854 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1804. 



rain may run olT with the more 

 facility. It must likewise be put on 

 if it should happen to rain in the 

 day-time. 



The greater the heat of the sun 

 is, the sooner the preparation of the 

 soy is iinislicd. This operation is, 

 in general, undertaken only during 

 the sumaier, and yet it requires two 

 or three months. 



In proportion as the mass di- 

 minishes by evaporation, add spring 

 ■water to it ; continue this process 

 till the salt water has entirely dis- 

 solved both the tiour and the kid- 

 ney beans ; then leave the pitcher 

 a few days longer in the sun, that 

 the dissolution may be the more 

 complete, as on that circumstance 

 the quality of the soy always de- 

 pends. During this time you ought 

 Jiot to neglect to shake it every 

 day. 



When you find that the mass has 

 becomemoresucculentand oily, pour 

 out the v.holeinto bags, from which 

 by pressure, you extract the soy, 

 which is then clear, and ready for 

 ■use. It must not be boiUd after- 

 wards, as M. Ekeberg asserts, but 

 must be put intobottlcs, which should 

 be carefully corked. The Cliinose 

 use large stone bottles for this pur- 

 pose. Before it is pressed the soy 

 is of a dark brown colour, but it 

 then becomes black. 



With the pulp that remains, the 

 Chinese make two other kinds of 

 soy ; the first time they add one 

 hundred and fifty pounds of water 

 and thirty pounds of salt ; and, af- 

 ter pressing the mass, they again 



pour to it one hundred •■ pounds of 

 water and twenty pounds of salt, 

 constantly proceeding in the man- 

 ner described above. 



The two latter are not strong, 

 but very salt, particularly that last 

 extra6tcd, the colour of Avhich like- 

 wise is much lighter. These two 

 kinds arc the most common in China, 

 and are used both by the Chinese 

 and Europeans : the ditfcrencc be- 

 tween them is as 8 : 4 : 1. 



In this manner I prepared, in 

 1759, at my residence in Canton, 

 all the soy that I used there ; I even 

 brought with me a few bottles to 

 Sweden : it was succulent, oily, 

 pretty salt, and quite diOerent from 

 that commonly sold in Europe, lu 

 taste it was equal to that of Japan, 

 which is generally considered to be 

 the best. 



The accuracy of this description 

 may be the more relied on, as I al- 

 ways prepared my soy myself; I 

 even venture to assert, that there is 

 no other process for obtaining soy of 

 the best quality. M. Ekeberg sa\ s 

 that the soy is boiled, and that su- 

 gar, ginger, and otlicr spices arc 

 added to it ; but this cannot be the 

 case, since a pound of soy costs no 

 more than 2 (v/»i76V7>M, Chinese money 

 (about threepence- halfpenny Eng- 

 lish). This was the ordinary price du* 

 ring tile whole time of my residence in 

 Ciiina : so that it cannot be sup- 

 posed that those ingredients are em- 

 ployed in its preparation. Besides 

 this soy has no taste of sugar or 

 spices, but that of salt predominates 

 in it. 



ANTI, 



