Light and dark soy

Soy sauce aged longer and thickened with caramel or molasses — for colour and sweetness more than salt.

If you can't find it

Chinese grocers; it's thicker and darker than light soy.

1Soy sauce
The same, with a little molasses or dark brown sugar
You lose some of the colour and the gloss.

Knowing it

Where to buy: Chinese grocers.
Worth knowing: The glossy mahogany of red-braised pork comes from this. A teaspoon colours a pot.

Kitchens that keep it in

Malaysia — the Malay Peninsula and northern Borneo, between the Strait of Malacca and the South China SeaMalaysianMalay, Chinese, Indian and Peranakan cooking side by side: sambal, coconut and rice, wok-fried noodles and flaky roti, eaten at hawker stalls and mamak shops at all hours.10 classics