Shaoxing Mu-Zi Soy Sauce

Shaoxing Mu-Zi Soy Sauce

　　　Product Name: Mu-Zi Soy Sauce

　　Place of Origin: Shaoxing

　　Ingredients: Made from premium wheat flour and high-quality soybeans. The ingredients are steamed, formed into sauce cakes, sun-dried, dried, crushed, then mixed with broth, stirred evenly, and placed in large vats to ferment at a constant temperature. After 2–3 months of sun exposure and dew, it is brewed into soy sauce.

　　Product Features: It has a rich ester aroma, well-balanced saltiness and sweetness, a smooth and lingering taste, delicious flavor, and high nutritional value.

　　Product Description: Mu-Zi Soy Sauce is dark brown in color, with a rich ester aroma, well-balanced saltiness and sweetness, a smooth and lingering taste, delicious flavor, and high nutritional value. According to tests, it contains 26–29 grams of total nitrogen and reducing sugar per 100 milliliters, along with various amino acids, proteins, fats, and other components, making its quality significantly superior to ordinary soy sauce.

　　Mu-Zi Soy Sauce is not only an excellent seasoning in cooking but also an important ingredient in making pickled cucumbers and fennel beans. It is especially suitable for preparing cold dishes or as a dipping sauce. When mixed with minced ginger, sesame oil, and rice vinegar, it makes a uniquely flavorful dip for crabs, fish, clams, chicken, and duck.

　　Mu-Zi Soy Sauce is naturally fermented. It is made from premium wheat flour and high-quality soybeans. The ingredients are steamed, formed into sauce cakes, sun-dried, dried, crushed, then mixed with broth, stirred evenly, and placed in large vats to ferment at a constant temperature. After 2–3 months of sun exposure and dew, it is brewed into soy sauce. This soy sauce is then used as the base broth, mixed with the previously fermented sauce cakes, and further sun-dried and dewed until mature. Finally, it is filtered under pressure using tightly sewn silk bags to extract the clear juice and remove residue. It is called Mu-Zi (Mother-Son) Soy Sauce because during the production process, the sauce cake acts as the “mother,” and the soy sauce as the “son” (secondary product).

　　The natural fermentation process of Mu-Zi Soy Sauce takes a long time—several months. Brewing usually begins in summer under the sun and is completed in autumn, hence the saying “summer soy sauce, autumn brew.”

　　Currently, the main producers of Mu-Zi Soy Sauce in Shaoxing are Shaoxing Xianheng Food Factory and Shaoxing Brewing Factory. These factories continuously improve their techniques while preserving the traditional characteristics of the product. As a result, the quality has become even more refined, the reputation has grown, and the annual production reaches around 500 tons. In addition to local sales, the product is also sold to major cities such as Shanghai and Hangzhou, where it enjoys great popularity among consumers. Since 1988, it has been exported to Hong Kong on a trial basis, becoming a promising export product.

　　Product History: Shaoxing Mu-Zi Soy Sauce is a high-end, premium-quality condiment and another traditional, renowned specialty in Shaoxing’s sauce industry. It was first created during the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty and has enjoyed uninterrupted popularity and increasing acclaim for hundreds of years. In 1981, the Mu-Zi Soy Sauce produced by Shaoxing Brewing Factory was named the best product in the Shaoxing region. In 1985, the Mu-Zi Soy Sauce produced by Xianheng Food Factory ranked among the top in a national competition of similar products and was awarded the Light Industry Ministry Quality Product Certificate.