Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Soy

SOY, or Sooju, a species of liquid condiment, which is imported from India, and is used as a sauce for fish. It is prepared from the leguminous fruit of the Soja (Dolichos soja, L.) a native of Japan.

The pods are first boiled, till they become soft; when equal parts of them, and of muggi (wheat or barley that has been coarsely ground), are thoroughly mixed. This preparation is then kept in a close vessel, and a warm place, for twenty-four hours, in order to ferment; after which, the mass is put into a pot, and covered with a large portion of common salt, when two measures and a half of water are poured over the whole. The compound is stirred, once at the least, every day, for the space of two or three months; and, at the end of that period, it is filtred; the expressed liquor being preserved in wooden vessels. Fresh water is next added to the same mass; which, after stirring it occasionally for several days, is at length strained; and the liquor, though of an inferior kind, thus rendered fit for use.

Soy possesses a strongly saline taste, but has only a slight aromatic flavour: it is chiefly used at the tables of the luxurious; and is one of those artificial stimulants of the palate, which deserves no commendation, especially for vitiated or relaxed habits.