Sweet soy sauce ( id, kecap manis) is a sweetened aromatic

soy sauce Soy sauce (also called simply soy in American English and soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermented paste of soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and ''Aspergillus oryzae'' or '' As ...

, originating in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

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

molasses Molasses () is a viscous substance resulting from refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, method of extraction and age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is primarily used to sweeten and flavour foods ...

-like flavor due to the generous addition of

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

jaggery Jaggery is a traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Africa. It is a concentrated product of cane juice and often date or palm sap without separation of the molasses and crystals, and ...

. ''Kecap manis'' is widely used with satay. 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 that formed the archipelagic nation of Indonesia. There are a wide variety of recipes and cuisines in part because Indonesia is composed of approximately 6,000 popula ...

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

Ingredients

Compared to ''kecap asin'', the mildly

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

y regular soy sauce, the sweet soy sauce has a slightly thicker consistency, and tastes much sweeter. This condiment 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, which has numerous uses. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu ...

s, roasted

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit ( caryopsis) – with or without an attached 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 legum ...

, water and '' Aspergillus wentii'' mold, 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'' is a medium-sized evergreen tree native to northeast Vietnam and southwest China. A spice commonly called star anise, staranise, star anise seed, star aniseed, star of anise, Chinese star anise, or badian that closely resemb ...

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, breakf ...

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

coriander Coriander (;

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 fragrance in consumer products, ...

Uses

''Kecap manis'' is an essential sauce in the Indonesian pantry. It is used to add a pleasantly mild sweet and umami flavor in most popular Indonesian dishes, including '' nasi goreng'', '' 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. The origin of the word alludes to the use of brine (''aqua marina'' or sea water) in the pickling process, which led to the technique of adding flavo ...

for grilled dishes, such as satay, '' ayam bakar'' (grilled chicken) and '' ikan bakar'' (grilled fish). Sweet soy sauce is also a popular dipping sauce, mixed with chopped shallot and

bird's eye chili Bird's eye chili or Thai chili (Thai: ''prik ki nu'', พริกขี้หนู, literally "mouse dung chili" owing to its shape) is a chili pepper, a variety from the species ''Capsicum annuum'' native to Mexico. Cultivated across Southea ...

and served as dipping sauce for ''

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

'' (fried tofu). Steamed rice topped with fried egg and drizzled with sweet soy sauce is a popular meal among Indonesians in the 1990s and 2000s, especially children. In Eastern Indonesia, sweet soy sauce is used as the ingredient of '' colo-colo'' 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 ( jv, ꦏꦸꦛꦯꦼꦩꦫꦁ , Pegon: سماراڠ) is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Dutch colonial era, and is still an important regional center and port today ...

, Orang Jual Sate in Probolinggo, Siong Hin (SH) in

Tangerang Tangerang ( Sundanese: , ) is a city in the province of Banten, Indonesia. Located on the western border of Jakarta, it is the third largest urban centre in the Greater Jakarta metropolitan area after Jakarta and Bekasi; the sixth largest cit ...

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

Substitutes

Sweet soy sauce is widely available in Indonesian marketplaces, ''

warung A warung ( old spelling: waroeng or warong) is a type of small family-owned business — a small retail, eatery or café — in Indonesia (and to a lesser extent, Malaysia and Suriname). A ''warung'' is an essential part of daily life in ...

s'', minimarkets, supermarkets, ''

toko Toko is a small rural settlement 10 kilometres east of Stratford, New Zealand, at the intersection of East Road ( State Highway 43) and Toko Road. It is located on a railway, the Stratford–Okahukura Line, the western portion of which was ope ...

'' and Asian grocery stores worldwide. However, it is quite hard to find in most parts of Europe (except for the Netherlands, UK and Germany) and also quite scarce in the Americas. Sweet soy sauce can be made from regular soy sauce. Regular soy sauce mixed with

brown sugar Brown sugar is unrefined or partially refined soft sugar. Brown Sugar may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Brown Sugar'' (1922 film), a 1922 British silent film directed by Fred Paul * ''Brown Sugar'' (1931 film), a 1931 ...

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

References

External links