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Sauces and condiments from Taiwan

Taiwanese black-bean soy sauce (yìnyóu / heidou jiangyou)蔭油

Taiwan's traditional black-bean soy sauce is brewed from black soybeans. Steamed black beans are mixed with fried flour and koji mould for about a week, then dry-salted in closed jars, given brine, and left for about six months. A Taiwan study followed one batch at a Yunlin factory and in a lab.

Fully documentedSauces and condiments6.1 months

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceAmounts of one 2018–2019 study batch made with a Yunlin soy sauce factory; makers' recipes vary.
Black soybeans (Tainan No. 5)15 kg[nguyen2023]
Fried high-gluten flour1.5 kg[nguyen2023]
Aspergillus oryzae mould powder1 g per kg of soybeans[nguyen2023]
Sea salt, mixed into the koji beans20 % (w/w)[nguyen2023]
StarterAspergillus oryzae koji

Total time across the recorded steps: 6.1 months

Start
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40 °C

What changes: Black soybeans are steamed soft, drained and cooled

Step 1 of 4
Steam the black soybeans
Time
1 h
Reported
Temperature
40 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Aspergillus
Bacillus
Enterococcus
Lactococcus
Lactic acid bacteria
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

Taiwan's traditional black-bean soy sauce is brewed from black soybeans. Steamed black beans are mixed with fried flour and koji mould for about a week, then dry-salted in closed jars, given brine, and left for about six months. A Taiwan study followed one batch at a Yunlin factory and in a lab. Made in 4 steps over 6.1 months. The longest step, add brine and ferment, takes 5.9 months (Nguyen N.T.H 2023) and runs at 17–32 °C (Nguyen N.T.H 2023). Salt is 20 % (Nguyen N.T.H 2023). Aspergillus and Bacillus, dominant in the factory (room temperature) mash do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step5.9 monthsReported[nguyen2023]Add brine and ferment
Temperature17–32 °CMeasured[nguyen2023]Add brine and ferment
Salt20 %Reported[nguyen2023]Mix with sea salt and close in jars

What makes this one different

It is made from black soybeans. In the study batch the koji was first mixed with dry sea salt in jars, and the brine was added a week later.

Related ferments

Safety

The study notes that soy sauce makers add a 20 % salt brine to inhibit undesirable microorganisms. It also detected Klebsiella and Staphylococcus in the mash, which it says are thought to come from workers' hands.

Hazards the sources name: Klebsiella (genus-level reads in the mash, thought to come from workers' hands).

History and sources

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

A 1995 review by an engineer who worked five years making soy sauce in Taiwan describes Taiwan's soy sauce, its CNS (Chinese National Standard) standard and its traditional black-bean soy sauce, which he links to the origin of douchi.

  1. [nguyen2023] Nguyen N.T.H., Huang M.B., Liu F.Y., Huang W.L., Tran H.-T., Hsu T.W., Huang C.L., Chiang T.Y. 2023, Deciphering microbial community dynamics along the fermentation course of soy sauce under different temperatures using metagenomic analysis, Bioscience of Microbiota, Food and Health 42(2):104–113, doi:10.12938/bmfh.2022-012paper
  2. [sekine1995] 関根一男 (Sekine K.) 1995, 台湾における醤油の現状 (Soy sauce in Taiwan), 日本醸造協会誌 90(5):350, doi:10.6013/jbrewsocjapan1988.90.350 (abstract)paper
  3. [WP-Soy sauce] English Wikipedia, Soy sauce (outline only)wiki