Sweet soy sauce ( id, kecap manis) is a sweetened aromatic

soy sauce Soy sauce (also called simply soy in American English and soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermented paste of soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and ''Aspergillus oryzae'' or '' As ...

, originating in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

, which has a darker color, a viscous syrupy consistency and a

molasses Molasses () is a viscous substance resulting from refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, method of extraction and age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is primarily used to sweeten and flavour foods ...

-like flavor due to the generous addition of

palm sugar Palm sugar is a sweetener derived from any variety of palm tree. Palm sugar is sometimes qualified by the type of palm, as in coconut palm sugar. While sugars from different palms may have slightly different compositions, all are processed ...

jaggery Jaggery is a traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Africa. It is a concentrated product of cane juice and often date or palm sap without separation of the molasses and crystals, and ...

. ''Kecap manis'' is widely used with

satay Satay ( , in USA also , ), or sate in Indonesian spelling, is a Southeast Asian dish of seasoned, skewered and grilled meat, served with a sauce. The earliest preparations of satay is believed to have originated in Javanese cuisine, but ...

. It is similar to, though finer in flavor than, Chinese

Tianmian sauce Tianmian sauce (), also known as sweet bean sauce, sweet flour sauce or sweet wheat paste, is a thick, smooth, dark brown or black paste with either a mild, savory or sweet flavor. It is commonly used in Northern Chinese cuisine, Northeastern ...

(''tianmianjiang''). It is by far the most popular type of soy sauce employed in

Indonesian cuisine Indonesian cuisine is a collection of various regional culinary traditions that formed the archipelagic nation of Indonesia. There are a wide variety of recipes and cuisines in part because Indonesia is composed of approximately 6,000 popula ...

, and accounts for an estimated 90 percent of the nation's total soy sauce production.

Ingredients

Compared to ''kecap asin'', the mildly

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

y regular soy sauce, the sweet soy sauce has a slightly thicker consistency, and tastes much sweeter. This

condiment A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to impart a specific flavor, to enhance the flavor, or to complement the dish. A table condiment or table sauce is more specifically a condiment that is served separat ...

is made from a

fermented Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food p ...

paste of boiled black

soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu ...

s, roasted

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit ( caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

, water and ''

Aspergillus wentii ''Aspergillus wentii'' is an asexual, filamentous, endosymbiotic fungus belonging to the mold genus, ''Aspergillus''. It is a common soil fungus with a cosmopolitan distribution, although it is primarily found in subtropical regions. Found on a ...

mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures certain fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of spores containing fungal secondary metabolites. The spores are the dispersal units of the fungi. Not ...

, to which palm sugar is added. The strong sweet taste is contributed by a generous amount of palm sugar — the sauce may contain up to 50 percent ''gula merah'' or ''gula jawa'' (palm sugar

). Indonesian sweet soy sauce is often enriched with spices, including

star anise ''Illicium verum'' is a medium-sized evergreen tree native to northeast Vietnam and southwest China. A spice commonly called star anise, staranise, star anise seed, star aniseed, star of anise, Chinese star anise, or badian that closely resemb ...

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus '' Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakf ...

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in dia ...

coriander Coriander (;

and

clove Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands (or Moluccas) in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring or fragrance in consumer products, ...

Uses

''Kecap manis'' is an essential sauce in the Indonesian pantry. It is used to add a pleasantly mild sweet and

umami Umami ( from ja, 旨味 ), or savoriness, is one of the five basic tastes. It has been described as savory and is characteristic of broths and cooked meats. People taste umami through taste receptors that typically respond to glutamates and ...

flavor in most popular Indonesian dishes, including ''

nasi goreng ''Nasi goreng'' (English pronunciation: ) is a Southeast Asian fried rice dish, usually cooked with pieces of meat and vegetables. One of Indonesia's national dishes, it is also eaten in Malay-speaking communities in countries such as Malaysi ...

'', '' mie goreng'', ''

kwetiau goreng ( Indonesian for 'fried flat noodle') is an Indonesian style of stir fried flat rice noodle dish. It is made from noodles, locally known as , which are stir fried in cooking oil with garlic, onion or shallots, beef, chicken, fried prawn, crab ...

'', ''

ayam kecap Ayam kecap or ayam masak kicap is an Indonesian Javanese chicken dish poached or simmered in sweet soy sauce (''kecap manis'') commonly found in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. History and origin Fried chicken in sweet soy sauce is a ty ...

'' (roasted chicken), ''

babi kecap ''Babi kecap'' is an Indonesian braised pork with sweet soy sauce ('' kecap manis''). It is a Chinese Indonesian classic, due to its simplicity and popularity among Chinese Indonesian households. It is also popular among non-Muslim Indonesians, ...

'' (braised pork), '' semur'' beef stew, and '' ketoprak''. It is also a popular

marinade Marinating is the process of soaking foods in a seasoned, often acidic, liquid before cooking. The origin of the word alludes to the use of brine (''aqua marina'' or sea water) in the pickling process, which led to the technique of adding flavo ...

for grilled dishes, such as

, '' ayam bakar'' (grilled chicken) and '' ikan bakar'' (grilled fish). Sweet soy sauce is also a popular dipping sauce, mixed with chopped

shallot The shallot is a botanical variety (a cultivar) of the onion. Until 2010, the (French red) shallot was classified as a separate species, ''Allium ascalonicum''. The taxon was synonymized with '' Allium cepa'' (the common onion) in 2010, as the ...

and

bird's eye chili Bird's eye chili or Thai chili (Thai: ''prik ki nu'', พริกขี้หนู, literally "mouse dung chili" owing to its shape) is a chili pepper, a variety from the species ''Capsicum annuum'' native to Mexico. Cultivated across Southea ...

and served as dipping sauce for ''

tahu goreng Tahu goreng (Indonesian spelling) or Tauhu goreng (Malaysian and Singaporean spelling) is a generic name for any type of fried tofu dish in the cuisines of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Preparation When preparing the dish, cakes of hard ...

'' (fried tofu).

Steamed rice Cooked rice refers to rice that has been cooked either by steaming or boiling. The terms steamed rice or boiled rice are also commonly used. Any variant of Asian rice (both Indica and Japonica varieties), African rice or wild rice, glutinous ...

topped with

fried egg A fried egg, also known as sunny-side up is a cooked dish made from one or more eggs which are removed from their shells and placed into a frying pan and fried. They are traditionally eaten for breakfast in many countries but may also be ser ...

and drizzled with sweet soy sauce is a popular meal among Indonesians in the 1990s and 2000s, especially children. In

Eastern Indonesia This is a list of some of the regions of Indonesia. Many regions are defined in law or regulations by the central government. At different times of Indonesia's history, the nation has been designated as having regions that do not necessarily corr ...

, sweet soy sauce is used as the ingredient of ''

colo-colo Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo () is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano they play in the Chilean Primera División, from which they have never been relegated. The team has pla ...

'' dipping sauce, although traditionally this Maluku sauce uses black-colored rendered coconut oil residue. File:Gurame bakar kecap 2.JPG, '' Gurame bakar'' (grilled gourami) served with sweet soy sauce as both marination and dipping sauce File:Ayam Kecap 4.jpg, ''

Ayam kecap Ayam kecap or ayam masak kicap is an Indonesian Javanese chicken dish poached or simmered in sweet soy sauce (''kecap manis'') commonly found in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. History and origin Fried chicken in sweet soy sauce is a ty ...

'', chicken poached in sweet soy sauce File:Semur Daging Kentang.JPG, '' Semur daging'', beef and potato stew in sweet soy sauce File:Babi kecap 1.jpg, ''

Babi kecap ''Babi kecap'' is an Indonesian braised pork with sweet soy sauce ('' kecap manis''). It is a Chinese Indonesian classic, due to its simplicity and popularity among Chinese Indonesian households. It is also popular among non-Muslim Indonesians, ...

'', pork simmered in sweet soy sauce

Brands

In Indonesia there are large numbers of sweet soy sauce brands. ''Kecap manis'' is traditionally a small-scale home industry. However there are a handful of brands that are widely distributed throughout Indonesia and regionally, such as ''kecap manis'' ABC, , Indofood and Sedaap. Besides the national brands, there are numerous regional brands, such as Ikan Lele in Pati, Mirama in

Semarang Semarang ( jv, ꦏꦸꦛꦯꦼꦩꦫꦁ , Pegon: سماراڠ) is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Dutch colonial era, and is still an important regional center and port today ...

, Orang Jual Sate in

Probolinggo Probolinggo ( id, Kota Probolinggo, mad, Prabâlingghâ) is a city on the north coast of East Java province, Indonesia. It covers an area of 56.67 sq. km, and had a population of 217,062 at the 2010 census and 239,649 at the 2020 census ...

, Siong Hin (SH) in

Tangerang Tangerang ( Sundanese: , ) is a city in the province of Banten, Indonesia. Located on the western border of Jakarta, it is the third largest urban centre in the Greater Jakarta metropolitan area after Jakarta and Bekasi; the sixth largest cit ...

, Tomat Lombok in Tegal, etc. More or less, there are a hundred regional brands of ''kecap manis''. There are also brands that distribute widely in the Netherlands like Conimex, Inproba, Kaki Tiga, and "A" Trade Mark.

Substitutes

Sweet soy sauce is widely available in Indonesian marketplaces, ''

warung A warung ( old spelling: waroeng or warong) is a type of small family-owned business — a small retail, eatery or café — in Indonesia (and to a lesser extent, Malaysia and Suriname). A ''warung'' is an essential part of daily life in ...

s'', minimarkets, supermarkets, ''

toko Toko is a small rural settlement 10 kilometres east of Stratford, New Zealand, at the intersection of East Road ( State Highway 43) and Toko Road. It is located on a railway, the Stratford–Okahukura Line, the western portion of which was ope ...

'' and Asian grocery stores worldwide. However, it is quite hard to find in most parts of Europe (except for the Netherlands, UK and Germany) and also quite scarce in the Americas. Sweet soy sauce can be made from regular soy sauce. Regular soy sauce mixed with

brown sugar Brown sugar is unrefined or partially refined soft sugar. Brown Sugar may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Brown Sugar'' (1922 film), a 1922 British silent film directed by Fred Paul * ''Brown Sugar'' (1931 film), a 1931 ...

, added with a trace of molasses, can serve as a substitute for sweet soy sauce.

References

External links