【Reading】しろしょうゆ

【English Name】White Soy Sauce

Soy sauce in which wheat plays the overwhelming lead role—that is shiro shoyu (white soy sauce). In standard soy sauce making, equal amounts of soybeans and wheat are used, but in the case of shiro shoyu, the proportion of wheat is raised to around 90%, while soybeans are limited to a mere 10–20% of the mash.

What is born from this unique balance of raw materials is a clear amber color and rich sweetness. It demonstrates its strength in situations where one does not want to cloud the color of ingredients—such as seasoning hot pots and broths. In sushi as well, it is adopted as a base for nikiri (reduction sauce) and marinades intended for white-fleshed fish, and it has won the support of artisans for the way it preserves the delicate hues the toppings possess.

The main production area is the Nishi-Mikawa region of Aichi Prefecture, with the area around Hekinan City widely known as its center. Tracing its roots leads back to the practice of using, as a seasoning, the liquid that seeps out as a byproduct during the production of Kinzanji miso. Two theories coexist regarding the circumstances of its birth: one holds that it began in 1802 in the northern part of Ohama Village, Aomi District, Mikawa Province—that is, around present-day Shinkawa-cho, Hekinan City—while the other holds that it was born from 1811 onward in Yamazaki Village, Aichi District, Owari Province—that is, present-day Yamazaki-cho, Minami Ward, Nagoya City.

Under JAS regulations, the use of soybeans is a mandatory condition for soy sauce raw materials. A liquid finished by the same process without containing any soybeans at all cannot call itself "soy sauce." Incidentally, when the procurement of soybeans was disrupted during the war, there were also efforts to attempt the production of white soy sauce using rice.