Sweet soy sauce (; ) is a sweetened aromatic

soy sauce Soy sauce (sometimes called soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of China, Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermentation (food), fermented paste of soybeans, roasted cereal, grain, brine, and ''Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''A ...

, originating in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, which has a darker color, a viscous syrupy consistency, and a

molasses Molasses () is a viscous byproduct, principally obtained from the refining of sugarcane or sugar beet juice into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, the method of extraction, and the age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is usuall ...

-like flavor due to the generous addition of

palm sugar Palm sugar is a sweetener derived from any variety of palm tree. Palm sugar may be qualified by the type of palm, as in coconut palm sugar. While sugars from different palms may have slightly different compositions, all are processed simila ...

jaggery Jaggery is a List of unrefined sweeteners, traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, North America, Central America, Brazil and Africa. It is a concentrated product of Sugarcane juice, cane jui ...

. ''Kecap manis'' is widely used with

satay Satay ( , in the US also ), or sate in Indonesia, is a Javanese cuisine, Javanese dish of seasoned, skewered and grilled meat, served with a sauce. Satay originated in Java, but has spread throughout Indonesia, into Southeast Asia, Europe, ...

. It is similar to, though finer in flavor than, Chinese Tianmian sauce (''tianmianjiang''). It is by far the most popular type of soy sauce employed in

Indonesian cuisine Indonesian cuisine is a collection of various regional culinary traditions by various ethnic groups that formed in the archipelagic nation of Indonesia. There are a wide variety of recipes and cuisines in part because Indonesia is composed ...

and accounts for an estimated 90 percent of the nation's total soy sauce production.

Ingredients

Compared to ''kecap asin'', the mildly

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

y regular soy sauce, the sweet soy sauce has a slightly thicker consistency and tastes much sweeter. This

condiment A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to enhance the Flavoring, flavour, to complement the dish or to impart a specific flavor. Such specific flavors generally add sweetness or pungency, or sharp or piquant ...

is made from a fermented paste of boiled black

soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source o ...

s, roasted

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

, water, and '' Aspergillus wentii''

mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures that certain fungus, fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of Spore#Fungi, spores containing Secondary metabolite#Fungal secondary metabolites, fungal ...

, to which palm sugar is added. The strong sweet taste is contributed by a generous amount of palm sugar — the sauce may contain up to 50 percent ''gula merah'' or ''gula jawa'' (palm sugar

). Indonesian sweet soy sauce is often enriched with spices, including

star anise ''Illicium verum'' (star anise or badian, Chinese star anise, star anise seed, star aniseed and star of anise) is a medium-sized evergreen tree native to South China and northeast Vietnam. Its star-shaped pericarps harvested just before ripen ...

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, biscuits, b ...

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit (the peppercorn), which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diameter ...

coriander Coriander (), whose leaves are known as cilantro () in the U.S. and parts of Canada, and dhania in parts of South Asia and Africa, is an annual plant, annual herb (''Coriandrum sativum'') in the family Apiaceae. Most people perceive the ...

, and

clove Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands, or Moluccas, in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring, or Aroma compound, fragrance in fin ...

Uses

''Kecap manis'' is an essential sauce in the Indonesian pantry. It is used to add a pleasantly mild sweet and

umami Umami ( from ), or savoriness, is one of the five basic tastes. It is characteristic of broths and cooked meats. People taste umami through taste receptors that typically respond to glutamates and nucleotides, which are widely present in me ...

flavor to most popular Indonesian dishes, including ''

nasi goreng ''Nasi goreng'' (English pronunciation: ), (Indonesian language, Indonesian and Malay language, Malay for 'fried rice') is a Southeast Asian rice dish with pieces of meat and vegetables added. It can refer simply to fried pre-cooked rice, a me ...

'', '' mie goreng'', '' kwetiau goreng'', '' ayam kecap'' (roasted chicken), '' babi kecap'' (braised pork), '' semur'' beef stew, and '' ketoprak''. It is also a popular

marinade Marinating is the process of soaking foods in a seasoned, often acidic, liquid before cooking. This sauce, called the marinade, can be either acidic (made with ingredients such as vinegar, lemon juice, or wine), or enzymatic (made with ingredien ...

for grilled dishes, such as

, '' ayam bakar'' (grilled chicken), and '' ikan bakar'' (grilled fish). Sweet soy sauce is also a popular dipping sauce, mixed with chopped

shallot The shallot is a cultivar group of the onion. Until 2010, the (French red) shallot was classified as a separate species, ''Allium ascalonicum''. The taxon was synonymized with '' Allium cepa'' (the common onion) in 2010, as the difference was t ...

and

bird's eye chili Bird's eye chili or Thai chili ( owing to its shape) is a chili pepper variety (botany), variety from the species ''Capsicum annuum'' that is native to Mexico. Cultivated across Southeast Asia, it is used extensively in many Asian cuisines. It m ...

and served as a dipping sauce for ''

tahu goreng Tahu goreng ( Indonesian spelling) or tauhu goreng (Bruneian, Malaysian and Singaporean spelling) is a generic name for any type of fried tofu dish in the cuisines of Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore. Preparation When preparing the ...

'' (fried tofu). Steamed rice topped with fried egg and drizzled with sweet soy sauce was a popular meal among Indonesians in the 1990s and 2000s, especially children. In

Eastern Indonesia Eastern Indonesia (or East Indonesia) is one of the two main geographical regions of Indonesia, the other being Western Indonesia. It comprises four geographical units: Lesser Sunda Islands, Sulawesi, Maluku Islands and Papua. Central Indone ...

, sweet soy sauce is used as the ingredient of ''

colo-colo Colo-Colo (), officially Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo, is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano, it competes in the Chilean Primera División, from which the club has never been ...

'' dipping sauce, although traditionally this Maluku sauce uses black-colored rendered coconut oil residue. File:Gurame bakar kecap 2.JPG, '' Gurame bakar'' (grilled gourami) served with sweet soy sauce as both marination and dipping sauce File:Ayam Kecap 4.jpg, '' Ayam kecap'', chicken poached in sweet soy sauce File:Semur Daging Kentang.JPG, '' Semur daging'', beef and potato stew in sweet soy sauce File:Babi kecap 1.jpg, '' Babi kecap'', pork simmered in sweet soy sauce

Brands

In Indonesia, there are large numbers of sweet soy sauce brands. ''Kecap manis'' is traditionally a small-scale home industry. However there are a handful of brands that are widely distributed throughout Indonesia and regionally, such as ''kecap manis'' ABC, , Indofood, and Sedaap. Besides the national brands, there are numerous regional brands, such as Ikan Lele in Pati, Mirama in

Semarang Semarang (Javanese script, Javanese: , ''Kutha Semarang'') is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Netherlands, Dutch Dutch East Indies, colonial era, and is still an important regio ...

, Orang Jual Sate in

Probolinggo Probolinggo (, , Javanese language, Javanese: ''Kuthå Pråbålinggå'') is a city on the north coast of East Java province, Indonesia. It covers an area of 56.676 sq. km, and had a population of 217,062 at the 2010 censusBiro Pusat Stati ...

, Siong Hin (SH) in

Tangerang Tangerang (Sundanese script, Sundanese: , ) is the List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city with the largest population in the province of Banten, Indonesia. Located on the western border of Jakarta, it is the sixth largest city proper in ...

, Tomat Lombok in Tegal, etc. More or less, there are a hundred regional brands of ''kecap manis''. Some brands distribute widely in the Netherlands like Conimex, Inproba, Kaki Tiga, and "A" Trade Mark.

Substitutes

Sweet soy sauce is widely available in Indonesian marketplaces, '' warungs'', minimarkets, supermarkets, '' toko'', and Asian grocery stores worldwide. However, it is quite hard to find in most parts of Europe (except for the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, UK,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

) and also quite scarce in the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

. Sweet soy sauce can be made from regular soy sauce. Regular soy sauce mixed with

brown sugar Brown sugar is a sucrose sugar product with a distinctive brown color due to the presence of molasses. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals with some residual molasses content or produced by t ...

, added with a trace of molasses, can serve as a substitute for sweet soy sauce.

References

External links