Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Traditional customs - How is soy sauce made?

How is soy sauce made?

Production method 1. Steamed beans: Soybeans brewed with soy sauce (both spring soybeans and autumn soybeans can be used) must be soaked in water for a proper time, so that protein in soybeans can absorb water to the maximum extent and avoid damaging protein by soaking for a long time. When soaking in water, put soybeans into wooden barrels or vats, and add 1 times of water. Usually soaking 1 hour will wrinkle the soybean skin. Then pour it into the laundry basket, drain the water, put it into a steaming bucket, boil the water and cook for 4-6 hours.

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2. Fermentation: After cooling the steamed soybeans, spread them on bamboo fences and send them indoors for fermentation. The room should be sealed, and several wooden frames should be set to facilitate the installation of bamboo fences. The temperature should be above 37℃. If the room temperature is not enough, charcoal and coal fire can be added to raise the temperature and promote fermentation. The fermentation time is 6 days. Stir once after entering the room for 3 days to make it ferment evenly. When yellow-green Aspergillus and yeast appear on the surface of fermented soybeans, take them out and pour them into wooden barrels or vats. Add clean water to stir them according to the ratio of 100 kg of soybeans and 40 kg of clean water to make them absorb enough water. Then pour out the remaining water, put it into a bamboo basket and cover it with cotton cloth. Then put it in the room at 37 ~ 38℃ to continue fermentation. After about 8 hours, put your hand into the beans and smell the soy sauce on your nose, then stop the fermentation.

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3. Brewing: Put fermented soybeans into wooden barrels for brewing (the top of wooden barrels or vats used for brewing should be sealed and the bottom should have an oil outlet). The brewing formula is: soybean 100 kg, salt 30 kg and water 40 kg. The specific operation is: put a layer of soybeans, sprinkle a layer of salt and splash water once, so that they are alternately put into barrels or tanks, and the top layer is salt. Then cover the barrel lid or cylinder head and seal it with kraft paper.

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4. Oil-making: After 4 months of brewing, unplug the cork of the oil outlet and put it on a nylon woven net for filtration. Then salt water (clear water 100 kg, salt 17 kg) is washed into the barrel or vat for five days, and the soy sauce flows out from the oil outlet. Generally, 300 kg of soy sauce can be brewed per 100 kg of soybean. Syrup is usually added to the obtained soy sauce. The practice of sugar water is: add 4 kilograms of water to every 100 kilograms of sugar, and cook it with strong fire until it is dark in color, sweet in taste and slightly bitter. The sugar consumption per 100 kg of soy sauce is 12 kg, and the syrup is filtered and added.

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5. Exposure: put the soy sauce in a jar and expose it in the sun 10 ~ 20 days.