Hualien style brewed unique sweet, new flavor soy sauce three generations proudly vowed: I want to make soy sauce on behalf of Hualien

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"I want to make soy sauce that represents Hualien." This year is the third year that Xu Huan-sun of the Xinwei Soy Sauce Factory has returned home. At the beginning of the year, he worked with Huagengchang to brew and launch three kinds of flavor soy sauce with ancient methods. He has a professional spirit from his grandfather and father, as well as a professional background in food processing. Standing in the bright and refreshing storefront, he looked at the eyes of soy sauce on the shelf and felt his enthusiasm for brewing without words.

Xinwei Soy Sauce Factory storefront (Photography _ Lin Yijun)

Grandfather started from scratch, Hualien urban inheritance of nearly a hundred years of Hubiao soy sauce

After taking a ride from the railway station, about 15 minutes later, I came to the Xinwei soy sauce factory on Boai Street in Hualien City. The first thing that caught my eye was a large wooden bucket that could hold several adults, and a tiger-head sign nailed to the wall. "people who used to come to my house to buy soy sauce recognized this tiger logo." Xu Huan Xun gazed at the tiger mark and talked about the origin of his grandfather and soy sauce.

"Grandpa was supposed to help my uncle make soy sauce, but finally he opened his own shop." Xu Huan-sun recalled that his grandfather Xu Ri was the youngest in the family. In 1925, his great-grandmother asked him to visit his brother Xu Yuan's soy sauce factory, Zhen Xinmei. His grandfather had come to help his brother make soy sauce, but finally found his own way. In 1927 Xu Ri opened a Zhenfang soy sauce factory with a tiger mark.

Tiger Standard of New Soy Sauce (Photography _ Lin Yijun)

Defeated by the changes of the times, Hualien Soy Sauce Factory has only tiger mark to inherit history.

"at that time, in the same industry in Hualien soy sauce factory, it was popular to use animals as trademarks. Our family was a tiger mark, and my uncle's soy sauce was a deer mark." Xu Huanxun counted that in 1960, there were 21 private soy sauce brewing factories in Quanhualien, of which 12 were in Hualien, while the others were scattered in Xincheng, Shoufeng, Fenglin, Guangfu and Yuli. There are also Wei Zhen soy sauce "Lion Standard", Donghefa "Fish Standard" and ASEAN Xing "Eagle Standard".

"but now we are the only ones in Hualien who are still making soy sauce." Xu Huan-sun said that over time, the soy sauce factory in Hualien went out of business one after another, and after he had visited other soy sauce factories for curatorial purposes, he did not even know the animal trademarks he used in the past. Hualien's prosperity of brewing soy sauce seems to be gone.

Xu Huanxun, the third generation of Xinwei soy sauce factory (photography _ Lin Yijun)

Wet fermentation with repeated stirring and contact with air

There are bean curd and wheat paste next to the big wooden bucket in the storefront, and there is a process of soy sauce on the wall. "our soy sauce is wet fermentation, which is different from the dry fermented black bean soy sauce in the west." Xu Huanxun walked through the bright store, opened the glass door, suddenly changed his style and came to the work space of soy sauce brewing.

Entering the work area, Huan Xun opened a board and a sweet smell came to his nostrils. Underneath was soy sauce's predecessor, Douban Sauce. He skillfully picked up a big spoon and stirred it back and forth, and explained the difference in fermentation. "the previous materials are all treated the same. The difference lies in the procedure of adding salt."

Xu Huan-sun explained that after the fungus proliferates on different raw materials (such as soybeans, wheat, etc.), dry fermentation will first wash off the surface bacteria and overlap the raw materials and salt in a large vat, so that the sauce of the raw material will be released.

On the other hand, wet fermentation is to directly add bean paste and wheat paste to salt water, and put them in the cellar to maintain the temperature, which can be continuously fermented by turning back and forth and touching the air. Xu Huan Xun said with a smile: "some colleagues in Japan's Xiaodou Island will ferment in wooden buckets, and our family will put them in the cellar."

Cooperate with Huazaodang to use organic Hualien No.1 soybean to make soy sauce (Photo _ Lin Yijun)

Inherit the staff spirit of three generations and "understand soy sauce", from Zhenfang preservation to new-flavor buckets

Hsu Huan-sun's skillful movements were learned from his father and grandfather when he was a child. "I used to think that what my father cared about most was soy sauce, so he had to get up several times in the evening to see bean curd." He recalls that when he was young, his father, Xu Nandong, would wake up every three or four hours at night, and sometimes even sleep in the work area, repeatedly checking the fermentation status of bean curd and making appropriate stirring adjustments.

"even if it is the same material and proportion, the flavor will be different in different years, just like different years of red wine will taste different." Hsu Huan-sun explains that beans and wheat that brew soy sauce are all produced by farmers, and under the influence of the weather environment, they are also beans and wheat, and the production conditions vary from year to year, thus changing the flavor of soy sauce.

"what impresses me most about Grandpa and Dad is that they know the personality of each batch of soy sauce." Xu Huan-sun said that with the evolution of the science and technology of the times, professional manual brewing was needed in the past, which was gradually replaced by the automated process of machines. however, employees like grandfather and father, the valuable thing is that the process can be adjusted according to color, smell, etc., so that the flavor of all materials can be brought into full play.

After stirring, Hsu Huan-sun pointed to the two large buckets on one side. "after the fermentation is completed, it must be precipitated, and we will take out the sauce in the middle." There are traces of time on the appearance of the two buckets, and these are also my grandfather's relics. "our family once had a fire, and only a few buckets left by my grandfather were saved at that time." After the fire, the name of the soy sauce factory changed from Zhenfang to new flavor, symbolizing a new beginning.

Xinwei soy sauce factory, two wooden buckets rescued by fire (photo _ Lin Yijun)

Successors spend their childhood making soy sauce during winter and summer vacations, and go home when they grow up and go to work.

"I was the only boy in the family. I always had a hunch that I would go home to pick up the stick. I just wanted to see the outside world first." Huan Huan-sun had the consciousness of his successors since he was a child, so even if he was tired of tedious and repeated processes, he would still study with his father, and when he entered college, he chose to study food. After graduating from college, he first went to work in a large pharmaceutical company for more than a decade. "at that time, there was a lot of pressure, and I learned a lot of things."

"to work in a big company, you have to keep learning everything from the product to the market." Hsu Huan-sun recalled all kinds of things when he was at work. What impressed him most was that once the company invited a professional to attend classes for a week, and the day before, he had to make a plan to assess it. Although there was a lot of pressure, he quickly learned to think of others. He also brought this ability home.

Take over and argue with my father constantly, thinking about the possibility of soy sauce showing in the local environment.

"in the past, the soy sauce factory didn't look like this. I didn't change the decoration until I got home. I quarreled with my father before I changed it, but I was still quarrelling after the change." Xu Huan-sun said that before he formally resigned and went home, he would go home for a period of holiday to help. During this transitional period, he quarreled with his father, ranging from decoration to decoration, and even the future direction of business.

Whenever a quarrel reached an impasse, Hsu Huan-sun would return to work in Taipei. "but when I thought about it later, my father was worried about me and didn't want me to live too hard." After he made up his mind to return home in 2018, he also began to rethink the future direction of the Xinwei soy sauce factory.

"can soy sauce factories be like wine and coffee farms, where different flavors can be presented in the local environment?" Hsu Huan-sun believes that the ingredients of soy sauce determine the flavor of soy sauce, and climate changes in the producing area every year will also make crops different. Now the taste and taste of large soy sauce factories are difficult to have characteristics, and he finally decided to take Hualien local ingredients to brew Hualien flavor soy sauce as the goal.

In the Xinwei soy sauce factory, various types of soy sauce are displayed on the shelf (Photography _ Lin Yijun) (1)

The local ingredients, special flavor, water and air show different Hualien flavor.

Finding raw materials is the first difficulty that Hsu Huan-sun encounters. "Variety, flavor and cost must be taken into account, and of course, God will honor you." He takes soybeans as an example. When purchasing soybeans from friendly and organic farmers, the weather sometimes affects the yield. When there is a bad harvest, he must look for other cooperative farmers, and the crop condition of each farmer is different, which is a great test for the stability of subsequent processing.

Hsu Huan-sun's second difficulty is the promotion of special flavor. "it's not difficult to brew soy sauce with special ingredients, but how to make others like it." He said that even if soy sauce, which is also made from soybeans, has more Rain Water this year, the texture of beans has changed, the taste of soy sauce is different, and customer acceptance will fluctuate, while the soy sauce made from local ingredients, such as Ma Liao and Chenopodium, has a special flavor and must take time to cultivate a customer base.

In addition to raw materials, Hsu Huan-sun believes that in order to show the soil, we must also rely on water and air. "the water and air in Hualien are very clean and stable." He said that the temperature in Hualien is quite stable, which is a great advantage for soy sauce that needs to be fermented in the brewing process.

Hsu Huan-sun felt the differences in the four flavors of soy sauce by color and smell respectively, among which the "sea quenching" brewed from deep ocean water smelled of the sea; the soy sauce made from dried mountain balsam pear was extremely sweet; the soy sauce with Hualien Hongye Maao has a lemon flavor in the aftertaste; the red quinoa soy sauce with red sauce is like red wine, compared with the original soy sauce, the taste is mellow and sweet after taste.

Each soy sauce is unique, and many local shops like to use it.

"I'm most afraid of the guests asking me which one is the best." Xu Huan Xun said with a smile that for him, each soy sauce has its own characteristics, just like a child whose father has a different personality, while as a father, each child is unique, and there is no so-called "best". "I will ask the guest how he wants to use it. To help him find the most suitable soy sauce."

The footprint of Xinwei soy sauce is all over the urban area of Hualien. Many local snack restaurants, such as Steamed Jiaozi of the Zhou family, Lixiang flat food, bomb Fried Baked Scallion Pancake, Zhang Wei barbecue and egg toast, and so on, are long-term customers of Xinwei soy sauce. When many bloggers write food notes on the Internet, they all express their surprise at the sauce. "this kind of soy sauce brewed over time is more delicious than ordinary soy sauce."

The "diner", who loved one of the users, went from running a dining car to having a storefront, and when he first opened the shop, he looked for local ingredients in Hualien and inadvertently passed by the storefront of the new flavor soy sauce, bought a small bottle and went back to try it out. As a result, he became a customer. "Xinwei soy sauce has a unique sweet taste. Steamed Rice with Red-Cooked Pork and dried stewed beans in our store are all made with Xinwei soy sauce. It is very easy to use, and the gold shelf is awesome!"

Steamed Rice with Red-Cooked Pork using new flavor soy sauce (photo source _ diner)

"strive to make a soy sauce that represents Hualien."

In addition to making soy sauce, some activities and experience courses are often held in factories and stores, allowing parents to bring their children to know soy sauce and make bean curd. "Children have a better sense of taste than adults." Hsu Huan-sun says that the process of letting children understand the origin of soy sauce from an early age and making it with hands is precious, and it is also a way to learn more about food and Hualien.

"now I hope to sell better, so that more local ingredients can be used to support farmers." Xu Huan Huan looks forward to counting the soy sauce on the shelf one by one. At present, Hualien has been used in different types of soy sauce, such as soy beans, wheat, quinoa, horse notice, balsam pear and so on. At present, the soy sauce is used in soy beans. He looks forward to making soy sauce with all the raw materials coming from Hualien in the future.

Xu Huan-sun believes that farmers and brewers are dedicated workers, and it is indescribable to use the crops carefully planted by farmers and local crops to successfully produce a sense of joy in soy sauce that gives full play to the flavor of all ingredients. He also hopes to maintain this original intention to brew every bottle of soy sauce, "trying to make a soy sauce that can represent Hualien, which makes people feel as if they have come to Hualien."

School children who go to Xinwei factory to experience making tofu (photo _ Lin Yijun)