kecap the Indonesian word (pronounced ‘ketchap’) applied to the dark brown soy sauce of that country. This differs from the Chinese or Japanese kind in being made basically from soya beans and palm sugar only, and in its short intense fermentation. Gentle heating for about five hours produces a sauce which is thick and viscous in consistency. Ninety per cent of soy sauce produced in Indonesia is called kecap manis; highly sweetened with palm sugar and flavoured with star anise and other combinations of herbs and spices. Kecap asin is less sweet, being made with only half as much palm sugar, and is also less dark and viscous. Asin means ‘salty’ and both these types are noticeably so.
