Sweet soy sauce (; ) is a sweetened aromatic soy sauce, originating in Indonesia, which has a darker color, a viscous syrupy consistency, and a molasses-like flavor due to the generous addition of palm sugar or jaggery.
Ingredients
Compared to
kecap asin, the mildly
regular soy sauce, the sweet soy sauce has a slightly thicker consistency and tastes much sweeter. This
condiment is made from a fermented paste of boiled black
, roasted
cereal,
brine, water, and
Aspergillus wentii mold, 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
jaggery). Indonesian sweet soy sauce is often enriched with spices, including
star anise,
cinnamon,
black pepper,
coriander, and
clove.
Uses
Kecap manis is an essential sauce in the Indonesian pantry. It is used to add a pleasantly mild sweet and
umami flavor to most popular Indonesian dishes, including
nasi goreng,
mie goreng,
kwetiau goreng,
ayam kecap (roasted chicken),
babi kecap (braised pork),
semur beef stew, and
ketoprak. It is also a popular
marination for
Barbecue, such as
satay,
ayam bakar (grilled chicken), and
ikan bakar (grilled fish). Sweet soy sauce is also a popular dipping sauce, mixed with chopped
shallot and bird's eye chili and served as a dipping sauce for
tahu goreng (fried tofu).
Steamed rice topped with
fried egg and drizzled with sweet soy sauce was a popular meal among Indonesians in the 1990s and 2000s, especially children. In Eastern Indonesia, sweet soy sauce is used as the ingredient of
colo-colo dipping sauce, although traditionally this
Moluccas sauce uses black-colored rendered coconut oil residue.
File:Gurame bakar kecap 2.JPG| Ikan bakar (grilled gourami) served with sweet soy sauce as both marination and dipping sauce
File:Ayam Kecap 4.jpg| Ayam kecap, 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, 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,
,
, and Sedaap.
Besides the national brands, there are numerous regional brands, such as Ikan Lele in Pati Regency, Mirama in Semarang, Orang Jual Sate in Probolinggo, Siong Hin (SH) in Tangerang, Tomat Lombok in Tegal, etc.
Some brands distribute widely in the Netherlands like Conimex,
Substitutes
Sweet soy sauce is widely available in Indonesian marketplaces,
, minimarkets, supermarkets,
toko, and Asian grocery stores worldwide. However, it is quite hard to find in most parts of Europe (except for the
Netherlands,
United Kingdom,
France 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, added with a trace of molasses, can serve as a substitute for sweet soy sauce.
See also
-
Dark soy sauce
-
Soup soy sauce
-
List of condiments
-
List of fermented soy products
-
List of sauces
-
Sweet bean sauce
-
Teriyaki sauce
-
Ketchup
External links
