Soy Sauce Ingredients

Soy sauce adds flavor and depth to many food recipes, without altering the real taste of the food ingredients. Mention any Chinese dish or recipe of the sort and you will definitely find soy sauce as one of the ingredients. As far as the history of soy sauce is concerned, it is listed as one of the oldest flavorful condiments. And, the Chinese have been using soy sauce for more than 2,500 years. Today, it is used in various cuisines of the eastern countries as well as the western countries.

Either used for cooking or directly added in cooked dishes, soy sauce is a brownish colored, earthy tasting and salty condiment. By now, you might have prepared or came across so many dishes, wherein soy sauce is added in different amounts. But, do you have any idea regarding soy sauce ingredients? or what makes up soy sauce? Actually, the constituents of soy sauce vary slightly from one type to another. And, depending upon the mode of preparation and ingredient, soy sauce is available in different colors, consistencies and flavors.

What are the Ingredients in Soy Sauce?

The name soy sauce itself signifies that soybeans are primarily used in making this condiment. But, depending upon the method of preparation, different contents are used for brewing soy sauce. For example, in some of the traditional Chinese soy sauces, fermented fish is used in addition to soybeans. And, most of the soy sauce brands available in the market contain fermented wheat with little or no soy beans.

The primary ingredients for brewing soy sauce are soybeans, wheat flour, water and salt. Many people preferred using flour grounded from roasted wheat for better taste and flavor. And depending on whether the soy sauce is of a light type or a dark type, the salt content varies. For example, dark soy sauce is thicker, darker, sweeter and contains less salt than that of the light type.

Basically, there are two ways of making soy sauce, depending upon which the components vary, viz. traditional method and artificial hydrolysis. In the traditional way of brewing soy sauce, the ingredients, soy beans and wheat or barley grains are fermented with the yeast, Aspergillus oryzae under natural conditions. The yeast strain can be substituted with other microorganisms that help in fermentation process.

In case of artificial hydrolysis, hydrolyzed soy protein is used along with coloring agents for commercial production of soy sauce. It is much cheaper than those brewed traditionally with yeast and/or microbes. However, traditionally made soy sauce is more flavorful and beneficial as compared to the artificially produced soy sauce. In recent times, strict regulations have been imposed on the artificial production of soy sauce for food safety purposes.

Thus, soy sauce ingredients are different for different types and brewing methods. Studies have been done on the health benefits and dangers of having soy sauce. The antioxidant content in some commercially available soy sauces is much higher than red wine and proves effectual for combating cardiovascular health complications. However, a risk factor for including too much soy sauce in the diet is the high salt content, which for many is harmful. So, for those people who are on a low sodium diet, it is crucial to select a correct soy sauce brand that contains negligible salt.