Unpasteurised soy sauce
Living shoyu & tamari — the umami of intact enzymes.
The ancestral story
Born in China and refined in Japan, fermented soy sauce has accompanied East Asian cooking for more than a millennium. Traditional houses let it age in cedar casks, exposed to the seasons, until it reaches a complexity that industry cannot imitate.
What it is
Where industrial soy sauce is acid-hydrolysed and pasteurised — and so extinguished — traditional shoyu and tamari are fermented with koji for at least one to two years. They keep living enzymes, probiotics and an umami of incomparable depth. Tamari, made from soybeans alone (without wheat), suits those sensitive to gluten.
It is a condiment of civilisation: a few drops off the heat are enough to give depth to a broth, a vinaigrette, a bowl of grains.
What it unfolds in the body
The umami that elevates
Its free amino acids awaken the flavour of everything else — a dash transforms a simple dish into a deep one.
Living rather than dead
Unpasteurised, it keeps its enzymes and ferments. Pour it off the heat to preserve that life.
Subtle signature
A drop of living shoyu, and a whole dish wakes up. Traditional soy sauce is fermented light: months of patience in which koji unfolds soybeans and wheat into hundreds of aromas. Its vibration is that of depth — what gives body, dimension and presence to what we eat.
Bovis scale — indicative, never dogmatic.
How I use it
We always pour it at the very end, off the heat: over a bowl of rice, in a sesame vinaigrette, to finish a broth. Tamari for the gluten-free. A few drops are enough.
In the kitchen
Where I find it — my gems
Frequently asked
Shoyu or tamari?▾
Shoyu contains wheat and offers an aromatic roundness; tamari, made from soy alone, is deeper and suits gluten sensitivities. Both, unpasteurised, are alive.
Sources
Each source is ranked within a three-level ethical framework: documented tradition, recognised independent researcher, verified peer-reviewed study with no declared conflict of interest.
- Level 1
Shoyu & tamari — fermentation au koji en fûts de cèdre (Asie de l'Est)