The old saying goes: "Seven things to do when opening the door, firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea." The sauce here refers to soy sauce. This shows the importance of soy sauce in people's daily lives. It is faced almost every day. soy sauce can not only adjust the color of the dishes, but also play a role in eliminating fishy smell and increasing the fragrance.
As early as 3,000 years ago, my country began to have written records about making "sauce", and "sauce" is the prototype of soy sauce now. The Analects of Confucius says: "Confucius said: Eat soy sauce without getting tired of eating, and stew without getting tired of fine . If you don't eat it right, you won't eat the sauce." At that time, the ancients knew that soy sauce was used to cooking to increase the deliciousness of the food.
The earliest soy sauce was made of fresh meat marinated, which is quite similar to the process of fish sauce making. The oil produced by chopping the meat into a paste and fermenting it was called "meat" in ancient times (that is, meat soy sauce). Sometimes animal blood is added on this basis. This sauce is called "meat", and "meat" and "meat" are different flavors of soy sauce. In , in the Han Dynasty, soybeans were used instead of fresh meat as sauce, and it was widely spread and used among the people. was officially renamed "soy sauce" since .
Japanese soy sauce brewing technology comes from China. After the Japanese continue to explore the Japanese based on Chinese soy sauce, they have made the current Japanese soy sauce. More than 300 kinds of soy sauce have been developed. Among them, is the most famous brand of "Ten Thousand Character Soy Sauce", and its price is also high. Why is it so expensive to sell, but its sales ranks first in the world. The reason is not simple!
1. The earliest soy sauce brewing technology in Japan originated from China
Regarding how Chinese soy sauce brewing technology was introduced to Japan, there are several versions of the legend. The first version was when the Tang Dynasty was . The Chinese Jianzhen master traveled to Japan to spread Chinese culture while also introducing the brewing technology of soy sauce into Japan; the second version was introduced through the method of making "sauce" recorded in China's earliest agricultural book " Qimin Yaoshu "; the third version was when the Song Dynasty Japanese monk Juexin came to China to practice, learned the method of making "miso" in Jingshan Temple , and returned to Kishu, Japan to promote it. This "miso" is considered the origin of Japanese soy sauce.
I personally think the third version is more convincing. Reason 1: Jianzhen is an monk in the Tang Dynasty and was respected as the first ancestor of the Japanese Vinaya School. He not only was proficient in Buddhist scriptures, but also had profound attainments in art and medicine throughout his life. However, he did not find any written records of his soy sauce brewing technology, so there are doubts; Reason 2: Just a paragraph of text in the book "Qimin Yaoshu" can make soy sauce lack credibility.
No matter which version it is, it is undeniable that Japanese brewing soy sauce technology originated from China. Chinese sauce was introduced into Japan and became miso, and miso developed into the current Japanese soy sauce.
2. Ten thousand-character soy sauce has the highest sales volume in the world
In Japan, a popular saying "Harmony starts with soy sauce, ends with soy sauce". means that when eating Japanese cuisine, you cannot do without soy sauce from beginning to end. Among nearly 1,500 soy sauce brands of all sizes in Japan, "Tenzi Soy Sauce" ranks first and plays an important role.
"KIKKOMAN" is a brand founded by the Japanese family company Kamekoman Co., Ltd. and Kamekoman soy sauce originated from the early days of Edo period , and has a history of more than 300 years. The founder is a woman named Mama Koshiro. She began to learn the soy sauce brewing technology circulated by the family in 1615.
909 In 1957, Kasumi established Japan's first fully automatic soy sauce brewing factory and opened the Japanese soy sauce industrial production model. In order to expand the foreign market, Kasumi set up its first overseas sales outlet in San Francisco, USA in 1957, and in 1972, it established its first manufacturing base in the United States, in penetrating the concept of "10,000-word soy sauce" into American Western food.
Now "Ten Thousand Character Soy Sauce" accounts for 31% of Japan's domestic market share, and the total market share of the four soy sauce companies behind him does not exceed 20%. At the same time, "Wanzi Soy Sauce" is sold well in more than 100 countries and regions around the world. In 2016, 72% of the operating income of Kaguwan Soy Sauce comes from overseas markets; in 2019, Kaguwan's soy sauce's revenue alone reached 49.8 billion yen, equivalent to RMB 3.3 billion.
Currently, "Ten-Yanzi Soy Sauce" accounts for 55% of the soy sauce market share in the United States, and soy sauce sales rank first in the world, and it is truly the leader in the Japanese soy sauce industry.
3. Why is Ten Thousand-Type Soy Sauce so expensive?
Japanese people attach great importance to soy sauce and are a decent gift to friends and relatives. It is said that the expensive 10,000-character soy sauce is only 200 ml, and the price is more than 1,000 yen, equivalent to RMB 80. The ordinary "10,000-character soy sauce" also costs 18 yuan per bottle. is several times more expensive than Chinese sauce wine. The brewing raw materials of
"Wanzi Soy Sauce" are the same as those of Chinese soy sauce. They are both soybeans and wheat. They start to be steamed from soybeans, add wheat flour and ferment them into stew, and then add salt and water for the second fermentation. The reason why selling is so expensive is not groundless and priced at will. If so many people are willing to pay for it, it means that there is a lot of money.
First of all, Kamekoman Company first originated in the Noda area of Chiba Prefecture, Japan. The water resources there are very high-quality , just like the Chishui River of Moutai liquor , it is extremely important and has been a famous soy sauce producer in Japan since ancient times.
Secondly, the used in Wanzi soy sauce is the brewing process. uses the traditional fermentation process of real materials. The word "年" in this brewing means orthodox, genuine, and natural and without additives, that is, it is a high-salt dilute fermentation. Generally, the fermentation time is more than half a year, so the production cost is high.
, guiguwan uses the unique "guiguwan" , which has been passed down from generation to generation, exclusively cultivated, and . This guiguwan is composed of a variety of unique bacterial species. The biggest advantage is that it makes soybeans and wheat ferment more fully, and can emit more than 300 kinds of fragrances, which promotes the combination of soy sauce, acid, sweet, bitter, salty and fresh flavors, to achieve the state of color, fragrance and taste, and there is no need to add sugar color and MSG when cooking.
. Currently, Guijiawan has more than 2,000 soy sauce-related products. Based on the principle of low salt health, there are 22 salt-reducing products developed by , such as oysters, broth, kelp, whole soybeans, etc. The soy sauce with the highest salinity reduction content is 66% less than ordinary soy sauce. In addition, organic soy sauce, functional soy sauce, etc. have been developed, which are suitable for different groups of people.
4. Classification of Japanese soy sauce
The most common classification method for Japanese soy sauce wine is to be made according to raw materials. is divided into 5 categories: thick soy sauce , light soy sauce, liu soy sauce, re-enter soy sauce and white soy sauce.
Concentrated soy sauce: As the name suggests, it is a strong soy sauce, with a salt concentration of 16 to 17%, accounting for more than 80% of the total production of Japanese soy sauce. It is mainly brewed with half of each soybean and wheat, so it is suitable for various dishes. There are outputs in all parts of Japan, including , Chiba Prefecture, , Noda City, , Takako City, and Kagawa Prefecture, Kotoshima is well-known. Origin.
light soy sauce: is light soy sauce, popular in Kansai area . In addition to soybeans and wheat, rice and wine are also added. It is characterized by clear color, light taste but high salt content. The salt concentration is 18%, which is suitable for stewing vegetables, white meat fish, etc.
Liuliu Soy Sauce: is the earliest soy sauce variety in Japan. It has the longest ripening time and the darkest color. The main raw material is soybeans. There is no need to add wheat or add a very small amount of wheat. It has the characteristics of sweet, thick and unique aroma. It is suitable for sushi, sashimi or making Teriyaki and takayaki sauce. The three prefectures in Tokai, Japan are the main production areas.
re-entered soy sauce: also known as nectar soy sauce, it is brewed twice with raw soy sauce or soy sauce instead of salt water during fermentation. It has a very strong taste and is suitable for dipping food, sashimi and sushi. It is mainly produced by Shanyin and Kyushu in Yamaguchi Prefecture.
White soy sauce: is mainly made of wheat and is fermented and brewed with soybean koji. The characteristics are light color, light taste, slightly salty and bright sweetness. Because it is easy to oxidize and short shelf life, it is suitable for steamed tea bowls, udon sauce, pot sauce, pickled pickles, etc. Binan City, Aichi Prefecture, is the main production area.
is divided into three categories according to the production process: this brewing, mixed brewing, and mixed.
Brewing: made of soybeans, wheat and salt as the main raw materials and brewed using traditional processes. It is currently the largest soy sauce in the Japanese market.
Mixed brewing: In the brewing process, in order to shorten the brewing time, ingredients such as amino acid conditioning liquid, fermentation conditioning liquid are added to speed up the fermentation process.
Mixed: To put it bluntly, it is made of blending a variety of chemical substances, but very few are truly circulated on the market.
can be divided into: Umatsu soy sauce , vinegar soy sauce, peanut soy sauce, garlic soy sauce, organic soy sauce, low-salt soy sauce, etc. soy sauce with health care as the selling point.
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