Sweet Soy Sauce
Chinese-style sweet soy sauce is more than just soy sauce and sugar. It is actually a mix of spices boiled together in a pot until it becomes thick and well-combined. Once you have this, you can experience the most authentic Sichuan food, from noodles to dumplings and cold dishes.
- Prep time
- 10 min
- Cook time
- 1 hr 30 min
- Yield
- 10 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
- 1500 ml water
- 5 g black cardamom (or Tsao-ko)
- 2 g bay leaves
- 2 g star anise
- 2 g dry ginger
- 3 g cinnamon stick
- 50 g green onion
- 1 large thumb of fresh ginger
- 6 g fennel seeds
- 600 g light soy sauce
- 400 g brown sugar
Instructions
- 1
Soak the dry spices.
- 2
Pour water into the pot and add the soaked spices, sliced ginger, and green onion.
- 3
Bring water to a boil.
- 4
Once it boils, simmer on low heat for half an hour.
- 5
After half an hour, add light soy sauce and brown sugar. Stir well.
- 6
Stir the sauce, especially the bottom of the pot to prevent the brown sugar from sticking and burning.
- 7
Continue boiling for an hour to lessen the light soy sauce taste and fully infuse the spices' flavors.
- 8
Turn off the heat and strain the sauce with a strainer to remove any scum and large bits. Enjoy this sweet soy sauce with noodles, cold dishes, and dumplings!