Talk:Soy sauce

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Monosodium glutamate?[edit]

Isnt the primary ingredient of soy sauce Monosodium glutamate? If so shouldn't it be mentioned? I know people who are paranoid about msg but are quite happy to eat a takeawy chinese 95.151.120.191 (talk) 10:20, 13 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]

A naturally brewed soy sauce won't have any added MSG, though it does contain free glutamic acid (as do many foods).

With hydrolyzed protein based "soy sauces," the hydrolysis of the isolated soy protein will create an abundance of free glutamic acid, and the hydrochloric acid used to hydrolyze the protein will then be typically be neutralized with sodium hydroxide, reacting to form NaCl (salt) and H20 (water). Some of the sodium hydroxide though will also react with the free glutamic acid to form MSG and water.

Some of these imitation soy sauces will also contain additional added MSG. -2003:CA:83CB:1B00:11F2:9D86:2B70:469E (talk) 16:10, 22 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

NPOV tweaks...[edit]

The "Acid-hydrolyzed vegetable protein" section had read:

"Some higher-quality hydrolyzed vegetable protein products with no added salt, sugar or colorings are sold as low-sodium soy sauce alternatives called "liquid aminos" in health food stores, similar to the way salt substitutes are used."

I've changed "higher-quality" to "higher-priced," since they're not necessarily of higher quality than an average hydrolyzed protein based imitation "soy sauce," and "quality" is somewhat subjective anyway.

I've also removed the part about "no added salt," as that's rather misleading....

When hydrolyzed protein is produced with hydrochloric acid, the acid is then neutralized with sodium hydroxide: HCl + NaOH --> NaCl + H2O. So salt (NaCl) is actually produced as a result of the process of hydrolyzing the protein and then neutralizing the acid. Whether or not this salt is "added," or rather produced in the process of making it, is, I suppose, a semantic distinction one could quibble over, but the salt is present in the finished product and it didn't come from the source protein that was used to make the "liquid aminos." -2003:CA:83C9:5900:993F:2F2E:F4E:4EF5 (talk) 09:36, 16 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Traditional Soy sauce making[edit]

The sections need to be split so it's not Japanese-heavy.


(Southern) Chinese do it differently: https://www.epicurious.com/ingredients/how-to-buy-soy-sauce-like-a-pro-article

https://www.saveur.com/chinese-soy-sauce-history

Traditionally, Chinese Southern Soy sauce does not have wheat. Instead, the soy beans are boiled and then fermented in the sun separately, as supposed to the Korean method of making a paste and drying that in the sun. Also the Chinese version used to take a year and a half to make compared to the Korean version which is roughly 6 months from dried bean boiling to completion, though it can ferment for longer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8KROYYHvRU <-- says year and a half from China Daily

The second article also details the history of soy sauce a lot more than the wikiepdia article. It might be worth adding.

(I can't find Northern versions of soy sauce.)

The Korean method has air and sun, but added wheat, I'm suspecting as binder for the blocks.

The Japanese method doesn't use sun or air.

There is a video, though I can't back it up with a reliable source where it shows that a even more southern version makes a slurry of sorts, adds candlenut, and other spices to make a sweet soy sauce.

Meaning that the ways that soy sauce initially start vary greatly and the article should not make Japan as the "true" version, but note the regional differences and climate differences in a historical and chronological fashion so it doesn't favor one nationality of region of soy sauce over another.--KimYunmi (talk) 19:19, 23 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]


I edited sections "Japanese Varieties," "Japanese History," "Allergies," and added sections "US History" and "Usage and Storage" because I found the article lacking in information on those topics. Tbookbinder (talk) 16:41, 4 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

missing variations[edit]

this page is missing Japanese smoked soy sauce. Should be added. I don't know its history, so research is needed. – ishwar  (speak) 02:11, 7 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

'Soya' sauce[edit]

While it's true that the condiment is sometimes referred to as 'soya sauce' in British English (I'm British), the current ref doesn't actually support this claim. --Ef80 (talk) 17:56, 4 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

The second reference supports the claim. Perhaps it should be moved inside the parentheses. Le Marteau (talk) 18:25, 4 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
I misread the reference. I stand corrected. --Ef80 (talk) 09:54, 5 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Soy sauce's origin?[edit]

Was looking at some historical documents and later came across a soy-industry site which says that soy sauce has Korean origins: "Ancient Chinese records indicate that soy sauce is not indigenous to China, but rather was introduced from Korea during the era of the Koguryo Dynasty (2nd century BCE to 668 CE)" and they cite "Kwon & Song 1996" but I can't find the original document online and only see a quote from the journal as follows:

Most traditional soybean foods described so far are known to have originated in China, and then gradually have been introduced or have spread into other Asiatic countries. Of course, there are a few exceptions, such as soy sauce and Tempeh. As a matter of fact, ancient Chinese records indicate that soy sauce is not indigenous to China, but rather was introduced from Korea during the era of the Koguryo Dynasty (2nd century BCE to 668 CE). Another typical example is Tempeh, which was developed in Indonesia then introduced to neighbouring countries.


From History of Soybeans and Soyfoods in Korea (544 CE to 2021 (see: https://www.soyinfocenter.com/books/248) which cites Kwon, T.W.; Song, Y.S. 1996. The role of soybean in Oriental food systems. In: Alex Buchanan, ed. 1996. Proceedings of the Second International Soybean Processing and Utilization Conference: 8-13 January 1996, Bangkok, Thailand. Bangkok, Thailand: Printed by Funny Publishing Limited Partnership. Distributed by The Institute of Food Research and Product Development, Kasetsart University. xviii + 556 p. See p. 20-32. 123.143.135.35 (talk) 05:14, 14 September 2023 (UTC)[reply]