SOY SAUCE

Soy sauce is one of the world's oldest condiment and was initially developed in China but development into the modern soy sauce that is used world wide took place in Japan. (History of Soy sauce)

As a condiment, soy sauce is a flavour enhancer and is used extensively in Asian cuisines. Its use is not limited to Asian cuisines as soy sauce has found wide use in Western cuisines and is requested in dishes like pasta, soups and stews.It is the reason that the condiment is stacked in shelves of shops all over the world.

Personally, I use it when making tomato sauce based pasta, stews such as ndengu (green grams), kidney beans, soya chunks and in meat such as fish, chicken and beef. I use dark soy sauce, it is strong so a little goes a long way.

Of importance to note is that soy sauce contains a lot of salt in form of sodium. This is because soy sauce is made from fermentation of soy beans (soya beans) and wheat in brine, and using microorganisms such as Aspergillus soyae, Lactobacillus and yeast that aid in fermentation. (Making soy sauce).

Nutritional information of the soy sauce I use

From the nutritional information obtained, 1 tbsp (15 ml) has 1301 mg of sodium in this particular product. The upper safe limit of  daily sodium intake is at less than 2300 mg. Special groups such as those with hypertension may require less sodium intake. (less than 1500 mg per day)

As a rule, when using soy sauce to enhance flavour in dishes, reduce the table salt content that one normally use by half to compensate for the excess sodium. Over salting food is a common problem when using soy sauce so watch out when using soy sauce.

Enjoy the richness that soy sauce impacts in dishes from the rich colour, flavour and aroma.