Amoy

Amoy soy sauces are naturally brewed from soyabean and wheat, then bottled in two styles. Light soy is thin, pale and salty, the everyday seasoning for stir fries, dips and dressings. Dark soy is aged for longer and finished with a little sugar and caramel, so it is thicker, darker and mellower, used mainly for colour. The oyster sauce is thick, glossy and savoury, a finishing sauce for greens and noodles.

All three sit in cooking sauces in our pickles, pastes and sauces department. We carry the dark soy in two bottle sizes, a small one for occasional use and a larger one for kitchens that cook Chinese or Indo-Chinese food every week.

Use light soy to season fried rice, Hakka noodles and chilli chicken, and dark soy when you want red braised pork, soy sauce chicken or that deep brown on a plate of noodles. A spoon of oyster sauce over blanched pak choi or broccoli with a little garlic oil makes a quick side dish. For Indo-Chinese gravies, pair them with an Indo-Chinese masala.

Keep the bottles in a cool cupboard and close the cap after each use; once opened, oyster sauce keeps best in the fridge. For the rice to serve alongside, see jasmine rice, and for quick bowls, noodles.