![]() ![]() Mitigates Saltiness and Ties Together Flavor Characteristics ![]() In contrast with table salt, which has a purely salty taste and nothing more, soy sauce provides a more delicious way to season foods, and it is for this reason that people of eras past used to refer to soy sauce as the "better-tasting salt." Salinity concentrations of rich-tasting soy sauces are around 16%, and this saltiness helps define flavors, giving them a firmer focus. The sweet tastes in soy sauce come from the conversion of wheat starch into glucose, galactose and other sugars during the fermentation process, and also from the sugar alcohol glycerol, the amino acids glycine and alanine, and other such sources. Among these acids, glutamic acid plays the biggest role in creating umami taste. The proteins contained in the soybeans and wheat are broken down through enzymatic reactions by koji mold (Aspergillus oryzae) and transformed into roughly 20 different varieties of amino acid to create the savory (umami) taste of soy sauce. This combination of five taste characteristics and aromatic properties adds richness and depth to foods' flavors. So what exactly makes soy sauce so versatile? There are two factors: its possession of all five tastes-umami, sweetness, saltiness, bitterness and sourness-and its more than 300 different aromatic variations. ![]() Soy sauce is used widely in Japanese cooking as well as Western cuisine, Chinese cuisine and others around the world. This highly versatile condiment brings out the full flavors of many different ingredients, offers tastes and aromas that further fuel the appetite, and even adds color to prepared dishes-it's rare to find an ingredient or food that doesn't go well with soy sauce. ![]()
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