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what
you should know
Perhaps
as foreshadowing of the future of take-out
everywhere, soy sauce got its start as a leftover. When the
Chinese were fermenting soybeans for a flavoring paste in the 2nd
century BCE, they realized that the liquids left behind were also
pretty tasty.
Buddhist monks took the process to Japan, and by the
1600s it developed into the standard recipe of fermented soybeans and
wheat we eat today.
to
each its own Different
versions of soy sauce exist across Asia. Chinese soy sauces are made
light and dark, with the dark containing molasses to give it a sweeter edge. Japanese sho-yu
is
categorized according to color and ingredients, and ranges from
lightly sweet to intensely dark and salty. Other soy sauces are made
in Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Indonesia,
all with slight differences.
it's
all the soy to me Though
each sauce is slightly different, you probably don't need to have 15
different bottles of soy sauce in your fridge. If you can accept small variations in flavor, a
basic Japanese soy sauce will work in most everything.
yum-ami
The
dark taste of soy sauce is practically the definition of umami,
the savory fifth taste that enhances the other four (sour, salty,
sweet, bitter) and is found in everything from meats and mushrooms to
tomatoes and parmesan cheese.
wheat
weak Tamari,
a dark variety of Japanese soy sauce, is packed with rich umami
flavor. But unlike other varieties, it has little or no wheat - which
makes it a safe staple in a gluten-free
diet.
what you need
- A
flat-bottomed
wok is a versatile alternative to the rounded variety. You can
use it for braises and other liquid cooking as well as stir-frying.
- One of
our favorite Japanese cookbooks, Harumi's
Japanese Cooking, is a beautifully photographed collection of
classic and reinvented Japanese recipes.
- Nothing says "this isn't take-out" like a pretty soy
sauce pot.
what you do
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