Boosted soy sauce

I use this soy sauce in place of normal light soy sauce for absolutely everything. It’s lighter and less salty, but has a richer and more balanced flavour.

Credit: Destination Flavour Japan

• makes

  750 ml

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

Ingredients

• 150 ml sake
• 100 ml mirin
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 500 ml light soy sauce
• 4 dried shiitake mushrooms
• handful large bonito flakes (about 5 g)

Standing time 1 hour

Instructions

Place the sake, mirin and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Flambé with a blowtorch, match or lighter and allow to burn until burned out. Add the soy sauce and mushrooms and bring back to a simmer. Add the bonito flakes and turn off the heat. Allow the sauce to stand for 1 hour, then drain through a muslin-lined sieve. Store the sauce in an old clean wine bottle or soy sauce bottle in the pantry.

Note

• Like most umami-rich foods, this boosted soy sauce improves with age. I usually make a triple or quadruple batch and keep it in a big sealed jar in the pantry. When stocks are getting a little low, I just make a new batch and top it up. It will keep indefinitely.

Recipe from The Zen Kitchen by Adam Liaw (Hachette Australia, $49.99 hbk).

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.