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SOY, CHINESE (another way)

Thirty-five pounds of the shelled pulse are washed in cold water, and boiled in water enough to cover them until they are sufficiently tender, which is ascertained by squeezing them between the finger and thumb. This requires only a few minutes to effect. They are then drained in a sieve, but, whilst still wet, are mixed with a portion of meal made of the same pulse, ground, which an Anglo-Indian, if he were here to see it, would immediately pronounce to be "ground gram." In this meal they are stirred until the surface of each bean is covered. The mass is now laid upon mats to the thickness of about two inches, and the beans are left to dry until the surface of the mass begins to appear mouldy. They are then dried by gradual heat in slow stoves, until they can bear the stroke of a mallet, when they are rubbed with the hand or with a hard brush to free them from the meal. Earthen pans, ready prepared, now receive them in equal portions, and a pickle is made with twenty pounds of salt dissolved in five times its weight of water, which is equally divided among the pans. These are now carefully covered, and kept, during six weeks or more, in a place where the temperature is nearly 100 deg. Fahrenheit. When at length the soluble part of the beans--the part that constitutes the soy--is extracted, this being ascertained by the dark brown colour of the liquid in the pans, the liquid is poured off, and boiled down to the proper consistency. This, however, is not effected until after repeated boilings, during which a quantity of moist sugar, ginger, mace, and black pepper are added in quantities according to the taste of the manufacturers, each having his own peculiar ideas of flavouring, which constitutes the difference between the several brands. After the last boiling, the soy is allowed to stand a few days, then strained, and put into flasks for sale.