Sunday, December 30, 2012

Educational Tour - Tai Hua Soya Sauce


Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to make use of this post to wish all of my readers a Happy New Year in 2013 and May all your wishes come through!

I am sorry for the slower post as I am now writing a Chinese Workbook as part of my job as an author and it is taking up a lion share of my time. I hope this post on Soya Sauce make up for delay in my post. 

This post is about the making of Soya Sauce. In this post, I am introducing Tai Hua Soya Sauce. A vital ingredient during Chinese New Year (I have an old link that link most of the CNY locations together, you can take a look at it here.), many mothers and wives in Singapore will surely find this post interesting.

Tai Hua foodstuff has a long history in Singapore. It is one of the few Soya Sauce Factories in Singapore. The other sauce factory which I frequently visit is the Kwong Cheong Thye factory. The difference is that Tai Hua allows visitor to view the Clay vessels that they used to ferment the Soya bean into Soya Sauce.

I find it simply amazing because in land scare Singapore, it is still possible to find a business owner willing to sacrifice a large plot of land to use the traditional method in making Soya Sauce. 

In the traditional way, the clay vessel being semi permeable allow the exchange of gas, while the sunlight which only warm up the top of the vessel (believe it or not, even after whole day in the sun light, the lower part of the vessel remains cool), set up a natural convection current to circulate the liquid. No artificial or additional handling is required except for the occasional stirring of the beans not the whole vessel. The temperature also allows the yeast to do their magic.

On average the Soya beans are allowed to ferment for six months before collection for bottling. Higher grade sauces are allow to ferment for longer time. There are records of sauce that are allowed to rest for 6 centuries! (Oversea Soya Sauce)

In our modern context, instead of using Sun light, a lot of time artificial heating and mechanical stirring are used. This allow for mass production in a smaller area which lower the production cost.

After going through the making of sauce, we are allowed to take a taste of the sauce straight from the vessel! You cannot imagine the amazing taste that roll around the tongue!

To me, what I find amazing is that the vessels resemble the Soya Vessel that we see in many Korean Dramas...simply AMAZING!

My next post will also be interesting. It will be about the Semakau Landfill!

This tour will be classified under Educational Tours and warehouse Tours.

If you need transportation services to visit this place, please refer to our product listing page.

You can also purchase a list of Top 40 Must Visit Places in Singapore with Sample Itineraries at the Donation/Payment Details page.