A thick, glossy Chinese salty-sweet condiment made from fermented soy sauce, sugar, and a gentle thickener, producing a coating consistency close to a salty syrup.
Ingredients
- 250 ml naturally fermented Chinese light soy sauce
- 120 ml filtered water
- 90 g Chinese brown rock sugar
- 18 g potato starch
- 45 ml cold water for dissolving the starch
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
Method
- Set up your station: choose a small heavy-bottomed saucepan, a flexible spatula, a whisk, and a clean jar. A heavy base matters because sugar catches quickly in a lightweight saucepan.
- Pour the light soy sauce into the saucepan with the filtered water and Chinese brown rock sugar. Heat over medium-low, stirring slowly, until the sugar is completely dissolved and the liquid becomes uniform, dark, and glossy.
- When the surface begins to simmer very gently, lower the heat. The sauce must not boil violently: look for small, regular bubbles around the edges, not an aggressive reduction that would create a burnt bitterness.
- Cook gently, stirring from time to time. The aroma should become rounder, somewhere between fermented soy, brown caramel, and light molasses. If the edges of the saucepan begin to stick, run the spatula all around them to keep the sugars from browning too much.
- Meanwhile, whisk the potato starch with the cold water until perfectly smooth, with no lumps. Stir it again just before using it, since the starch quickly settles at the bottom of the bowl.
- Pour the starch mixture in a thin stream into the simmering sauce while whisking constantly. The sauce will first look cloudy, then become glossy again as the starch cooks.
- Continue cooking over low heat, stirring constantly. The sauce is ready when it coats the spatula, falls in a slow ribbon, and leaves a clean mark for a few seconds when you run a finger across the back of the spoon.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the toasted sesame oil. It should perfume the sauce without dominating it; adding it off the heat preserves its toasted aroma.
- Strain through a small fine-mesh sieve if the sauce has even the slightest lump. This gives the smooth, glossy texture expected of a thick soy sauce served at the table.
- Let cool until lukewarm before transferring to a jar. The sauce thickens further as it cools: it should remain flowing, but fall slowly from the spoon like a salty syrup. If it becomes too dense, loosen it with a little hot water; if it is too thin, return it to low heat for a few moments.
Nutrition
Per serving
- Energy
- 152.4 kcal
- Protein
- 5.09 g
- Carbohydrate
- 28.77 g
- Fat
- 1.25 g
- Fibre
- 0.02 g
- Calcium
- 17.06 mg
- Iron
- 1.07 mg
- Magnesium
- 52.31 mg
