Soy Sauce in the Xianshi
The only “Double National Treasure" in the industry in China
- Founded in 1893 and with a production base located on the banks of the Chishui River in Xianshi Town, Hejiang County, Sichuan Province, “Xianshi Soy Sauce”,
- China’s geographical indication protection product “Xianshi Soy Sauce” is the only century-old brand in China that insists on brewing soy sauce with traditional manual techniques on the original site.
- Xianshi Soy Sauce Natural Fermentation Farm and Brewing Workshop is known as the China’s Soy Sauce Natural Museum, and has been approved by the State Council as a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.
- As a living fossil of traditional Chinese soy sauce brewing, “Xianshi Traditional Soy Sauce Brewing Technique” has been included in the list of National Intangible Cultural Heritage.
- In today’s soy sauce industry in China, there is only one soy sauce company in Xianshi that has “Double National Treasures” at the same time.
Brand honors in China
The only one in the Southwest
National
Intangible Cultural Heritage
The only one in the industry
National Focus
Cultural Relics Protection Units
National Geographical Indication Protected Product
Sichuan Time-honored brand (China Time-honored Brand)
National Industrial heritage
Traditional brewing techniques Conservation demonstration base
National Life Sciences & Technical personnel training base
Provincial characteristic tourism products Gold Medal
Why is Xianshi soy sauce unique？
Unique Microbiology Project
Soy Sauce Flavor Code 1 Special Natural Environment
The unique raw material fermentation microflora formed in the Chishui River Valley for thousands of years, and the unique climatic conditions formed by the symbiosis between the Chishui River and the surrounding terrain have made the Chishui River area, the specialty sauce word series: sauce-flavored liquor has Moutai, Langjiu, etc., and the condiments have been said to be “soy sauce and Renhuai vinegar” since modern times.
The Chishui River crosses the mountains and mountains above 1,000 meters from its source, with different temperature and humidity differences, natural ecology and microbial flora, and descends to the shallow hill valley of Xianshi Town, which is only 250 meters above sea level, bringing a magical ecological index to this section of the river and providing a geographical advantage for soy sauce brewing.
The area of Hejiang Xianshi belongs to the subtropical humid climate type, with sufficient sunshine, abundant rainfall, four distinct seasons, frost-free period of more than 300 days, and an average temperature of 18.2 °C throughout the year. Its regional microclimate is suitable for the growth and enrichment of probiotics.
Soy Sauce Flavor Code 2
A unique eco-brewing space
Xianshi soy sauce has been brewed at the original site for 130 years, and its environment is unique. The predecessors followed the principle of “waterfront, sunny, wind-sheltering, and gas-taking” in site selection so that the workshop construction realized the “unity of nature and man”.
The soy sauce fermentation field is located on the edge of the Chishui River, facing east, with a longitudinal slope of 45°, which is conducive to the long sun exposure of the soy sauce blank during the day. The Chishui River bends here to form a backwater tuo, where the river water is heated and evaporated during the day to generate water vapor, and condenses and lands in the dew tank at night to replenish the water required for microbial decomposition and promote the decomposition of microbial vitality enzymes.
Soy Sauce Flavor Code 3
High-quality brewing ingredients
The raw materials for making soy sauce are soybeans, wheat, salt, and water. Due to the special natural geography and climate of the Chishui River Basin, the soybean and wheat produced have a long growth period, full grains, rich protein and high oil yield.
The water of the Chishui River is filtered by the Danxia formation hundreds of millions of years ago, and the water body is clear, rich in a variety of trace elements that are beneficial to human health and natural minerals such as metasilicic acid, which is not available for brewing soy sauce in other regions, creating its unique nutritional value
Soy Sauce Flavor Code 4
Inheritance of 100 years of intangible cultural heritage brewing skills
Adhering to the handmade brewing techniques that have been passed down from generation to generation for more than 100 years, Xianshi soy sauce has as many as 13 processes and 9 key processes.
Following the ancient method and insisting on handiwork is the art of the unity of nature and man. The sauce blank is viscous and heavy, and it needs to be turned up and down regularly by manpower to make the fermentation in the sauce vat even. In the soy sauce jar, the world of microorganisms restricts each other, and after a fermentation cycle of at least three years in the sun and night dew, the transformation from a soybean to a drop of soy sauce is finally completed.
The Cultural Heritage Processes of Xianshi soy sauce
THIRTEEN INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE PROCESSES
Screening of raw materials
Soak soybeans
Steamed soybeans
Cool down bean paste
Mix in flour
Naturally making koji
To make brine
Move the koji into the cylinder
Sun exposure and night dew
Natural immersion in oil
Concentrated by exposure
Filtration
Sterilization and canning
We are promoting a shift from empirical to scientific
As a representative and adherent of China’s traditional brewing industry, in order to promote the transformation of the inheritance of soy sauce brewing skills from experience to science, the company has established a technology center, and carried out joint scientific research projects with Sichuan University and other universities, summing up the complete brewing system and five unique characteristics of Xianshi soy sauce:
Natural multi-strain koji making
Long-term natural sun fermentation
Natural leaching method, oil extraction
Exposure and concentration, three fermentations
Steaming whole soybeans
Xianshi soy sauce has a long reputation and is favored by international friends, attracting foreign friends from South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam and other countries to visit the company for shopping. Domestic consumers are the first to buy as a condiment for daily life and a gift for relatives and friends. In recent years, the annual output value of soy sauce has increased by more than 50% every year, and the brand influence has gradually improved.
The special natural environment and 130 years of adherence to traditional handmade brewing have attracted the attention of domestic experts, scholars and news media. CCTV (1, 2, 4, 7, 10 sets), BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), “Hong Kong Sing Tao Daily”, “China National Geographic”, “Chinese Heritage”, Sichuan Satellite TV, Hunan Satellite TV, etc. have visited the factory to shoot reports.
