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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. 1.0INTRODUCTION

1.1Objective 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. 1.2History 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).1.3Background 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 23rd 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 1963-1964, Jalan Maigold Block 5, Senadin Industry Area, Kuala Baram, Miri in October 2004.1.4Scope 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.2.0PROCESSES OF MAKING SOY SAUCE.

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

2.1Cooked 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 120oC 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.

2.3Fermentation 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).2.4Lab 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.2.5Cooking 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. 2.6Filling 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. 3.0RELATED ISSUES ON ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY.

3.1Environmental 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.

3.2Sustainability 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. 4.0CONCLUSION.

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. 5.0RECOMMENDTION.

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)

6. Filling and Pasteurization

5. Storage tank and cooking unit

2. Fermentation

1. Cooked main ingredients

7. Branding, Packaging and Marketing

3. Fermentation tank

4. Lab test (Nitrogen)