Soy sauce (or soya sauce) is made from fermented soya beans, salt, water & either wheat or barley. Soy Sauce is commonly used in Oriental cooking rather like a seasoning. Soya Sauce is popular in the UK as a condiment and is used to sprinkle over rice, noodles or added to Japanese, Chinese or Indonesian dishes. It also makes a perfect marinade base or a dip for meats & tempura.
The flavour of Soy Sauce sweet and salty, though the flavour's intensity will depend on the type or soy sauce you use. The consistancy of soya sauce is quite light, thin and watery, although dark soy sauce is a bit thicker. Currently, Healthy Supplies offers 2 types of soya sauce:
Shoyu - Made primarily from fermented soya and wheat.
Tamari - Made using just soya beans (or very little wheat) - tamari is usually suitable for those with a gluten intolerance (though always check the lable).
Soya sauce although made from soya beans, does not contain the same nutritional benefits. Most soya sauce also contains a lot of salt. Therefore it is recommended that soy sauce is used sparingly to season dishes.