Hello and welcome back to the Stone Soup Cook–I’m so glad you’re here!
Earlier in the week, I introduced the final foundational sauce of California Cuisine: soy sauce. But why, you may be asking–why soy sauce? Well–let’s dive right in, shall we?
First, let’s look at a very little bit of its history: soy sauce was originally invented about 2500 years ago in China, where it was used to preserve food. Soy sauce started out as a paste made of meat, salt and grains. Later, soy beans were substituted for the meat and the liquid by-product of this combination is similar to the liquid soy sauce that we are familiar with today. The brewing technique for the sauce made its way to Japan and Korea, where similar sauces such as Shoyu in Japan and Ganjang in Korea evolved over time.
From Asia, the sauce made its way to Europe in the 1700’s and while not yet widespread, soy sauce actually arrived on the east coast, probably in Georgia, by the 1760’s via Dutch and British importers. During the gold rush, as immigrants began arriving from the Pacific Rim to take advantage of employment opportunities both in the mining industry and in supporting the miners, Chinese and other Asian immigrants brought the sauce with them and incorporated it into the cuisine of their homelands. These recipes and flavors in turn became influences for California Cuisine.
The first mainland United States manufacturer of soy sauce was Yamamori Brewing, which opened in San Jose, CA in 1897, and Kikkoman opened its first overseas sales office in San Francisco in 1957. Kikkoman later opened a soy sauce manufacturing plant in Folsom, California and is the number one selling brand of soy sauce in the United States. While the Folsom plant is still open, Kikkoman opened a larger facility in Wisconsin, where much of its production is now centered.
During the gold rush years, Chinese immigrants provided not only labor in the mines, but also supported the miners, offering sundry services, and also food of their culture, which grew in popularity over time. But it wasn’t until the early 1970’s, after President Nixon made his trip to China, that Chinese Cuisine really grew in popularity with the American public. Today, along with Mexican food, Chinese food is the most popular ethnic cuisine in the United States.
California is home to 34% of the Chinese-American population in the country, 30% of all Japanese-American population in the country, and to more half of the Korean-American population in the country, with San Francisco and Los Angeles being the most popular places for these immigrants to put down roots. San Francisco has the oldest Chinatown and largest single historic district (New York has a larger overall space dedicated to Chinatowns, but they are spread over several cities).
Finally, California has the largest number of Chinese restaurants in the U.S. which number in the 4,000’s. The next state with the largest number of Chinese restaurants in the country is New York, with a little over 3,000.
Asian influences are everywhere in California Cuisine, from ingredients to preparation and everything in between, soy sauce is a ubiquitous condiment in California culture and cuisine and has definitely earned a berth in the list of foundational sauces of California Cuisine.
Today, I am sharing a very recently created recipe for Asian-style steak rolls, or Negimaki, that are quick and really delicious.
The trickiest part is slicing the beef thinly enough. However, if you are fortunate enough to live in an area with an Asian market such as Nijiya or 99 Ranch Market, you can find pre-sliced beef that’s perfect for this recipe. You can also ask your butcher to slice beef chuck roast into thin slices and that will work perfectly.
Tune in next week for recipes for dipping sauces, Teriyaki sauce and more as I continue to explore soy sauce.
Until then,
Peace, love and good food,
Keri
