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Sauces and condiments from Malaysia

Malaysian kicap (soy sauce, incl. kicap lemak and kicap cair)kicap

Malaysian kicap is brewed soy sauce made the koji-and-brine way, then blended into sweet, salty, dark and light styles. Soybeans and roasted wheat grow koji for about a week, the koji ferments in strong brine as moromi, and the liquid is mixed with sugar and caramel and pasteurised. Malaysian food law sets its minimum nitrogen and salt.

Fully documentedSauces and condiments3.2 months

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceProportions from two Malaysian studies (a commercial maker's process and MARDI's standard method); makers' recipes vary.
SoybeansIn the Universiti Malaya laboratory study, soaked overnight and cooked until soft[shinyee2024]
Wheat, roasted and ground[shinyee2024]
Koji mould starter (Aspergillus)[shinyee2024]
Salt brine for the moromi18–22 % brine[harun2025]
Sugar and caramel, in the final mix7–16 %In a reformulated sauce made by the MARDI standard method[harun2025]
Starterkoji mould (Aspergillus oryzae) mixed into the cooked beans and roasted wheat, as in the Universiti Malaya laboratory study (company recipe); MARDI's standard method also begins with a starter culture

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.2 months

Start
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100–110 °C

What changes: Soaked soybeans are cooked soft and the wheat is roasted and ground

Step 1 of 4
Soak and cook the soybeans; roast the wheat
Time
3–6 h
Reported
Temperature
100–110 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Aspergillus oryzae
Moulds
T. halophilus
Tetragenococcus
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Malaysian kicap is brewed soy sauce made the koji-and-brine way, then blended into sweet, salty, dark and light styles. Soybeans and roasted wheat grow koji for about a week, the koji ferments in strong brine as moromi, and the liquid is mixed with sugar and caramel and pasteurised. Malaysian food law sets its minimum nitrogen and salt. Made in 4 steps over 3.2 months. The longest step, ferment the moromi in brine, takes 3 months (Shurtleff W). Salt is 18–22 % (Harun Z 2025). Aspergillus oryzae strain NSK, the koji mould used in a Universiti Malaya laboratory study and Tetragenococcus halophilus strain KBC, from a Perak soy sauce company and added to the moromi in the same laboratory study do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3 monthsReported[sic-hss2]Ferment the moromi in brine
Temperature100–110 °CReported[shinyee2024]Soak and cook the soybeans; roast the wheat
Salt18–22 %Reported[harun2025][shinyee2024]Ferment the moromi in brine

What makes this one different

Malaysian kicap is brewed with koji and brine like Chinese soy sauce, but Malaysian law lets it contain sugar, glucose syrup or molasses, and sweet styles hold much less sodium than light ones. Kicap lemak is like kecap manis with much less sugar, and kicap cair is the counterpart of kecap asin (Wikipedia).

Related ferments

Safety

Malaysian regulations require at least 0.6 % w/v total nitrogen and a minimum salt level, which makers cite as a reason they cannot cut salt further.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Shurtleff and Aoyagi call Malaysian soy sauce the Chinese type, probably introduced long ago, and say the industry is run mainly by Chinese or Malaysians of Chinese descent. MARDI began soy sauce research in 1975. A survey of 1970 counted 156 plants in Peninsular Malaysia, and a 1977 survey counted 153, about 95 % Chinese-owned, with koji averaging 7 days and brine fermentation 3 months. Food Regulations 1985, regulation 340, defines kicap as a clear, salty, brown liquid made from soybean and cereal or flour.

  1. [my-fr1985] Malaysia, Food Regulations 1985, P.U.(A) 437/85, regulation 340 (soya sauce or kicap), consolidated to 1 January 2014 (WTO import-licensing copy)spec
  2. [shinyee2024] Shin Yee C. et al. 2024, Optimisation of fermentation conditions for the production of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-rich soy sauce, Heliyon, doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e33147paper
  3. [harun2025] Harun Z., Shahar S., Haron H. et al. 2025, Reformulation of soy sauce to reduce sodium content and assessment of manufacturer readiness, consumer acceptance, and shelf life, Scientific Reports, doi:10.1038/s41598-025-26750-2paper
  4. [sic-hss2] Shurtleff W., Aoyagi A., History of Soy Sauce, Shoyu and Tamari, page 2 (Malaysia), SoyInfo Centerbook
  5. [WP-Soy sauce] English Wikipedia, Soy sauce (names of styles; outline only)wiki