Bean paste, to-pan chiang, essentially a chunky wheat-barley-soy miso, used to make savory sauces Hoisin sauce, ha-hsien chiang, made from the residue of soy-sauce making, mixed with wheat flour, sugar, vinegar, chilli pepper; served with Peking duck and mu shu pork Sweet wheat chiang, t’inmin chiang, smooth, soft, brown; made from wheat flour formed into steamed buns or flat sheets, allowed to mold, then brined; used as the base for Peking duck dipping sauce Fermented soy pastes and soy sauce were carried by Buddhist monks to Japan, where sometime around 700 CE a new Japanese name, miso — mi meaning flavor — was given to distinctive Japanese versions of the paste These involved the use of a grain-based koji that provided sweetness, alcohol, finer aromatics, and delicacy Until the 15th century, Japanese soy sauce was simply the excess fluid, or tamari, ladled from finished soybean miso By the 17th century, the nowstandard formula of roasted cracked wheat and soybeans had been established for making the sauce, and the resulting product given a new name, shoyu Shoyu began to appear on western tables as an exotic and expensive item by the 17th century Miso Miso is used as a soup base, as a seasoning for various dishes, in marinades, and as a medium for pickling vegetables There are dozens of different varieties Miso is made by cooking a grain or legume — usually rice, sometimes barley, sometimes soybean — and fermenting it in shallow trays with koji starter for several days to develop enzymes The resulting koji is then mixed with ground cooked soybeans, salt (5–15%), and a dose of an earlier batch of miso (to ...aromatics, and delicacy Until the 15th century, Japanese soy sauce was simply the excess fluid, or tamari, ladled from finished soybean miso By the 17th century, the nowstandard formula of roasted cracked wheat... By the 17th century, the nowstandard formula of roasted cracked wheat and soybeans had been established for making the sauce, and the resulting product given a new name, shoyu Shoyu began to appear on western tables as an exotic and expensive item by the 17th century... soybean — and fermenting it in shallow trays with koji starter for several days to develop enzymes The resulting koji is then mixed with ground cooked soybeans, salt (5 –15%), and a dose of an earlier batch of miso (to