Soy Sauce History

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HISTORY OF SHOYU IN JAPAN


SOY INFO CENTER

QUOTE
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A Chapter from the Unpublished Manuscript, History of Soybeans and Soyfoods: 1100 B.C. to the 1980s
by William Shurtleff and Akiko Aoyagi
Copyright 2007 Soyinfo Center, Lafayette, California

Soy sauce is the best known and most widely used traditional soyfood in the Western world. It was also the first soyfood to become widely known and used in the West. This all-purpose liquid seasoning with its deep brown color, pleasant aromatic aroma, and richly satisfying flavor is increasingly used in place of salt to add flavor to favorite foods and, through its wealth of natural glutamic acid, to enhance and evoke the complex of delicate indwelling flavors in these foods.

This chapter will assume a familiarity with Chinese jiang and Japanese miso, the ancestors of soy sauce and shoyu, as discussed in the preceding chapter. The history and microbiology of Aspergillus oryzae and of koji, and key sources of information on soy sauce in East Asia are also given in the preceding chapter and in Chapter 33.

Etymology . There are few soyfoods that, historically, have had as many different names as soy sauce. The basic name for soy sauce in China is jiangyou , written with characters meaning "the liquid extracted from jiang ." Another term, less widely used, referring to the same product is dou-yu . These two characters, meaning "the liquid extracted from (soy) beans," are pronounced "tamari" in Japanese. A type of soy sauce very similar to jiangyou is chiyou ("the liquid extracted from soy nuggets" or "soy nugget sauce"); soy nuggets ( chi or douchi ) are described in Chapter 34. The Cantonese word for "soy sauce" is shi-yau or si-yau (derived from chiyou ). The Japanese word for "soy sauce" is shoyu (pronounced SHOW-yu); it derives from and is written with the same characters as jiangyou .

The various early English words for soy sauce, soy and soya, came from the Japanese word for soy sauce, shoyu , rather than from the Chinese word, jiangyou . Despite reports to the contrary (Yule and Burnell 1903; Markley 1950), the terms so-ya , soya , and soy have never existed in Japanese or Chinese. It is interesting to note that the present American and British terms "soy" and "soya," now generally used to refer to soybeans, were originally derived from the Japanese word for soy sauce ( shoyu ) and the German word Soja rather than from the Japanese word for soybean ( daizu ) or the Chinese word for soybean ( dadou ).

The earliest known reference to soy sauce in English was by the Englishman John Locke in 1679; he referred to it as "Saio." Since the product was probably a Japanese soy sauce imported to England, the term was probably a corruption of the Japanese shoyu (King 1858). In 1688 another Englishman, Dampier, made the second reference to soy sauce, calling it "soy," a name which stuck and became the most popular English term for this sauce for over 230 years, until the early 1920s. In other words, during this period, the English term "soy" referred to the sauce and not to the beans. Moreover, the sauce was known and used in the West long before the beans. Together with the term "soy," the Japanese term "shoyu" was extensively used in America and Europe, by both Western and Japanese writers. "Shoyu" first appeared in English quite late, in 1884 or 1889?? in a translation of an article by the German Rein; the first English-speaking writers to use the word were Georgeson et al. in 1891, followed by Langworthy in 1897. "Shoyu" continued to be fairly widely used up until the 1950s. While the term "soy" was used generically to refer to all types of soy sauce, "shoyu" was used to refer specifically to the uniquely Japanese product.

Starting in the latter half of the 19th century, Japanese soy sauce was extensively studied by German and French researchers, who seemed to have as much trouble as the English and Americans in arriving at a standard name and spelling. In German publications it was called, chronologically, schoju (1874), bohnensauce (1874), shoyu (1895), shoyu sauce (1897), shoyusauce (1899), schoyu (1905), soja sauce (1907), and soja (1912).

In French publications it was called soya or la sauce de soya (1776), le soja (1880), shoyu (1885), sooju (1888), soyou (1911), choyou (1911), shoyou (1981). As of 1981 the term for "soy sauce" has not been standardized in either French or German.

In 1899 the American Blasedale first used the term "soy-bean sauce," then in 1905 the Japanese Oshima became the first to use the modern term "soy sauce." He referred to the term only once, in passing, preferring to use the Japanese term "shoyu" throughout his article. Loomis (1914) was the first Westerner to use the term "soy sauce" and it was first used in the title of an article by Groff, of Canton (Guangzhou), China, in 1919. Then in 1923 it was used throughout two very important publications by Margaret Church and by Piper and Morse. Thereafter the term "soy sauce" came to be the most widely used generic term, with "soy" slowly decreasing in use generically and "shoyu" being used intermittently to refer to the Japanese product. Still as late as 1981, the first definition given under the term "soy" in Webster's dictionary was "soy sauce" while the second was "soybeans." Occasionally the name for the product was spelled as one word,"soysauce," starting with Van Gundy in 1936 and continuing into the 1980s.

In the 1920s?? a very significant development took place in soy sauce manufacture, that took 40-60 years to be reflected in the popular terminology of the product; soy sauce started to be manufactured by a completely new process, using quick acid hydrolysis instead of the traditional slow fermentation method using enzyme hydrolysis. Yet in popular parlance, both products were called "soy sauce." Scientists and microbiologists often differentiated the two products by calling the new product "HVP (hydrolyzed vegetable protein) soy sauce," "chemical soy sauce," or "nonfermented soy sauce," and the traditional product "fermented soy sauce." However the general public was almost entirely unaware of this crucial distinction, even though specialists in the field generally agreed that the traditional fermented product was of superior quality.

A second important change in soy sauce manufacture took place in Japan between about 1900 and 1950 when the traditional process for making fermented shoyu was altered in four basic ways: defatted soybean meal replaced whole soybeans, the fermentation was done more quickly in heated rooms, epoxy-lined steel or concrete vats were used in place of the traditional cedar vats, and preservatives were added to the shoyu.

The first person to try to make a change in the common or usual names of the various soy sauces to reflect their differences was the macrobiotic teacher George Ohsawa. He chose to use the term "tamari" to refer to the traditional, naturally fermented Japanese-style shoyu, which he worked to introduced into the West. The term "tamari," introduced in about 1960, began to catch on in the mid-1960s and was the most widely used term for natural soy sauce in the natural- and health-food trades from about 1970-1980. Ohsawa made a mistake, however, in using the term "tamari" to make his distinction, since "tamari" also referred to a type of Japanese shoyu containing little or no wheat. By the late 1970s this "real tamari" started to be marketed in the US, creating a great deal of confusion over terminology. Starting in 1975 Shurtleff and Aoyagi began a mini-campaign to have all Japanese-style soy sauce called "shoyu" (to distinguish it clearly from both chemical soy sauce and Chinese soy sauce), to have the term "tamari-shoyu" or "tamari" used, as in Japan, to refer only to shoyu containing little or no wheat, and to have the product that Ohsawa and the macrobiotics called "tamari" be renamed "natural shoyu." By 1980 groups marketing real tamari joined the campaign, running big ads stating that other so-called tamaris were not the real thing. By late 1980 the East West Journal and much of the macrobiotic community had made the suggested shift in terminology; distributors of the so-called "tamari" followed suit slowly. Kikkoman was hesitant to switch to calling their product "Kikkoman Shoyu," the name they used in Japan. They agreed that "shoyu" would help clarify the distinction between their quality product and lower-quality HVP soy sauce, but they felt they had invested too much in promoting "Kikkoman Soy Sauce" and that a switch might be confusing. During the late 1970s and early 1980s a number of natural food cookbooks began to use the terminology "1 tablespoon shoyu (natural soy sauce)."

In this chapter we will use the term "soy sauce" generically to refer to all types of soy sauce; fermented and HVP/chemical regardless of the country of origin. We will use the term "shoyu" to refer to all the various types of Japanese soy sauce, among which are regular or modern shoyu (Kikkoman's product), natural or traditional shoyu (made with whole soybeans, unheated fermentation, and no preservatives), and tamari-shoyu (made with little or no wheat).

In some publications, especially those written in Japan, the term "to brew" is used in translation of the Japanese term jozo , which means "to ferment," as applied to making fermented shoyu, sake, and miso. The English terms "to brew" and "brewery" refer only to the manufacture of malt liquors, particularly beer and ale, and not to any fermented beverages, as will be clearly seen by looking under "Brewing" in the Encyclopedia Britannica (1981). Hence we avoid use of these terms to refer to shoyu, which is neither a liquor nor made with malt??

HISTORY OF SOY SAUCE IN CHINA, KOREA, AND SOUTHEAST ASIA

Early Chinese Soy Sauces ( chiyou and jiangyou ). Surprisingly little is known about the early history of soy sauce in China. It is well known that the two ancestors of soy sauce were jiang and chi (soy nuggets). In the previous chapter we saw that the first mention of jiang (made with meat or fish) in China appeared in both the Chou-li ("Rituals of Chou") in about 300 BC and the Analects of Confucius in the third century BC (Waley 1938??), and that the first mention of soybean jiang appeared in the Ch'i-min yao-shu in about AD 535. Soy nuggets (soft salty soybeans fermented with Aspergillus oryzae ; see Chapter 34) were first mentioned by Ssu-ma Chien in the Shih chi in about 95 BC and were also mentioned in the Ch'i-min yao-shu . Jiang had a consistency resembling that of porridge, applesauce, or a soft paste; soy nuggets somewhat resembled raisins.

There are a number of key questions which arise when one attempts to research the origin and early history of products resembling today's soy sauce: (1) What were the Chinese characters used to describe such products and how did these change with time? (2) Did the words for "soy sauce" used today ( jiangyou and chiyou ) refer to similar soy-based products in early times? (3) When documents in English mention "soy sauce" are they referring to porridge-like jiang (as many are) or to a filtered liquid soy sauce?

In a very detailed analysis of the early history of soy sauce (shoyu), Ichiyama (1968) in the Kikkoman Shoyu-shi shows that the present set of characters used to refer to soy sauce in both China and Japan ( jiangyou in China and shoyu in Japan) first appeared in Japan in 1597 in the Ekirin Honsetsu Yoshu , but that two characters ( ??) presently used to write the word "tamari" in Japan first appeared in the Pen-ts'ao kang-mu (Li Shih-Chen 1578-97). It is implied that liquid soy sauce did not originate until the 16th century. Our research, however, indicates a possible earlier origin.

In his excellent Food in Chinese Culture , K.C. Chang (1977) states that in all likelihood soy sauce ?? was known toward the end of the Chou period (1100 BC-221 BC), based on evidence from the Shi chi (written ca. 85 BC) Chapter 129 ?? 135 ?? "Huo Ch'ih Lieh Chuan." Here the term jiangyou appeared for the first time as an item indicating a family's wealth (Swann 1950, p. 434):

Whoever in the market towns and commercial metropolises sold annually any of the following goods in the specified amounts was also equal in wealth to the head of a great hereditary family of a thousand chariots.

1. Liquor, a thousand brewings

2. Pickles and chiang-yu, a thousand jars

3. Chiang, a thousand jars . . .

It is not clear from this statement whether or not this chiang-yu ( jiangyou or soy sauce) was made with soybeans; it could have been a meat extract. During the Han dynasty, at about the beginning of the Christian era, the I li , chapter "The Rituals of the Public Banquet Officials," mentioned jiang ch'i ("jiang liquid") stating that "When offerings of wine and beans are made, salted fish and jiang ch'i are not offered." This liquid was probably made from a meat or fish jiang; its relationship to jiangyou is not clear. Today the term refers to a thick, dark soy sauce. Moreover, in the Japanese book Kandai-no-Bunbutsu ("Han dynasty civilization") there is an illustration apparently showing the removal of liquid from jiang in a crock (Sakaguchi 1979). No mention of soy sauce is made?? Yet both these facts seem to indicate that the idea of removing a liquid from jiang existed by the Han dynasty. It is important to note that, whereas detailed descriptions of making both jiang and chi from soybeans are given in the Ch'i-min yao-shu , there is no mention of jiangyou or chiyou , indicating that these products probably did not exist or were not well known. However, as we shall see later, the first mention of a liquid soy sauce appeared in Korea in AD 683 and in Japan in AD 775. It seems highly likely that these were derived from a similar Chinese ancestor.

A widely cited early reference to a product that may have been a Chinese liquid soy sauce appears in the Pen-ts'ao kang-mu ("collected essentials of grasses and trees;" Japanese: Honso Komoku ), a famous and large collection of botanical and medical writings by Li Shih-chen (1578-90??; Ming dynasty). In addition to various types of jiang, it mentions a product written with the two characters ( ??) meaning "bean" and "oil or extract." The term probably refers to soy oil rather than to soy sauce, but it is not certain which. The term jiangyou clearly appears in the Hsien-ch'ing ou-ch'i ("Idle Curiosities") by Li Yu" (ca. 1630-76) which states that "As soon as white meat is cooked, a little jiangyou should be added." Thereafter the term was used with increasing frequency.

Given the gap of some 16 centuries between the appearance of the term jiangyou in the Shi chi and its next appearance in the Hsien-ch'ing ou-ch'i , it seems fair?? to question the meaning of the original term and to assume that soy sauce may have originated in and was probably not widely used until the 1600s in China.

If references to jiangyou are few and late, they are even worse with respect to chiyou ("soy nugget sauce"). We have no information on the earliest mention of this seasoning (Steve didn't look it up??). A substance called shih-chih ("soy nugget juice") is mentioned in the Ho-han san-ts'ai t'u-hui ("translate??, 1711), chapter "Making Fermented Products--Soybean chi" which states "chi is often used at meals to harmonize the five flavors. People used to use it during this dynasty. Nowadays if people do not use jiang, they also do not use chi; rather they use soy sauce (jiangyou), not shih-chih (soy nugget liquid)." The Erh Ya I (translate??) written by Lo Yuan in 1174 specifically mentions shih-chih .

The method for making Chinese soy sauce ( jiangyou ) was based on that for making soybean jiang, described in the previous chapter. The koji (called huang and later ch'u ) was made of cooked soybeans mixed with a relatively small amount (typically 5% but sometimes up to 40%) of wheat flour and sometimes powdered starter from a wheat-flour based mold block. The finished koji was mixed with salt water in large earthenware pots or vats (45-227 liters, or 12-60 gallons), which were allowed to stand outdoors in a courtyard in the sunlight, open during the day and covered at night. The mixture was stirred once or twice a day. The warmth from sunning accelerated the fermentation and improved the color and aroma. After about 3-6 months, a slender strainer or sieve made of woven bamboo (and sometimes wrapped with coarse-weave cloth) was pushed down into the surface of the fermented mash and weighted with a stone; the liquid soy sauce that collected in it was ladled or siphoned off into smaller earthen jars, covered with cloth and bamboo leaves, placed in the sun for about 2 more weeks, then used or sold, typically without being heated/pasteurized as first grade soy sauce. Meanwhile, more salt water was added to the lees ( teng shi ; "original chi") and the mixture was fermented for 1-2 months before a second drawing. This method of drawing might be repeated a total of 3-4 times, with each drawing representing a lower grade of soy sauce. In some cases these lower grades were mixed with the first-drawn sauce to extend it; in others, caramel might be added with the brine and the mixture might be simmered before drawing. Note that the residue was never really pressed. The final spent lees were typically ground, mixed with other ingredients, and used to make thick condiments such as min see jiang (what is it??) and hoisin sauce . In later affluent periods the lees were sometimes used as hog feed or fertilizer, but nothing was ever wasted (Stuart 1911; Shih 1918; Groff 1919; Fukushima 1981).

Eventually a number of varieties of soy sauce were developed; some contained mushrooms, shrimp eggs, or seasonings such as sansho green pepper. However most soy sauce was divided into two basic types: light and dark. Light soy sauce, made from the first drawing, was considered to be the best quality. Dark soy sauce was the product from the second or subsequent fermentations and drawings, often mixed with molasses. In addition, a sweetened thick soy sauce (called tain jiangyou or see yau ) was made by adding extra wheat flour during the fermentation and plenty of molasses at the end, to either a light or dark sauce. The finest soy sauces were said to come from Fukien and Amoy. Later, in Japan, Chinese-type soy sauce evolved into tamari-shoyu.

Soy nugget sauce ( chiyou ), prepared today?? in the southern provinces of China, was made by fermenting soybeans alone, without wheat (Li 1948). For centuries the best known chiyou has come from Kuantou in Fukien province. Cooked soybeans are spread on bamboo trays and fermented for 12 days until well molded and quite dry. The mold mycelium is then washed off in running water, the beans are next soaked for 8-12 hours immersed in baskets, then allowed to referment until the heat of fermentation develops. This koji ( ch'u or huang ) is then mixed with salt water in large wooden vats and fermented for 3 months. Then the liquid is drained off into large porcelain jars and exposed to sunlight for 2-10 weeks, resulting in the finished soy nugget sauce. The residue left in the vats is extracted three or four times with salt solutions to make lower grade sauces.

Starting in the 1890s?? a number of articles began to appear in Western publications describing the preparation of Chinese soy sauce. These included Prinsen Geerligs (1895, 1896), Shih (1918), Groff (1919; a very detailed description of soy sauce manufacture in Kwantung with 13 photographs), Chinese Economic Bulletin (1926; detailed descriptions of manufacture in Peking/Beijing and Foochow), Chow (1935; a review of the chemistry and manufacture of soy sauce in China), Wang and Ni (1936), and A.K. Smith (1949; a comprehensive report).

Very little is known about the dissemination of soy sauce throughout China or to surrounding countries, except Japan and Korea. Korean documents first mentioned soybean paste and soybean sauce ( jang and kanjang ) in AD 683 (Wang and Lee 1978). The earliest mention of soy sauce in Japan dates from AD 775. These products probably traveled east from China with the spread of Buddhism. No dates have yet been found concerning the spread of soy sauce southward, where it was probably taken by traders or Chinese settlers; in most areas it retained its basically Chinese identity, although in many southern countries, it evolved into a thicker product sweetened with molasses. In the Philippines it became toyo ; in Indonesia and Malaysia, kecap or kechap (formerly spelled ketjap , a word that originated in Hokkien??), in Thailand see-iew , and in Vietnam tuong , the most unique of the southern soy sauces.

Recent Asian Soy Sauce History . In China and Southeast Asia the preparation of soy sauce has remained largely a household art, with each family (even city apartment dwellers) making their own supply once a year. The fact that the process does not require a pressed extraction makes it well suited to home application. Surprisingly little has been published in European languages about the recent history of soy sauces in China and Southeast Asia. Perhaps the best publication is the proceedings of the ASEAN Workshop on Soy Sauce held in Singapore in 1978 (ASEAN Soy Sauce Committee 1978).

In China, the Chinese Economic Bulletin (1926) mentioned that there were then about 140 makers of soy sauce in Peking/Beijing, however most were grocers making soy sauce on a small scale as a side line; only a dozen or two were large companies making only soy sauce. Most of the latter had a long history, having been in business since the Ming dynasty (1368-1662); many had more than 1,000 fermentation pots, and 70-80 employees. Chow (1935) reviewed the chemistry and manufacture of chemical soy sauce in mainland China; Wang and Ni (1936) reported on the manufacture of soy sauce by the Kwantou process.

PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (1949-1980s)

Soy sauce has long been and still is one of China's most widely used soyfoods. It is clearly the most important seasoning liquid, and is widely used in place of salt. There are two basic types of soy sauce in China: dark and/or thick soy sauce ( lao chou ) and thin soy sauce ( sheng chou ). The former is usually considered to be the best quality; it has a high relative density, viscosity, and nitrogen content, and is sometimes sweetened with cane sugar (Yokotsuka 1964). Light soy sauce is preferred for dipping. Some people mix the two. Chinese soy sauce, unlike Japanese, also comes in a host of tantalizing flavors, such as mushroom soy sauce and shrimp roe soy sauce--to name but a few. These vary from province to province. Flavored soy sauces are used mainly for dipping, for special flavors in vegetable or noodle dishes, or to add a final special touch (Lin 1976; Nakayama 1973). Soy nugget sauce ( chiyou ) is a close relative of jiangyou , but made from soy nuggets instead of jiang.

An informal survey of several stores in Beijing by Shurtleff (1983) indicated that Superior Soy ( ?? ) made in Guangzhou (Canton) was considered to be the best and most expensive soy sauce. Ingredients, in order of predominance, were soybeans, wheat flour, salt, and water. A 623 ml jar retailed for about US$0.58 at a Friendship Store, catering to foreigners. The next best was Xianzhi Soy, a brand made in Beijing.

Smith (1949) discussed the production of soy sauce in China after visiting several plants in 1948. He noted that soy sauce was always produced locally, never being transported from one town to another. The largest plant in China was said to be that operated by the Chang family in Shanghai; it covered about 6 acres (2.43 ha) and had 6,000 or more 190-liter (50-gallon) earthenware crocks. Most plants used 40-100 crocks. Equal weights of wheat and soybeans were typically used in making the koji, showing Japanese influence. When wheat was expensive, wheat bran, oats, kaoliang (millet), or rye were substituted. Barley was not favored. Typical fermentation time was 8-9 months, with a range of 3 months to 2 years. All insisted that the longer the fermentation, the better the sauce. Many manufacturers told Smith that exposure of their soy sauce to the sun and even to the moon were significant factors in producing the best flavor and aroma. The liquid was extracted with a filter press and pasteurized. To most grades (except the best), coloring (caramel), sweetener (licorice or maltose), and sometimes spices and chemical preservatives were added.

Soy sauce manufacturing processes and availability have apparently changed considerably since 1949, based on research done in Beijing and Shanghai. Fukushima (1981) and Guo (1983) reported that a new inexpensive method, quite different from the traditional one, was being used. Total production of soy sauce was estimated at 1,700,000 tonnes made by about 4,000 factories which belong to the Vegetable Processing Main Corporation. In the new method the basic ingredients are 6-7 parts defatted soybean meal to 3-4 parts wheat bran. The reduced-salt brine fermentation takes 3 weeks at 40-45°C (104-113°F).
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HISTORY OF SOY SAUCE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND KOREA
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Hishio

HISTORY OF SHOYU IN JAPAN

In Japan the term "shoyu" is used to refer to the many varieties of soy sauce. There are relatively few good books in Japanese on the history of shoyu. The most important are Ichiyama's two works on the history of Kikkoman (1940 and 1968), which trace the history of shoyu from its origins in China to the present, and Shoyu Enkaku-shi by Kin (1913), of which 40% is early shoyu history and 60% is the history of Choshi Shoyu/Higeta. In English, Fruin's Kikkoman: Company, Clan, Community (1983) is highly recommended. See also Chapter 74 in this book on the History of Kikkoman.

Hishio (Jiang), Tamari, and Other Forerunners of Shoyu . The earliest known ancestor of shoyu in Japan was hishio (a word derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese character for jiang), and particularly the type called kokubishio (grain hishio), then made primarily with soybeans and salt, with little or no wheat. This early hishio, dark brown in color, had a consistency like the moromi (mash) from which today's shoyu is pressed; it was semisolid, resembling applesauce or porridge. The first mention of hishio (probably soybean hishio) is found in the Daihinrei of emperor Monmu written in 701; it stated that the regulations of the Hishio Bureau ( Hishio-tsukasa ) had been established. More detailed mention of hishio was given in the Todaiji Shosoin Monjo (AD 730-48). The introduction and use of this and other soy-based seasonings was probably the result of the introduction of Buddhism to Japan in about AD 552, and the consequent change to a vegetarian diet (but with fish), especially following an edict in about the seventh century in which the emperor forbade the consumption of the meat of four-legged animals. The Japanese adhered faithfully to their meatless diet for the next 1,100 years, and the new seasoning from soybeans gradually--rapidly after the 1600s--took the place of the salted, fermented fish sauces (such as shottsuru ) and meat sauces that had been used previously.

The first vague reference to the possible extraction of a liquid from hishio appeared in 771 (Hoki 2) in the ?? Hosha Issaikyo Shokoku ?? kai, written in the Chinese grammatical form, which said "Take 4 to and 2 sho (20 gallons) of hishio. Use it with 5 to (23.8 gallons) soybean hishio to extract a liquid." The meaning of the passage is not very clear and the name of the liquid is not given.

Hishio was the ancestor of both shoyu and miso; in a sense the semisolid hishio was transformed by the Japanese into a paste (miso) and a liquid (shoyu). More precisely, however, miso evolved from hishio, then tamari evolved from miso, and shoyu evolved from tamari. Miso emerged as a food and seasoning in its own right during the period from AD 800-900 and the present word for miso first appeared in a document of 901.

The origins of modern shoyu can perhaps be traced a little more clearly to the mid-1200s (the date 1254 is often used) and the introduction of Kinzanji miso (Ichiyama 1968 calls it Kinzanji soy nuggets or kuki ) to Japan. According to one theory based on popular oral tradition (recorded in the Yuasa Shoyu Enkaku Taiyo , trans/auth/date?? but with no citations from primary sources), the Japanese Zen priest Kakushin went to China to Kinzanji, the Temple of the Golden Mountain, one of China's five great Sung dynasty Zen centers. There he learned how to make a type of miso called Kinzanji miso, which was probably relatively sweet and chunky. Establishing himself at Kokoku-ji temple near the town of Yuasa (in today's Wakayama prefecture just south of Osaka), he began to teach the local people both Buddhist meditation and the method for preparing his miso specialty. He is said to have discovered that the liquid which settled to the bottom of the miso kegs made an excellent cooking liquid and seasoning, so he decided to alter the basic formula slightly by increasing the amount of water used. After the regular fermentation period, the excess liquid was run out through a bung hole or ladled off and briefly heated to stop fermentation, while the remaining Kinzanji miso--or a close facsimile thereof--was used as it always had been, deprived, however, of a portion of its rich flavor, which now graced the savory seasoning liquid. It is not clear whether the early Kinzanji miso, like the basis for Chinese soy sauce, consisted primarily of soybeans and salt with little grains, or whether it resembled today's Kinzanji miso and contained a large portion of grain koji (Ando et al. 1954; Ando 1971).

Kakushin, also known posthumously as Hoto Kokushi, was a famous legendary character, similar to Kobo Daishi before him. In the Yuasa area his name was commonly written on wooden placards, which people worshipped in temples and at home altars. Since there is no firm evidence linking him to the origins of shoyu, it is possible that later generations attached his name and work to shoyu to give the latter prestige and early origin. There is no doubt that Yuasa was one of the earliest centers of shoyu in Japan, but it may have been just one of several and there is no solid proof that it was the earliest.

It is not known what the liquid seasoning from Kakushin's miso was called. By the late 1300s it came to be called tamari , deriving its name from the Japanese verb tamaru , meaning "to accumulate," as "water accumulates in ponds." Nothing is known about early written appearances of the word tamari , but from the late 1300s until the 1570s, it was generally written like its Chinese counterpart ( ??) douyou , with dou meaning "soybeans" and you meaning "a liquid extracted by filtering or pressing." After the 1570s it gradually came to be written with the character now most widely used ( ??), also pronounced tamari . Since this term is rarely seen in the literature of this period, the product was probably not yet widely used.

It is said that by 1260 this "tamari" was being produced for home consumption in the towns of Yuasa and Hiromura, both near Kakushin's temple and both blessed with a favorable climate and bountiful supply of unusually good water. By the year 1290 the first Yuasa tamari was said to have been sold commercially, and soon even poets began to sing the praises of this new delicacy, calling it murasaki ("deep purple"), a synonym used even today for the finest shoyu. Ref??

Smell the aroma from the depths of the brewing keg! Waves of fragrance, deep purple, tamari;

Flowers of wisteria.

Its origins reaching back to the Antei period,

Its brewing lineage inherited from the great teacher Tamari from Yuasa is the first in the emperor's kingdom. Its aroma is of the finest quality.

Its flavor most excellent,

Its fame, the noblest and purest flower of Arita.

(Note: Arita is the early name of the Yuasa region.)

During the Muromachi period (1328-1573) much research was done on hishio, miso, and tamari, both on the types and relative quantities of the raw materials and on the fermentation process; new and improved products were gradually developed. Moreover, three basic methods were developed for producing tamari-type seasoning liquids: (1) making miso with a slightly high water content, then filtering or ladling off excess liquid that collected, to get miso-damari ("damari" is an alternative?? pronunciation of "tamari"); (2) putting this soft miso in a cloth sack and pressing it; and (3) mixing and often cooking miso with about three times its volume of water, then extracting the liquid by pressing in a sack. In each case, the remaining miso was also used as a seasoning.

From the late 700s until about 1450, all tamari had been extracted by filtering or ladling off excess seasoning liquid; the idea of pressing miso or hishio to obtain more tamari (a process which might be compared to extracting apple juice from applesauce), apparently never occurred to people since the lack of efficient pressing equipment would have made it necessary to discard large amounts of the basic food and its nutrients, and the whole foods were considered delicacies in their own right. But during the Muromachi period, an era noted for its affluence, extraction by pressing finally came to be practiced. As better pressing equipment was developed, the waste was reduced and was felt to be compensated for by the versatility of the liquid extract. The development of this process marked an important step in the evolution of today's shoyu, and fermented seasoning liquids came to be much more widely used in daily Japanese cookery.

In about 1384 the Shijo Ryori-sho (a cookbook of the Shijo cooking school) mentioned tamari-like seasonings called tare miso and usu tare . Tare is a thick, slightly sweet, soy-sauce-based liquid?? In 1444 a liquid seasoning called hishio no tare started to be used with sashimi, the now famous raw fish dish. In about 1487 the Hocho Kikigaki gave many recipes using tare miso and explained that it was made by cooks by mixing 1 volume of miso (1.8 liters) with 3.5 volumes of water, simmering the mixture down to 5.4 liters, putting it in a cloth sack and squeezing out the liquid, tare miso . A related liquid seasoning, usu tare, was made by mixing 1 volume of miso with 3 volumes of water, grinding them in a mortar, putting it in a sack, and letting the liquid drip out. In 1489 tare miso and usu tare were also mentioned in the famous cookbook Shijoryu Hochogaki. Tr??

One of the earliest specific references to a liquid extracted from hishio appeared in the Buke Chomi Kojitsu Tr?? of 1537, which contained the statement "Hishio-iri no koto, hishio no shiru." Later writers interpreted hishio-iri to be a liquid extracted from a mixture of soy nuggets ( kuki ) and water (corresponding to China's chiyou or si-yau ) and hishio no shiru to be the liquid extracted from hishio, a predecessor of true shoyu.

The term miso-damari , referring to the rich liquid tamari that settles atop miso during fermentation, seems to have originated during the 1500s, although the product itself may have been used by miso makers long before this time. It was collected by making a hollow in the upper surface of a keg of fully-matured miso, pressing a deep bamboo colander into the hollow, and ladling out the liquid that accumulated in it.

Documents show that miso-damari was prepared by the monks living in the five major temples of Kyoto. The best-known cooking schools of the period are said to have learned how to make it from these temple craftsmen, and thanks to them, to have incorporated the seasoning into their cuisine.

Up until the 1400s, the term tamari had been used to refer to the liquid extracted from either soybean hishio or from soft-textured Kinzanji miso. The latter product eventually came to be known as tamari-shoyu, leaving "tamari" to refer specifically to liquid seasonings made entirely (or almost entirely) from soybeans. The first farmhouse tamari evolved from the process of preparing soybean miso from miso-dama . Additional water was added to form a thick mash ( moromi ), which was then placed in an open-top keg having a spigot at the bottom connected to a large horizontal bamboo pipe perforated with many small holes. A bamboo colander was pressed into the moromi's surface and the liquid that collected in it was ladled daily over the mash to prevent mold formation. After one year, the liquid in the colander was ladled out and the remainder collected from the spigot. This tamari had a thick consistency, a deep chocolate-brown color, and a very distinctive flavor and aroma. It was higher in protein and contained less natural sugars than most miso-damari or than today's shoyu since it was made exclusively from soybeans. The product remaining in the keg was called tamari miso .

In the fiefdoms of Hida and Shiga, where Japan's first farmhouse miso was prepared, tamari was developed as early as the mid-1400s. Starting in about 1610, it experienced a sudden growth in popularity throughout Japan when the retired ruler Tokugawa Ieyasu built a castle at Okazaki near Nagoya and provided the laborers with a generous portion of the tamari whose flavor he loved so dearly. Soon commercial shops had adapted the farmhouse process to large-scale production. To this day, the area of central Japan around Nagoya remains the center of production for this distinctive fermented seasoning, which is now also referred to as nama-damari (fresh tamari) or uwahiki ; the most widely available commercial product is a sweetened mixture called sashimi-damari .

In today's miso shops, the small amount of miso-damari that collects on the surface or settles to the bottom of the vats is never sold commercially. Generally, it is mixed back into the miso to enhance the latter's flavor, but occasionally a small quantity is reserved by the craftsman for personal use. Its flavor is highly prized.

The Development of Shoyu (1500-1700) . Shoyu originated at a surprisingly late date in the history of fermented soyfoods, at least 600 years after miso had emerged as a distinctly Japanese creation. The first written reference to the word shoyu in Japan appeared in 1559 in the Diary of Yamashina Kototsugu ( Kototsugu Yoki ), which stated that the author sent a small keg of shoyu to Nagashi-kyoku in that year. In 1597 (1521??) the word shoyu was published in a Japanese dictionary (Ekirin Bonsetsu Yoshu), thought to have been written by a priest sometime between 1469 and 1503 and circulated in manuscript form. Since this dictionary was widely used by the common people, it is thought that the word shoyu may have been in use as early as the late 1400s, generally in conjunction with the word tamari as "tamari-shoyu." Unfortunately we are not told in what ways this shoyu differed from its predecessors, tamari, miso-damari, tare-miso, and usutare.

The first mention of the word shoyu in a cookbook is found in the Ogusa Ryori-sho ("Cookbook of the Ogusa School") written sometime between 1467 and 1614. Developed by one of Kyoto's two leading cooking-school families, the Ogusas, this cookbook mentioned shoyu frequently in recipes, for example as a seasoning for a type of shellfish ( afurigai ) and, mixed with sake, to season whole broiled eels. However another book by this family from the same period makes no mention of shoyu, but does state that the recipes in the cookbook had long been a family secret, but were finally published due to popular demand. One theory suggests that this shoyu, whatever it was, was developed at an early date by the Ogusa family and used as a secret ingredient that made its cuisine famous; another theory suggests that the word "shoyu" was a later addition to the text.

It is not clear why the new word "shoyu" appeared in Japan at this time. One theory is that, as was the case with miso, it corresponded to the development by Japanese of a new and unique product. A second theory (advanced by the eminent Japanese microbiologist Saito in 1906) is that at this time Japanese soy sauce underwent a significant improvement because of trade and communication with China, which was then a more culturally advanced country. At the time of the name change, Japanese shoyu was basically quite similar to today's Chinese tamari-type soy sauce. But, more important, the new word "shoyu" was written with the thousand-year-old Chinese characters chiang-yu , meaning "soy sauce." It was only after the product received its new (and perhaps more prestigious) name that its popularity began to grow. This evidence would seem to favor the second theory.

Like the word "miso," the new word "shoyu" was slow to catch on, and as late as the 1700s most cookbooks used the term "tamari" almost exclusively.

By the 1500s the tamari developed from Kinzanji miso in the town of Yuasa had begun to form the basis of a small industry. According to oral tradition, in about 1535 Akagiri Uumataro made about 100 koku (18,050 liters or 4,760 gallons) of this shoyu and shipped it by boat to Osaka, to be sold in the markets there. Demand, slow at first, gradually increased, and in the 1550s Kadoya Uumataro and Aburaya Denshichi began to sell a lot?? of shoyu there too. (Osaka city records, however, show that the first shoyu was imported in the 1750s.) From 1591 Yuasa's shoyu started to be shipped by sea to the distant city of Edo (today's Tokyo), which would be declared the new capital in 1600. In that year Akagiri Sangoro of Kishu received a boat for shipping shoyu to the ruler Hideyoshi.

During the period between the late 1500s and the mid-1600s, much of the soy sauce formerly called "tamari" gradually came to be known as "tamari-shoyu." The extensive migrations and unsettled conditions of the period caused by civil wars helped to spread the new term. The tamari-shoyu of this period was prepared from a koji containing cooked soybeans plus roasted barley, which had been crushed or ground. Salt and water were added to form a mash which was fermented for 75 days in open-top kegs, being mixed every 2 weeks. The mature moromi was ladled into coarse-weave sacks and pressed to extract the liquid; the residue was used as fertilizer or fodder.

During the late 1500s, tamari-shoyu gradually began to grow popular in and around Edo, far to the northeast of Yuasa. One town that would later become world famous as the center of Japanese shoyu production was Noda, located in the feudal domain ( kuni ) of Shimousa, about 20 miles north-northwest of Edo/Tokyo, and already famous as a center of miso production. In Noda in about 1560 Mr. Iida Ichiro Heibei made a new variety of tamari-shoyu from hishio and respectfully presented it as tribute taxes to the samurai Takeda Shingen, already known for his interest in miso and dried-frozen tofu. The Iida family, thought to have come from an aristocratic background in the area around Kyoto, fled their homeland during the Onin Wars of the late 1400s. Takeda Shingen used the tamari-shoyu as a seasoning for his army's food, and it quickly grew popular. The flavorful product soon became known by its elegant name: Kawanakajima Goyo Tamari-Shoyu (Tr??). A similar product was first produced commercially in 1574 by Tanaka Kiheibei in Ichikawa of Shimousa. Within several years the output had reached 14,000 gallons a year. Yet it would take another 100 years before today's shoyu, made from equal parts soybeans and cracked roasted wheat, would be developed.

In about 1600 the Edo (also called Tokugawa) period began in Japan, ushering in some 268 years of stability, peace, and isolation. The military leaders (shoguns) located their capital at Edo, which was renamed Tokyo in 1868. The area around Edo and the great Tokyo plain surrounding it was known as Kanto or eastern Japan. The Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe area was known as Kansai, or western Japan. Throughout the early 1600s the Kansai area was the center of both tamari-shoyu production and of traditional culture. Just before this period the famous dish grilled eels ( kabayaki ) started to be made, seasoned with shoyu and sake. In 1610 tamari, now made using only soybeans, salt, and water, started to be produced in Nagoya, central Japan, when the famous Nagoya Castle was built. In 1615 the first major shipping line was established to carry tamari-shoyu from Yuasa, near Osaka, to the burgeoning new capital at Edo, far to the northwest. Yuasa shoyu's market was spreading.

In the early 1600s a number of families making tamari-shoyu in the Yuasa area, following the shipping routes north, moved to Choshi, a seaport town about 60 miles due east of Edo. The families also were fishermen, which may explain why they did not locate closer to Tokyo. A key group of families in this early migration were the Hamaguchis, who had originated as branch households of the main Hamaguchi house from Hiromura village in Kishu (today's Wakayama prefecture). The Hamaguchis of Hiromura were among the earliest to make tamari-shoyu in Yuasa. These Hamaguchi families along with Genba Tanaka and his descendants, started to make shoyu in Choshi in the early 1600s. Higeta brand shoyu was first produced here in 1616, Yamajo in 1630, and Yamasa in 1645. (Higeta and Yamasa shoyu are widely sold to this day.) Also in 1645 a Hamaguchi family from Choshi opened a store in Edo/Tokyo for sale and distribution of shoyu and seafoods from Choshi. There are mountains of documents on the history of Choshi shoyu during the Edo period: the history of Higeta shoyu and the Choshi Shoyu Co. is well told in Shashi: Choshi Shoyu (1972). And while Yamasa, still a private company, has no company history, they have extensive documentation.

Back in Yuasa, shoyu developed the first of its many historical connections with Japan's nobility, as it came under the special protection of the Kishu Han, the lords of the feudal domain in today's Wakayama prefecture. Each shoyu maker was given a special placard, which they even put on their shoyu ships, saying Oshi-ire Shoyu-ya (Tr??), indicating a connection with the feudal lord. The shoyu was used in payment of taxes in Yuasa. As support, the lords lent money to shoyu makers at little or no interest, built sales offices in Edo, Kyoto, and Osaka, and did market development work.

By the 1640s Choshi was the center of shoyu-making in the Kansai area around Edo/Tokyo. In the 1640s tamari-shoyu manufacturers in Choshi began a series of experiments that would dramatically change the history of soy sauce, first in Japan and later around the world. They began to use wheat as one of their raw materials. Initially, they simply combined recipes for wheat hishio and barley hishio, but they soon discovered that roasting and cracking the wheat imparted a wonderful savory aroma to the finished product. Feeling that they had developed a unique seasoning, superior to the best available in Japan, they decided to give it a new name, shoyu--not tamari-shoyu. One unique feature of the new shoyu, in addition to its richer aroma, was its darker color, caused by the use of roasted wheat. To emphasize this uniqueness, the new shoyu came to be called koikuchi (literally "dark mouth") shoyu. Today, this is Japan's regular and most popular shoyu. In 1666 usukuchi (literally "pale mouth") shoyu, a light-colored soy sauce, started to be made in the town of Tatsuno in today's Hyogo prefecture, just east of Kyoto.

Meanwhile competition between the makers in Osaka and Tokyo became intense. In 1650, the tamari-shoyu imported from Osaka was twice as expensive as that made locally, yet it continued to remain the favorite. By 1660 numerous shipping lines from Osaka were in operation.

In 1661 Hyozaemon Takanashi XIX, the earliest of the families that would later unite to form Kikkoman, first began to make tamari-shoyu in Noda. The first Mogi family, now the leading group of families in Kikkoman, began to make shoyu there in 1764, more than a century later.

At the same time that large amounts of tamari-shoyu from the Kyoto-Osaka area were being shipped to Edo/Tokyo, it also started to be exported. Records in The Hague show that between 1668 and 1699 the Japanese product was being shipped by a group of 16 Japanese merchants called the Compradore Comrades ( Konpura Nakama ) to Coromandel in India, Ceylon, and Vietnam, and by Dutch merchants to Holland. The first mention of soy sauce in a Western document appeared in 1679; numerous other references followed as discussed in detail later at "Shoyu and Soy sauce in the West."

In the late 1600s and early 1700s, various Japanese books recorded the new developments concerning shoyu in Japan. In the Wakan Sansai Zukai (Tr??)(1711), which still contains residual Chinese influence, we find a clear distinction between miso, shoyu, and tamari. The word "misho" also appears. Wheat shoyu and barley shoyu are described. Similar methods for making shoyu are described in the Yoshu Fushi (1682), Honcho Shokkan (1695), and Bankin Sangyotai (1732); the method described in the earliest of these three is closest to today's shoyu. Eventually hishio disappeared in Japan, being transformed into miso and shoyu.

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HOW TO MAKE

Standardization of the Shoyu Formula (1716-1867) . By about the year 1716 shoyu makers near the capital at Edo had standardized the shoyu formula corresponding to the one used today. It called for the use of equal parts whole soybeans and roasted wheat, a development sometimes said to also mark the point at which shoyu and miso finally emerged as distinct and totally independent foods. They had traditionally been remarkably similar, using even the same microorganisms, including yeasts and bacteria. The only basic differences were that the koji for most miso was made with rice or barley (rather than soybeans and roasted wheat), and that for shoyu a liquid portion was separated by filtration and pressing from the solids.

Making shoyu was a two-step batch fermentation process, involving the essential biochemical activities of molds, bacteria, and yeasts. The key craftsmen in the process were the brewmaster ( toji ; who also often acted as plant foreman), the wheat roaster ( mugi-iri ), the kettle tender ( kamaya ), the koji maker ( muromae ), and the moromi mash stirrer ( moromi kake ). Shoyu plant buildings, because they had to house hundreds of fermentation vats, were among the largest structures in Japan, rivaled only by Buddhist temples and official halls. Instructions for making one batch of shoyu from the early 1700s until about the 1880s might read as follows:

Ingredients : 2,400 kg each whole dry soybeans and whole wheat, 3,600 kg sea salt, and 7,200 kg well water.

1. Prepare the Wheat, Soybeans, and Salt . Clean the wheat in a sieve, mix it with clean sand in an open cast iron pan with a broad, concave bottom and low sides, set on a brick oven over a wood fire. Roast the wheat, stirring frequently, until it is nicely browned and fragrant. Remove sand with a sieve, then run roasted wheat kernels through a hand- or foot-powered stone mill to crack them into 4 or 5 pieces.

Wash soybeans, soak in plenty of water for 12 hours, then place into one or more large cedar vats, each having the bottom perforated and set over a caldron partially filled with water. Heat caldron with a wood fire and steam the covered soybeans for 6-8?? hours at atmospheric pressure, then allow to stand overnight in the steamer. Why??

Process the unrefined salt to remove its impurities ( aku ) and bitter principles ( nigari ). (One common way to do this was to first drain the salt in a porous container to let the nigari leach out, then combine equal volumes of salt and water in large kettles, cook for 2-3 hours, filter off scum and foreign matter using a horse-hair sieve, then repeat the cooking and filtering steps several times.)

2. Make Koji from Soybeans and Wheat . Combine the cooked soybeans and wheat on a large, clean, wooden mixing floor in front of the koji incubation room; mix well using a clean wooden spade or pusher and wearing stilt shoes ( geta ) which allow walking in the koji. Then spread out the mixture about 2.5 cm (1 inch) deep over the floor. Allow it to stand and cool for about 3 hours, mixing it occasionally, while it is also inoculated spontaneously by air-borne spores of Aspergillus oryzae , which permeate the shop. How did they get there?? Are they everywhere?? Then transfer about 18 liters (4.8 gallons) of the mixture into each of many wooden koji trays (each 24 by 12 by 4 inches deep, and well permeated with koji mold spores).

Stack trays one atop the other in the well-insulated koji incubation room (30 by 10 by 7 feet high), whose interior is permeated with koji mold spores. Incubate at 25-30°C (77-86°F) for 72 hours, mixing by hand twice during the process to prevent the koji from overheating. (The koji room is typically kept warm by the heat of fermentation from the previous batch of koji). Finished koji should be yellowish green and fragrant.

3. Ferment the Koji in Brine to Make Moromi Mash . Mix the salt and cold water in a cedar ( sugi ) shoyu fermentation vat to give a 22-23% salt solution (20° Baume, a measure of specific gravity or relative density). The vat is at least 8 feet deep and 7 feet in diameter at the mouth, typically holding 5-10 kiloliters (1,320 to 2,640 gallons). Stir in batches of the koji, thus filling the vat; mix well. Then stir this salt mash ( moromi ) periodically typically once every few days in winter and 2 or 3 times a day in summer, using a 7-foot-long pole having a 4-by-10-inch board attached perpendicularly to one end; this mixes and aerates the contents, stimulating microbial growth. Allow some of the vats to ferment and age for 1 year, some for 2 years, and some for 3 years. Taste test the mash in each vat about 3 times each month; the color should darken to a deep reddish brown, the flavor and aroma should become rich and mellow, and the texture should change from chunky to applesauce-like as the individual beans and grains slowly lose their form and are melted away by the action of the koji enzymes.

4. Press the Mash to Filter Off the Shoyu . When each of the three mashes has finished its aging process and is mature, combine these in a separate mixing vat located near a press. Use approximately 5 parts of 1-year mash (which has the best flavor), 2 parts of 2-year mash (which has the best taste, or combined aroma and flavor), and 1 part of 3-year mash (which has the deepest color, but a weak flavor). Now ladle the mash blend out of the vat through a funnel into each of many coarse-weave cotton filter bags, which were previously dipped into the tannin-rich juice of astringent persimmons to strengthen them. Each bag, being about 7 inches wide and 3 l/2 feet long, will hold about 2 liters of mash (Note: in the mid-1800s these sacks were introduced as a replacement for tubs with porous bottoms.) Lay the bags crosswise in a wooden pressing chamber ( fune , literally "boat"), a strong wooden box about 3 by 6 by 3 feet deep, having a slightly sloping bottom with a bung hole at the lowest end. When the chamber is almost full, put on a sturdy wooden pressing lid and apply pressure to the lid using a lever press consisting of a huge tree trunk (up to 18 inches in diameter and 30 feet long), with many boulders weighing up to 1,000 kg (2,000 lb) suspended by ropes from the end opposite the fulcrum (Fig. ??). Press for ?? days, allowing the shoyu to run from the pressing chamber into a holding tank. When about 70% of the mash (by weight) has been extracted as shoyu and no more shoyu drips out, remove the residue (shoyu cake or presscake) from the bags, mix it with a salt water solution, and allow it to ferment again for ?? months, then extract this number 2 shoyu ( bansui ) as before. Use the remaining dry shoyu cake for fertilizer. (Note: prior to the late 1700s most of the cake was discarded as a waste product; after about 1910 it was increasingly used as livestock feed, which is the main use today.) This unheated shoyu is called nama-shoyu by shoyu makers and kijoyu by cooks. Both terms, written with the same characters, mean "raw shoyu." Cooks often claim that this is shoyu at its peak of flavor.

5. Refine and Blend the Shoyu . In Japan, refining consists of separating the oil and lees from the prime shoyu, heat treating or pasteurizing the shoyu, then clarifying it. In two separate streams, run the first and second shoyu extractions slowly and continuously into specially designed decanting tanks, which cause the natural soy oil (now shoyu oil) to rise to the surface; it is then skimmed off and removed. (Note: by the mid-1800s, largely because of research at Noda, shoyu oil became a widely used illuminant, but it was replaced by kerosene in the 1880s. Thereafter it was used to make cheap soaps, as a machine cutting oil, or to mix with paints to prevent their freezing.)

Now run the shoyu into deep storage vats and allow it to stand for 2 months, while it separates into three layers: the sediment or lees on the bottom, the quality shoyu in the middle, and a thin layer of remaining oil floating on top. Carefully run off the quality shoyu through a bung hole several inches from the vat's bottom, transferring it into an iron kettle for heat treatment/pasteurization ( hi-ire ). Recycle the sediment back into another batch of moromi mash to be re-pressed. Cover?? the shoyu in the kettle and heat to 70°C (158°F); hold at this temperature for about 3 hours to stop the action of the shoyu bacteria and yeasts and most of their enzymes, to darken the color, improve the aroma, and cause coagulable constituents to precipitate out. Heat the number 2 shoyu ( bansui ) at about 85°C (185°F). Now run the heat-treated shoyu into deep vats for a second clarification of 7-10 days, while the heat-coagulated constituents settle out.

Finally blend the shoyu, combining both the first and second extractions, and run the blended shoyu into small cedar kegs, each holding 16.2 liters or 4.3 gallons. Ship these to market.

Three aspects of the process deserve deeper consideration. First, shoyu was traditionally almost always started in the fall or winter, when the new crops of soybeans and wheat had been freshly harvested, and there was free time from farm work. Usually only one large batch of shoyu was made each year. It was said that shoyu started during the coldest months (from Dec. 1 to Feb. 15) had the best flavor and sold for the highest price.

Second, the use of a large proportion of wheat in the basic formula and the roasting of the wheat were the most important innovations in the development of a soy sauce different from that in China. The Chinese used only a small proportion of wheat and did not roast it. The Vietnamese, however, roasted the soybeans in their soy sauce ( tuong ). It is not known whether Japan or Vietnam developed roasting first, and whether one influenced the other. The developments were probably independent. Adding wheat to the soy sauce koji aids mold growth, enzyme production, and air circulation in the koji; it lowers the koji moisture, and minimizes growth of undesirable bacteria. Wheat is a source of sugars, alcohols, organic acids, and flavor compounds (including vanilla compounds that contribute a subtle vanilla flavor), and it is also rich in glutamic acid (Yokotsuka 1964). The high proportion of wheat in Japanese shoyu gives it a relatively high alcohol content (about 2.5%??), or about 17 times as high as that of Chinese soy sauce), but Chinese soy sauce typically contains about 50% more total nitrogen. Roasting the wheat also gives a special aroma to the shoyu.

Third, shoyu has apparently been subjected to heat treatment ( hi-ire , a term we prefer to "pasteurization," which only refers to killing germs) since its early days in Japan. Many Westerners think that pasteurization originated from the work of Pasteur in the 1860s. However in China, in AD 1117, the Pei-shan chiu-ching (Tr??) described the low-temperature "pasteurization" of rice wine seven centuries before Pasteur, and in Japan the first mention of the process appears in the Tamon-in Diary of 1539-1596. However (as Atkinson noted in 1881) the Japanese and Chinese, while discovering the benefits of heating, did not grasp the basic principle of contamination, so they frequently put pasteurized sake into old vats, and did not understand why it turned to vinegar from bacterial contamination. The first specific reference to shoyu heat treatment/pasteurization appeared in the ?? of what year ?? As there were no thermometers in those days, the temperature was judged by touch. The Chinese never traditionally heat treated their soy sauce over a fire as the Japanese did, but their long sunning of the product in open-top pots served somewhat the same function.

It is interesting to note how many common key points are shared by shoyu and sake manufacture: the koji mold, vats, the term for "mash" ( moromi ), pressing technology, pasteurization, the retail container and the name for brewmaster ( toji ). Unlike the mash of alcoholic beverages (sake, beer, whiskey), however, shoyu mash is rich in nitrogen and salt. But little is known of the extent to which shoyu borrowed these common points from the historically earlier sake process, and to what extent they co-evolved. It is important to emphasize that, despite the growing standardization of the shoyu-making process starting in the 1700s, not all shoyu in Japan was made as described above. First, not all shoyu makers used a mixture of one, two, and three-year-old mashes. Records from the 1870s of shoyu makers in Noda show that some of them simply aged the shoyu through two full summers, and occasionally only one full summer; these producers did not mix batches of different ages. In addition, literally hundreds of shoyu recipes existed during the Tokugawa period (1600-1868), calling for various proportions of soybeans, wheat, and barley. Before the 20th century, much of the shoyu made in farmhouses had barley substituted for part or all of the wheat. There was also variation in many other details (salt content, fermentation, etc.) which led to a rich variety of shoyu types.

The Rise of Shoyu in Japan (1750-1867) . During the latter half of the Tokugawa period, from about 1750 until 1867, shoyu began to assume a much more important role in the food culture of Japan, due to the spread of shoyu nationwide, the rise of an urban culture (especially in Edo/Tokyo), the rapid growth in popularity of the new koikuchi-type shoyu in the Edo area, and the rise in the number of producers, especially farmhouse and small commercial producers.

Very little has been published about the spread of farmhouse and small-scale shoyu-making during the late Tokugawa period, but apparently there were many small producers. There were at least three basic problems that had to be solved in order for beginners to start making shoyu: they had to learn a basic method and recipe, learn how to make koji and get the starter, and develop a method for pressing out the shoyu. To teach the method, a number of books on shoyu production were circulated and widely used in the countryside after the mid-1700s. One of the earliest of these was the Shoyu Denjuki (Tr??), written in 1785. They often also treated philosophical and agricultural subjects. More important, they led to a gradual growth in the number of shoyu makers, many of whom were essentially household producers. A somewhat later book in the same vein was the Shoyu Shusetsu (Tr??, 1877), whose recipes indicate that there was still wide variation in recipes and widespread use of barley. Fermentation times of 15-20 months were typical, ranging up to as much as 30 months (Ichiyama 1968; Fruin 1983). Some farmers learned to make their own koji. However up until World War II in many Japanese towns there was a koji maker, who produced koji for shoyu, miso, and amazake . People could buy this ready-made koji, then use it to make their own shoyu. There were also people called "shoyu-miso makers" ( shoyu-miso zukuri ) who went from door to door pushing a small cart that contained the tools they needed to make miso or shoyu: a small caldron, an earthen wheat parching pan, a shoyu press, etc. The farmer typically supplied the soybeans and grains, then the skilled craftsmen made the koji and moromi mash.

For some families, however, shoyu-making was a household art and there were secret family methods. Two basic techniques were used to press out the shoyu. The most widely used was apparently the Chinese method of pushing a colander into the moromi mash, allowing the liquid shoyu to collect in it, then ladling off the shoyu into a storage container. The other involved ladling the moromi mash into a sack set on a rack over a tub, then using a simple lever press to press out the liquid. Gradually, in each town and village, at least one relatively wealthy family began to make shoyu on a larger scale; this allowed them to store their wealth in a form other than money, while it gradually became more valuable. Eventually a single family (typically an affluent one) came to assume responsibility for commercial shoyu production in each town or village. As more efficient and expensive pressing equipment was developed, larger companies that could better afford it grew in size.

We know of no statistics on the total quantity of shoyu made in Japan prior to the 1880s nor on the ratio of farmhouse to commercial shoyu. By the early 1900s there were apparently tens of thousands of household shoyu makers throughout Japan. Thereafter the tradition gradually began to die out, especially after World War II. The tradition of homemade miso, by contrast, survived much longer, probably because it was more difficult with shoyu to obtain a subtle, delicate flavor and aroma, and to press the liquid efficiently from the moromi mash. But in China, Korea, and other parts of East Asia, where shoyu is made without pressing and without the use of much wheat, the homemade tradition has persisted up to the present.

From the early 1700s the new capital at Edo/Tokyo became the center of the rapidly growing shoyu industry. In 1723 the population of Tokyo was about 1 million, making it probably the world's largest city, as well as one of the fastest growing. Whereas only 1 or 2% of the Japanese population lived in cities before the 1600s, by 1725 roughly 20% did so. The rapid growth of the shoyu market was closely linked with this rapid rise in urbanization. By the late Tokugawa period shoyu and sake had emerged as Japan's two major food manufacturing industries (Fruin 1983). By the 1720s, in and around Tokyo, there were nine associations of shoyu makers. The association at Noda consisted of 19 producers (Yokotsuka 1965). These new companies were growing rapidly and they could ship their shoyu to the vast new Tokyo market much more quickly and inexpensively than their competitors in far-away Osaka. Using the finest water and grains plus their new formula containing roasted wheat, they were soon offering a product that people in the greater Tokyo/Kanto area preferred to the more expensive imported brands. In 1730 imports of shoyu from the Yuasa/Osaka area were booming, with 162,000 kegs a year coming in. But by the mid-1700s these imports peaked and then began a long decline.

In 1781 a loosely structured shoyu makers guild had been started at Noda with seven members, two of which were members of the Mogi family. In 1782 Saheiji Mogi gave his shoyu the brand name Kikkoman, thus introducing a product which would later put Noda on the map and eventually become the world's most famous brand of soy sauce. By the 1820s a majority of the Noda guild members were Mogis and the guild was probably the largest shoyu-making group in Japan, although it accounted for only an estimated 2-4% of the nation's total production. By 1821 some 1,250,000 kegs of shoyu were being sold commercially in Tokyo; only 2% was being imported from the Yuasa/Osaka area. The supremacy of the new Tokyo-style koikuchi shoyu was finally recognized officially by the Tokugawa shogunate government. In 1810 the shogunate began to order and use Choshi shoyu. In 1829 it began to order and use shoyu made by the Takanashi family in Noda, and in 1838 that made by the Mogi family in Noda. Then, more important, in 1864 the shogunate exempted from government price controls seven brands of the Tokyo-style shoyu, but no imported brands from Yuasa/Osaka. The government's exemption became a sort of unofficial seal of approval, much to the benefit of the four Choshi brands (Higeta, Yamasa, Yamaju, and Jigamasa) and the three Noda brands (Kikkoman, Kihaku, Joju).

By the end of the Tokugawa period shoyu had become one of Japan's basic food staples; per capita consumption was slightly more than 4 liters (over 1 gallon) a year. As it evolved into Japan's favorite all-purpose seasoning, homemakers and chefs were content to use it alone or mixed with other simple seasonings (such as sake, vinegar, sweeteners, etc.) to enhance the vast panorama of the national cuisine. The Japanese Encyclopedia of Food and Drink ( Inshoku Jiten ) praised shoyu saying, "Shoyu surpasses other seasonings in its ability to make each dish unique by evoking the complex and delicate flavors in the food itself" (Motoyama 1958). It was probably for this reason, and because of their love of simple, light, natural flavors, that the Japanese never bothered to develop a wide range of other sauces (such as the rich sauces found in France) or to make extensive use of spices and herbs (as so many East Asian cuisines do). It is also interesting to note that whereas there are many popular types of miso in Japan, each made with different proportions of various ingredients, there is basically only one type of popular shoyu . . . perhaps because everyone likes it so much.

Overview of Origins . Before proceeding into Japan's modern period, it might be interesting to reflect briefly on the origins and genealogies of both shoyu and miso. The traditional and still most widely held opinion among Japanese researchers and fermented-food historians is that both shoyu and miso trace their origins to Chinese jiang. However Dr. Kinichiro Sakaguchi, Professor of Fermentation Science at Tokyo University and a long-time student of the history of fermentation, in his "Searching for the Roots of Shoyu" (1979), argues convincingly that today's shoyu traces its ancestry back through early shoyu, then through the four fermented soyfoods tamari-shoyu, tamari miso, Hatcho miso, and savory soy nuggets ( Hamanatto ), and ultimately back to Chinese soy nuggets ( chi ). Miso, he asserts, traces its ancestry back through early Japanese misos and hishio to jiang. In the shoyu lineage, the koji is always made with either soybeans alone or a mixture of soybeans and cracked or ground wheat, whereas in the miso lineage the koji is usually (except for soybean misos) made from grain. Sakaguchi believes that the fundamental biochemical consequences of this difference in koji substrates are of much greater importance than the more superficial differences of consistency or form that have led researchers up until now to group solid or semisolid fermented soyfoods in the miso lineage and liquid products in the shoyu lineage. Thus it is not obvious that liquid shoyu stems from solid soy nuggets and firm miso stems from mushy jiang. In shoyu, the Aspergillus oryzae molds grow directly on the soybeans (and wheat) during the koji fermentation and their enzymes begin to digest the koji substrates, then continue to digest the soybeans (and wheat) during the subsequent brine fermentation. This in vivo and in vitro extended hydrolysis leads to the formation of complex metabolic compounds, a higher degree of protein hydrolysis and liquefaction, and the production of a richer and stronger flavor in shoyu than in miso. Sakaguchi argues that miso has a 3,000-year history dating from the development of jiang during the Chou dynasty in China, whereas shoyu has a 2,000-year history dating from the development of soy nuggets ( chi ) during the Han dynasty. [What is his evidence??]

It is important to note here that the ancient Chinese language seems to indicate that soy sauce derives from jiang and not from chi , as evidenced by the Chinese word for soy sauce, jiangyou , meaning "the liquid extracted from jiang." Moreover, most Chinese jiang and soy nuggets have both always been made with a soy-based koji. Sakaguchi's analysis is helpful, but lacking on a few points. The jiang has not, as Sakaguchi argues, been made with a grain-based koji. Even in the earliest description of Chinese soybean jiang in the Ch'i-min yao-shu (described in detail in the Miso chapter) the koji is made primarily from soybeans. Thus while retaining the essence of Sakaguchi's argument, we would suggest that it be modified slightly to say that both shoyu and miso trace their ancestry back to both soy nuggets ( shih , which existed prior to 206 BC) and to soybean jiang (which existed prior to AD 500).

Dr. Sakaguchi considers there to be three main reasons that shoyu and miso were not developed in the West: (1) very few Westerners ever learned how to make koji using molds; (2) they had virtually no soybeans until the 20th century; and (3) the basic flavoring components of shoyu and miso, especially natural L-glutamic acid and inosinic acid, were traditionally unknown in the West.
http://www.soyinfocenter.com/HSS/soy_sauce4.php

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Shoyu During the Meiji Period (1868-1911).
http://www.soyinfocenter.com/HSS/soy_sauce5.php


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WASHOKU ... Soy Sauce

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