations. In America, chefs are also adapting shoyu into their repertoire to achieve the same effect. A bowl of hot, cooked Japanese rice topped with a cube of butter - the foreign ingredient - along with a drizzle of good shoyu tastes heavenly - an example of an excellent marriage of a "foreign" ingredient to a Japanese ingredient.

Soybean Shoyu

Tamari Shoyu (たまり醤油)

Soybean shoyu is produced in Aichi, Gifu and Mie Prefectures in central Japan. Traditional production employs 100% soybeans, but today, some producers add a little wheat for better aroma. Use of a small amount of salted water and a long fermentation process produces a very thick, firm-textured, rich and robust flavored shoyu. Tamari Shoyu is used for sashimi sauce or added at the end of preparations to enhance the flavor and color of the dish.

Soybean-and-Wheat Shoyu

1. Regular Dark Soy Sauce Koikuchi shoyu (濃口醤油)
The most popular table shoyu in Japan, it is clear, reddish deep-brown colored and has an aromatic, rich flavor. It contains 17 to 18% salt per volume and is used in all types of preparations where saltiness and rich flavor and color are desired. Koikuchi shoyu should not be over-cooked in order to preserve its good aroma and taste.

2. Light-colored Soy Sauce Usukuchi shoyu (薄口醤油)
The clear, golden yellowish brown color results from the use of lightly toasted wheat and more salt in the production process. It contains 19% salt per volume and sweet sake is added at the end of the production to make this shoyu light and mellow in both color and flavor. In many preparations, usukuchi shoyu and koikuchi shoyu are used together for the best result and can create a more complex flavor in the prepared dish, but usukuchi shoyu is used alone in a variety of dishes that require a lighter color and flavor profile.

Mostly Wheat Shoyu

Shiro Shoyu (白醤油)

Short fermentation and use of a significant amount of wheat (90%) in the production process creates a clear, golden color like that of wheat beer. Shiro shoyu has a completely different flavor from the previously described soybean-and-wheat shoyu as well as a notable sweetness associated with the wheat. It contains18% salt per volume. These characteristics work together to produce dishes in which the natural flavor of the especially delicate ingredients must be preserved. Shiro shoyu is an ideal shoyu for western preparations where saltiness and flavor enhancement is needed.

Shoyu Modern Recipe

Ravioli with Wild Mushrooms and Poached Egg Flavored with Shiro Shoyu

Shiro shoyu's notable sweetness associated with its main ingredient, wheat, enhances the flavor of many ingredients. In this recipe, the flavor of wild mushrooms is strongly enhanced by the shiro shoyu. The soft poached egg is draped over the ravioli to accentuate the combination of flavors.

R E C I P E (4 to 6 servings)

7 ounces assorted wild mushrooms (Chanterelle, Hen of the Woods, Lobster Mushrooms, Black Trumpet Mushrooms, and so on)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, minced
1/2 cup chicken soup
2 to 3 teaspoons shiro shoyu (wheat shoyu)
1/4 cup minced parsley
Lemon juice to taste
2 large eggs
1/4 cup vinegar (for boiling the eggs)
1 pound ravioli

Rinse, dry and cut the mushrooms into slices. In a heated skillet, add the olive oil and butter and cook the shallots until softened. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the mushrooms and cook over moderately high heat until they are wilted and fragrant. Add the chicken soup and shiro shoyu and bring the mixture to a simmer. Add and stir in the parsley and turn off the heat. In a medium pot, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil and add cup vinegar. Break the eggs into small cups, drop them into the water and cook 3 minutes. Remove the eggs from water with slotted spoon. Bring plenty of water to a boil in a large pot, add the salt and cook the ravioli. Drain the ravioli and serve topped with mushroom sauce and poached eggs. Sprinkle a little additional shiro shoyu over each egg.

Shoyu Traditional Recipe

Tender Braised Pork Belly
(Buta no Kakuni)

This dish, an adaptation of a Chinese pork dish, comes from Nagasaki Prefecture on Kyushu Island, where it received strong Chinese culinary influence

R E C I P E (10 servings)

2 pounds pork flank
1 ounce ginger, peeled and sliced
1 cup sake (rice wine)
1/2 cup mirin (sweet cooking wine)
2 to 3 tablespoons koikuchi shoyu
2 ounces brown sugar
4 boiled eggs
Japanese mustard paste
Snow peas, blanched

Heat a skillet and brown the pork flank with the skin side down. Rinse the pork with hot water. Drain the pork and cut it into 2-inch square pieces. In a pot, place the pork and add the sake, mirin and enough water to barely cover the pork. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover the pot with a lid and cook in a heated oven (300°F). Cook the pork for 2 hours. Remove the pot from the oven and add the sugar and cook it over the stovetop over a medium-low heat for half an hour. Add the shoyu and boiled eggs and cook for 15 minutes. Serve the pork along with the snow peas, garnished with a little mound of mustard paste and the boiled eggs.

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