After being in Taiwan for any period of time, one cannot miss the plethora of small-batch, artisanal food production at the local markets. This term “artisanal” is not reserved only for the Western hipster notions of local, hand-crafted food stuffs. This is how food has always been made across the world and continues to be, though admittedly, it is at risk of decline with globalization and industrialization of our foods. At least for the moment, there seems to be plenty of entrepreneurial spirit and family traditions sustaining a thriving small producers network in Taiwan. Among them, we were fortunate enough to stumble upon a third-generation soy sauce maker and his Yu Ding Xing Artisanal Black Soybean Soy Sauce (御鼎興純手工柴燒黑豆醬油) in the famous (among soy sauce connoisseurs) town of Xiluo in the western plains of Taiwan. In this small village lies over a century of soy sauce making history, with a number of shops dating back to the Japanese occupation. The village’s soy sauce brands are not your usual grocery store soy sauces, but rather they are intensely umami flavored sauces made specifically for different food preparations. It is just part of the way of life here on the island.
Yu Ding Xing’s production site continues to make soy sauce the way their ancestors did, aged outside in the humid, hot Taiwan air in large terracotta vessels. What an amazing experience to learn about the artisanal black bean soy sauce production process directly from the proprietor and his son, who gave us a personal tour in fluent English. He happily described in detail each step in the process and answered our questions with great enthusiasm. The family took such pride in their products and hands-on preparation at each step of the process.
First of all, the black bean used in this process is naturally black and provides all the flavor needed without having to add wheat or other grains, making these soy sauces naturally gluten-free. The first step is to steam the black soybeans. The beans are then inoculated with koji, a type of mold that kicks off the fermentation process, and toasted rice bran to activate and sustain the koji.
Next, the treated black beans are transferred to large terracotta urns that sit outdoors for the final fermentation of at least 6 months to over a year. The duration is dependent on weather conditions. Their approach differs from industrial soy sauce making as they dry-brew the black beans.
Once they are ready to be processed, the fermented beans are transferred to vessels for cooking over wood fire and then filtered and pressed to release the soy sauce. There may be additional processing steps for the soy sauce to turn them into the various styles of soy sauce that the family sells.
Check out this great video on YouTube featuring this artisanal soy sauce, “Time, Terroir, Taiwan: Soy Sauce Brewing in Xiluo.”
Everyday Dan Bing 