Sauces from the Far East are tickling taste buds around the world. Michael Fitzpatrick sifts the superior beans from the has-beens
As taste buds begin responding favourably once again to the taste of the Far East, this time the preferred flavour enhancer is, thankfully, not monosodium glutamate but soy sauce.
In Japan there’s not a pickle, fish treat or divine edible that comes without it, and chefs around the world are discovering just what magic the condiment can perform on occidental cooking.
Europe, and the Netherlands in particular, has been importing the dark elixir since the 17th century.
The best soy sauce comes from Japan, something to do with the particular grade of wheat used in the brewing process.
Basically, soy sauce is prepared and brewed just like beer, but only Japanese soy sauce uses a half-wheat, half-soya bean mixture.
Fermentation, which also requires salt, yeast and special bacilli, takes at least six months. Then, the liquor is squeezed out from the mash and usually pasteurised to stop the brewing process.
Temperature control is important – in fact, Asia’s heat and humidity gave rise to the preponderance of fermented sauces as the fug provided the ideal conditions for evolving brewed sauces such as Thailand’s pungent fish sauce.
There is evidence of soy sauce consumption from records dating back 3 000 years in China, and, like much of Japanese culture, the soya bean sauce was exported to Japan in the sixth century along with Buddhism, which forbade the eating of flesh.
Up to then, the Japanese had been in the habit of flavouring food with gravies as we do in the West, but with the need to follow the new religious rules, vegetarian soy sauce became an instant hit.
And again, like most things borrowed from other countries, Japan took a good thing and made it better.
Soy sauce-based liquors such as teriaki sauce, sauces for noodles, and tempura dips are more recent inventions reflecting Japan’s explosion in food choices since the last century.
Soy sauce has pride of place in the Japanese kitchen along with kelp (seaweed), bonito flakes and mirin – a sweet sake. These ingredients form the base of Japanese taste, soy sauce also providing aroma and colour.
Claims that Japanese cuisine is extraordinarily healthy are somewhat compromised by soy sauce’s salt content.
But defenders of the condiment claim that, although soy sauce itself is not healthy, you can actually reduce your salt intake by using it, because just a little works well as a flavour enhancer.
It can help cut down oil intake in salad dressing, for example, because you need less oil for flavouring.
As for promoting longer life, reports in the Japanese press have declared soya beans to be anti-carcinogenic, especially the revolting fermented soya-bean concoction called natto.
There are something like 7 000 soy sauce manufacturers in Japan, which leads the gourmet market with its lighter, more complex sauces, important, say the Japanese, not to mask the taste of the fresh ingredients.
The average Japanese gets through seven litres of the stuff each year. Americans too, consume vast amounts of the sauce.
Even Hillary Clinton has gone on record as keen to get her hubby away from his burger and fries and into the tofu and soy sauce.
To promote it in Europe, soy sauce importer Kikkoman runs an annual competition in the United Kingdom and Germany called Kikkoman Masters, asking chefs to make their own recipes using the sponsor’s soy sauce.
It’s fun to collect and compare brands, but don’t leave them too long in the cupboard as the sauce does lose its flavour over time.