As I started to write this post, I kept wanting to write: “Fermentation is not commonly used in the West.” After I wrote it though I kept coming up with examples of fermented products – beer, wine, cheese, ‘kraut, pickles, vinegar… etc. etc. We clearly ferment a lot of things. I suppose that in the East the methods and subjects are different so in some ways it feels like a different process, but fermentation is common to many cultures.

While I haven’t been able to clearly divide how different culture ferment, one thing I can say is that making soya sauce is funky involving kneading and mold and fermentation and sunlight.  This ancient process takes a long time, possibly up to six months, but the end result is stunning (according to the blogosphere). Here is step 1 to delicious homemade soy sauce.