Note 40 — Chapter XXXIX

This sauce, used in great quantities in Japan, and exported to Batavia by the Dutch, whence it has become known throughout the East Indies and also in Europe, is made from the soy bean (Dolichos Soia), extensively used by the Japanese in the making of soup. The soy is prepared as follows: the beans are boiled till they become rather soft, when an equal quantity of pounded barley or wheat is added. These ingredients being mixed, the compound is set away for twenty-four hours in a warm place to ferment. An equal quantity of salt is then added, and twice and a half as much water. It is stirred several times a day for several days, and then stands well covered for two or three months, when the liquid portion is decanted, strained, and put in wooden casks. It is of a brown color, improves with age, but varies in quality, according to the province where it is made. The Dutch of Deshima cork up the better qualities in glass bottles, boiling the liquor first in an iron kettle, to prevent fermentation, by which it is liable to be spoiled.