Quick & easy thick soy sauce recipe

A tablespoon of homemade Chinese dark soy.

5 from 1 vote

Quick & easy thick soy sauce recipe

3 quick & easy DIY recipes using 2-5 pantry ingredients that only take a few minutes for Chinese dark soy sauce, Indonesian sweet soy sauce and Taiwanese soy sauce paste.

Prep Time1

Cook Time1

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Cantonese, Chinese, Hong Kong, Nyonya, peranakan, singaporean, Southeast Asian, Taiwanese

Servings: servings

Calories: 34kcal

Author: Zen

Equipment

Pot
heat proof spatula

Ingredients

1. Chinese dark thick soy sauce. See Note A

4 Tablespoons light soy sauce Note: Chinese light soy & Japanese light soy don't taste the same. Use Chinese light soy if possible but, if not, using a different light soy will still work (I used regular Lee Kum Kee light soy sauce but you can substitute with other brands.)
1 Tablespoon light brown sugar You can make your own light brown sugar from white sugar and molasses
Optional: water The light soy and sugar will VERY quickly thicken into dark soy- it will literally take seconds and may burn if you're not careful. If you're not confident add some water to the soy sauce to slow the process down.

2. Indonesian sweet thick soy sauce (Kecap manis). See Note A

2 Tablespoons light soy sauce
2 Tablespoons palm sugar or jaggery Substitute: brown sugar. See Notes to make your own brown sugar
2 Tablespoons water
5 spice powder and garlic powder, optional You can DIY Chinese 5 spice powder.

3. Taiwanese thick soy sauce paste. See Note A.

⅓ Cup Water
5 Tablespoons light soy sauce
1 Tablespoons granulated white sugar
1 Tablespoon glutinous rice flour, or Japanese mochiko flour Substitute: corn starch
½ Tablespoon light brown sugar See Notes on how to make your own
garlic powder, optional

Instructions

1a. Chinese soy sauce: quick, 1-step version

Add the dark soy and sugar to the pan and over medium heat, bring it to a boil. KEEP STIRRING as it burns very quickly because of the sugar content. (Be careful as the mixture is very hot.)
If you are concerned about burning, add a bit of water (1-2 tablespoons) to the dark soy and sugar. The increased liquid content will give you more leeway before the mixture burns.
You only need to let it boil for a few seconds before it becomes thick, then switch off the fire, stirring a few more times to ensure it doesn't burn.
Remove from heat/ switch off the fire, let it cool then store in an air-tight container in the fridge.

1b. Chinese soy sauce: Slower way

You will be making the caramel first: combine equal amounts of the water and sugar in a pan over high heat. Stir till the sugar has dissolved, then reduce the heat to medium-low. (The mixture is super hot, so be careful)
Let the syrup (caramel) boil till it darkens like molasses.
Add the soy sauce when the syrup is dark- BE VERY CAREFUL as caramel is super hot and it may splatter and splash everywhere when the soy is poured in! (To be honest, I don't bother with this method as I don't like risking burns and the quick method tastes authenticate me!) Keep stirring till it thickens.
Remove from heat/ switch off the fire, let it cool then store in an air-tight container in the fridge for 3-5 days.

2. Indonesian thick soy sauce (Kecap manis)

Mix the light soy, palm sugar and water in a pot and bring to the boil. (If using optional spices and aromatics, add them from the start.)
Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and turn off the fire when at the desired syrupy consistency.
Cool and store in an airtight box in the fridge for 3-5 days.

3. Taiwanese thick soy sauce paste

Add the water and rice flour to the pot and stir well till mixed.
Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to the boil.
Lower to a simmer and simmer till thick and syrupy, whisking continuously to prevent the starch from clumping in the sauce.
Once thick enough, switch off the fire, cool and keep in the fridge in an airtight container for 3-5 days.

Notes

Note A

All 3 recipes uses the minimum quantity recommended. To make more, simply increase the ingredients proportionately. For example, the recipe for Chinese dark soy sauce will give you about 1.5 Tablespoons of dark soy sauce.

If you want to make more, just increase the quantities using the 4:1 (light soy: sugar) ratio. You can also play around with the proportions and use more sugar if you wish.

Click here for instructions on making your own light brown sugar, which will only take a few minutes.

BE VERY CAREFUL when making the caramel or pouring soy in, as it may splash and burn you. Caramel is super duper hot. For safety, I prefer using the quick way, with no water added.

Some recipes recommend adding the soy and sugar, without heating the solution up: this won't produce the thick texture and caramel-y taste of a good dark soy.

Note: the nutritional information is an estimate automatically calculated using the WPRM recipe maker and I am not responsible for its veracity.

Nutrition