Soy sauce, no doubt, is the best known and widely used traditional soy food not only in Asian countries but in the Western counterparts as well. This all-purpose seasoning has a pleasant aromatic smell and a rich flavour which can satisfy the palates of all, increasingly used in the place of salt.
That said, how does one see the importance of soy sauce in toxicity?
First, it is important to look at the herb Aconitum fischeri, also known as the Aconite or more famously, the Wolfsbane plant first – the most powerful and potent court herb in ancient China. In fact, a 3-5 mg dose can kill a person, yet in smaller doses this plant can relieve pain, reduce inflammation and even strengthen the heart. A collection of such medical formulas has also been excavated from Mawangdui in modern Hunan (southern China), which dates back to the 2nd-century BCE in the early years of the Western Han dynasty (206 BCE 9 CE).[1]
It also proved popular in court murders in China as seen from the 4th-century BCE text, ‘Discourses of the States’:
“In 656 BCE, Li Ji, a concubine of Duke Xian of the Jin state, planned a conspiracy to remove the heir apparent, Shen Sheng, so her own son could succeed to the throne. She asked Shen Sheng to offer food to his father, and secretly added Aconite (jin) into the meat. When the Duke was about to eat the food, Li Ji asked him to first test it on a dog, which died instantly. Seeing himself in trouble, Shen Sheng fled, and later committed suicide.”[2]
Figure 1: Aconitum fischeri (Wolfsbane)
As researched from the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing, also known as The Divine Farmer’s Materia Medica by Yang Shou-zhou mentioned that to counteract Aconite poisoning, soybean soup was the primary choice in antiquity. Modern studies show that the rich proteins in soybean can coat and eliminate toxins in the body, explaining its efficiency as an antidote back then.[3]
So according to the divine farmer’s Materia Medica, soybean was a middle class medicinal cereal, with benefits such as dispelling water distention, eliminating heat in the stomach, help with blood clots, dissipate internal cold accumulation and binding in the five viscera (Heart, Liver, Spleen, Lung, Kidney), and resolve Aconite toxins. Here, it is also interesting how the soybean could eliminate at least 2 out of 5 of the 5 elements (also known as wu xing 五行): water and fire, proving that the classification of foods according to potency can indeed affect the bodily flow of ‘qi’.
Thus, when I look at the concept of toxicity and examined the primary source the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing, the most important or primary herb to regulate and to balance out the toxicity of the most poisonous herb (at least at a certain point of time) – Aconite – were soybeans. More specifically, the best known and widely used or most commodified and easy to get-at-hand soy food is soy sauce – a seasoning which we still use even today.
So, what are soy sauces?
To understand where soy sauces came from, one should not forget the jiang, which is a savoury paste made from fermenting meat, fish or grain.[4] This was where the basic name for soy sauces originated from in China — jiang you, which means “the liquid extracted from jiang.”[5] The early reference to this fermented paste can be found in the Han dynasty, listed on the bamboo slips found in the Han Tomb 1 at the Ma-wang-dui archaeological site located near Changsha, China. The word ‘jiang’ is also found in the silk manuscript discovered in Han Tomb 3.[6]
To make soy sauce, Originally thinned jiang, or liquids produced in fermenting beans were used, but true soy sauce was made by the fermentation of boiled soybeans and wheat flour using Aspergillus, Mucor, Rhizopus and other fungi[7] typically with brown earthenware cylindrical jars.[8] Or, in simpler terms, made with ingredients such as soybeans, wheat, water and salt. To add on, the emphasis the ancient Chinese placed on the use of specific earthenware jars of the best qualities to make high-quality soy sauces made me realise how far technological advances had come, which have altered the way certain foods are prepared, and how one would justify their food to be deemed as authentic if it is not prepared by traditional methods today.[9]
Figure 2: Earthenware cylindrical Jars
Furthermore, while it was implied that soy sauce did not originate until the 16th century, Food in Chinese Culture, by K.C. Chang (1977) states that soy sauce was known toward the end of the Zhou period (1100 BC-221 BC), based on the writing from Shi Chi (written ca. 85 BC).[10] This can be supported by the earliest evidence of soybean domestication in China, which dates back to the 11th century BC as researched by Hymowitz, T. “On the Domestication of the Soybean.”.[11] To further explicate, it explains where soybeans first adapted to the needs of men, and where was soybean distributed in China.
Additionally, in Food in Chinese Culture by K.C. Chang the term jiang you appeared for the first time as an item indicating a family’s wealth[12]:
“Whoever in the market towns and commercial metropolises sold any of the following goods were also equal in wealth to the head of a great hereditary family of a thousand chariots.”
“1. Liquor, a thousand brewings
- Pickles and chiang-yu (soy sauce), a thousand jars
- Chiang, a thousand jars…”
This demonstrated the impact soy sauce had in society, as it continually emphasised the social hierarchy within society in ancient China.
Furthermore, as salt was scarce and expensive in the past, fermenting soybeans and fish replaced salt, creating a new salty umami flavouring as a cheaper alternative which could last longer than salt. However, during the Han dynasty at around 220 BCE, Buddhism was beginning to expand into China from India. Since Buddhists were refrained from harming living beings, the soy sauce that we know today was created, and it became a safe vegetarian alternative than soy sauce made with meat extracts – fish or meat – thus leading to the widespread of this flavourful condiment which could be consumed by all.[13] Thus, the importance of this seasoning shows as it continues to be ingrained as part of people’s diet not only in ancient china, but in today’s society as well.
In the present, more specifically the 1920s, however, the soy sauce industry shifted away from the traditional methods of soy sauce production and moved toward more productive and cheaper methods to keep up with globalisation and capitalism.
Rather than the traditional slow fermentation method, which can last for months, enzyme hydrolysis could make more soy sauce in a far less amount of time, forming the new Hydrolysed Vegetable Protein soy sauce. While the public are unable to tell the distinct differences between the traditional and the Hydrolysed Vegetable Protein soy sauce, it is visible to experts that the modern-made soy sauce typically fails to generate the complex flavour profile associated with fully fermented soy sauce.
Besides that, additives such as caramel, corn syrup and lactic acid to mimic the appearance and flavour of a truly fermented soy sauce. Most grocery store soy sauces are produced this way.[14]
In China and Southeast Asia, the preparation of soy sauces has continued to remain largely a household art with families even making their own supply once a year since it was so easy to ferment. In most areas, soy sauce retained its Chinese identity though in many southern countries it has evolved into a thicker product sweetened with molasses.
As such, since soy sauce is a key ingredient which continues to be ingrained within the diets of that many countries today, it is not surprising that the Chinese soy sauce market is expected to grow 28 percent to 86.2 billion yuan from 2018 onward through 2022, according to data from Euromonitor International.[15]
Conclusively, we will realise that the ancient Chinese saw toxicity as something to not be avoided at all costs, but as valuable in curing illnesses with the potency of foods. In this case, the potency of soy beans allowed the creation of soy sauce, enabling it to impact society socially, politically and religiously, even leading to the creation of new soy sauce production methods and new variations of soy sauces, where this famed condiment continues to be ingrained in the diets of many not only in ancient china, but in other countries today as well.
References:
[1]Liu, Yan. “Poisonous Medicine in Ancient China.” In Toxicology in Antiquity, pp. 435. Academic Press, 2019.
[2] Liu, Yan. “Poisonous Medicine in Ancient China.” In Toxicology in Antiquity, pp. 436. Academic Press, 2019.
[3] Liu, Yan. “Poisonous Medicine in Ancient China.” In Toxicology in Antiquity, pp. 437. Academic Press, 2019.
[4] Gao, Sally. 2016. “A History Of Soy Sauce In 1 Minute”. Culture Trip. https://theculturetrip.com/asia/china/articles/a-history-of-soy-sauce-in-1-minute/.
[5] Shurtleff, William, and Akiko Aoyagi. 2004. History of Soybeans and Soyfoods, 1100 B.C. to the 1980s. Soyfoods Center, Lafayette, California. Accessed 21 September, 2019. http://www.soyinfocenter.com/HSS/soy_sauce1.php.
[6] Morais, Rodolfo. 2017. “The Ancient Art And History Of Soy Sauce”. Grapes & Grains. https://www.grapesandgrains.org/2017/08/the-ancient-art-and-history-of-soy-sauce.html.
[7] Husihui., Buell, Paul D., Anderson, E. N., and Perry, Charles. A Soup for the Qan: Chinese Dietary Medicine of the Mongol Era as Seen in Hu Sihui’s Yinshan Zhengyao: Introduction, Translation, Commentary, and Chinese Text 2nd rev. and expanded ed. Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill, 2010. 138-42, 144-47.
[8] Groff, Elizabeth H. 1919. “Soy-Sauce Manufacturing In Kwangtung, China.” The Philippine Journal of Science 309. Accessed 23 September, 2019.
[9] Groff, Elizabeth H. 1919. “Soy-Sauce Manufacturing In Kwangtung, China.” The Philippine Journal of Science 309. Accessed 23 September, 2019.
[10] Baker, Hugh D. R. 1978. “K. C. Chang (Ed.): Food in Chinese Culture: Anthropological and Historical Perspectives. Ix, 429 Pp. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1977. $20, £14.40.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 41 (3). Cambridge University Press: 620–21. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00117987.
[11] Hymowitz, T. “On the Domestication of the Soybean.” Economic Botany 24, no. 4 (1970): 408-21. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4253176.
[12] Waley, A.. (2011). Food and Money in Ancient China. Translated and annotated by Nancy Lee Swann. pp. xiii + 482. Princeton University Press. 1950.. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland. 83. 114. 10.1017/S0035869X00104381.
[13] Morais, Rodolfo. 2017. “The Ancient Art And History Of Soy Sauce”. Grapes & Grains. https://www.grapesandgrains.org/2017/08/the-ancient-art-and-history-of-soy-sauce.html.
[14] Le, Bryan. 2019. “The Story And Science Of Soy Sauce | Science Meets Food”. Science Meets Food. http://sciencemeetsfood.org/story-science-soy-sauce/.
[15] The Business Times. 2018. Past 12 months have been sweet for China’s soy sauce maker. 24 August. Accessed 23 September, 2019. https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/past-12-months-have-been-sweet-for-chinas-soy-sauce-maker.