ABSTRACT

Oriental cooking is not called a dish without the extra flavour of soy sauce. For many
years, people trying to find ways in perfecting the making of soy sauce. This report is
mainly about the process of making soy sauce in mass production together with the
concern topic on the environmental and the sustainability of the process. This report is
based on the visit to Hua Chan Sauce Factory (Miri) Sdn. Bhd. There are several steps on
making soy sauce. They are cooked main ingredients, fermentation, fermentation tanks,
lab test for nitrogen level, storage tank and cooking unit, filling and pasteurization, and
lastly, branding, packaging and marketing.

1.0

INTRODUCTION
1.1

Objective of the report.

The main objective of this report is to describe the process of making soy
sauce in step by step procedures with further explanations as well as the
environmental issues related to the process and sustainability of the
operation technology.

1.2

History of Soy Sauce.

Soy sauce is brownish liquor with salty taste that commonly used as
natural seasoning in most of Asian gastronomy. A Zen Buddhist monk
named Kakushin come across a victuals made out of soybean paste while
studying in China during the 13th century and brought the idea back to
Japan. Being left for some period, this paste called miso, produced viscous
dark liquid and it was the earliest soy sauce in making. This process is
called Koji process. Brewing process and addition of wheat into miso,
developed the later manufacturing process of modern soy sauce called
shoyu in the 16th century (Soy Sauce 2000).

1.3

Background of Hua Chan Sauce Factory Sdn. Bhd.

The Hua Chan Sauce Factory was initiated in Miri by Mr Lok Siew Hong,
from Batu Niah in 1967. He went to Guang Dong, China in 1963 to learn
about the process of producing the soy sauce. He went back to Malaysia in
the same year and started the business as a small business in Lorong 6, Jee

Foh Road, Krokop, Miri. The name was originally registered as Wah Chan
in 1966 but changed to Hua Chan Sauce Factory (Miri) Sdn. Bhd in 23 rd
March 1988. In the year 2000, the responsibility of the chairman has been
taken by Mr Lok Pok Chuan. The factory has been relocated to Lot 19631964, Jalan Maigold Block 5, Senadin Industry Area, Kuala Baram, Miri
in October 2004.
1.4

Scope and limitation of report.

The scope of this report is to layout the step by step procedures on making
soy sauce based on the site visit to Hua Chan Sauce Factory (Miri) Sdn.
Bhd. which was held on 24th August 2007 and conducted by Mr Loh. The
limitations of this report are it based on visit to one factory only.
Furthermore, there are many ways to produce soy sauce, so it is hard to
find a common process.

2.0

PROCESSES OF MAKING SOY SAUCE.

Diagram of the procedures of producing soy sauce are as followed:

1. Cooked main ingredients

2. Fermentation

3. Fermentation tank

4. Lab test (Nitrogen)

5. Storage tank and cooking unit

6. Filling and Pasteurization

7. Branding, Packaging and Marketing

2.1

Cooked main ingredients.

The main ingredient of the soy sauce is the soya beans. At this stage, soya
beans are cooked, blended and crushed in a special machine at 120 oC to
kill the bacteria (refer Appendix 1, picture 1). After the soya beans have
been cooled down at 27oC, wheat flour was added and mixed together.
Modified starch must not be used in this stage.

2.2

Fermentation.
At this stage, a brine solution was added into the main ingredients (refer
Appendix 1, picture 2). Brine solution is salt water and was filtered before
added into the mixture. The percentage of this solution is 21%. This step
is called KOJI culture and takes 4 to 7 days to complete this stage.

2.3

Fermentation Tanks.
All the mixture was transferred to the fermentation tanks which located
near to the special machine once the fermentation process is finished (refer
Appendix 1, picture 3). The fermentation tanks are made from fibre glass.
At this stage, the fermentation was expedited by the artificial pumped air,
besides natural fermentation. This process is called MASH culture and
continued for 120 days (refer Appendix 1, picture 4).

2.4

Lab Test (Nitrogen).

When the mixture in the fermentation tank reached 120 days, it undergoes
a lab test to scrutinize the nitrogens contain inside the mixture. If the
mixtures nitrogen level is more than 0.6, the mixture will be sent to the

cooking unit and storage tanks whereas if the nitrogen level is less, it goes
to the filling and pasteurization unit.
2.5

Cooking Unit and Storage Tanks.

At the cooking unit, the mixture was cooked for 2 to 3 hours at 100oC and
caramel was added in to give the soy sauce its black colour. Next, the
mixture was separated into 4 different tanks according to the colour
concentration before being forward to the filling and pasteurization unit.

2.6

Filling and Pasteurization Unit.

At the filling unit, the mixture that reached the quality of being soy sauce
will be filled in the PE (Polyethylene) plastic bottle and undergoes
pasteurization process, which was heated at 70oC for 15 minutes before
cooling it down rapidly in order to kill the bacteria. Then, the bottle is
ready to be labelled and packed.

2.7

Branding, Packaging and Marketing.

At this stage, the mixture that contains nitrogen level more than 0.6 will be
branded as soy sauce whereas the mixture that has nitrogen level less than
0.6 will be branded as the blended HPP (Hydrolysis Plant Protein). The
well packaged mixture will be marketed around Bintulu, Miri and Kuching
in Sarawak for local market and Brunei for international market.

3.0

RELATED ISSUES ON ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY.

3.1

Environmental Issues.
The process of making the soy sauce in Hua Chan Sauce Factory (Miri)
Sdn. Bhd. is completely clean and hygienic. This can be seen through the
making process itself. Furthermore, the company implemented policy of
producing their soy sauce in clean and hygienic environment, which is one
of the reason why their choose the PE (Polyethylene) plastic bottle to
market their product, due to the fact that the PE (Polyethylene) plastic is
reusable, cheap and easy to manufacture (Polyethylene n.d). More over,
few restrictions are taken by the company such as the HACCP (Hazard
Analysis Critical Control Point) in order to certify that their product is safe
for consumption, certificate of HALAL from JAIS (Jabatan Agama Islam
Sarawak) so that their product can be sell to Muslim consumers and a
certificate of quality control from Jabatan Alam Sekitar.

3.2

Sustainability of the operation technology.

The most sustainable asset for this process is the tank, either the
fermentation tank or the storage tank. The tank is made from fibre glass, a
composite that well known as water resistance and heat resistance. This
material is suitable to be used as the tank, due to the fact that the natural
fermentation needs to be source by the sunlight. These tanks are located at
the compound area of the factory, without any external protection.
Therefore, it needs to be strong so that it can endure the climax change.

This material is better compared to the porcelain vase that has been used
during the ancient time.

4.0

CONCLUSION.
In conclusion, the process of making soy sauce at Hua Chan Sauce Factory (Miri)
Sdn. Bhd is totally sanitized and securable to be used in daily basic. These
processes include cooking the main ingredients, fermentation, fermentation tanks,
Nitrogens lab test, storage tanks and cooking unit, filling and pasteurization unit
and lastly, labelling, packaging and marketing unit. Products from Hua Chan
Sauce Factory (Miri) Sdn Bhd. is satisfaction guarantee, due to the ingredients are
mostly imported from other places such as Australia for the crystal clear salt,
West Malaysia for the caramel, and Canada for the non generic modify soya
beans. A better understanding about the procedures of making soy sauce is
obtained through this site visit and the explanations given make the process
become more understandable.

5.0

RECOMMENDTION.
It is recommended that the soy sauce be produced in low sodium and
preservative-free varieties. This can be done by reducing the concentration of the
brine solution and lessen the usage of preservative in the soy sauce. Instead of
letting the mixture to produce its own micro organism, fermentation agent such as
bacteria (lactobaccillus) and yeasts can be position inside the mixture in order to
break down the protein in the mash. Fermentation time can be reduced by
applying this process (Soy Sauce n.d.).

REFERENCE LISTS.
1. Interview with Mr Loh at the Hua Chan Sauce Factory (Miri) Sdn. Bhd on 24th August
2007.
2. PE Product n.d. http://www.ppfahome.org/pe/faqpe.html (accessed September 15,
2007)
3. Pictures taken by Siti Nor Rahilah binti Abdul Halim on 24th August 2007.
4. Soy sauce 2000. http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A471223 (accessed September 15,
2007)
5. Soy Sauce n.d. http://www.madehow.com/Volume-3/Soy-Sauce.html (accessed
September 15, 2007)