The traditions and roots of soy sauce

Soy sauce has been traditionally used to season and refine foods for many centuries. It was invented more than 2,500 years ago by Buddhist monks in China whose beliefs did not allow them to eat meat or meat-based sauces. When these Buddhist monks travelled to Japan in the 6th century, they took the recipe with them. This imported soy sauce soon became extremely popular in Japan. The Japanese refined the flavour of the original Chinese sauce over the centuries by adding wheat and extending the fermentation period. The result was extremely successful and the flavour, aroma and colour of the sauce were much improved. This is how Japanese soy sauce originated.