On Monday, August 10, 2015 at 12:41:24 PM UTC-7, dsi1 wrote:
> On 8/9/2015 4:44 PM, sf wrote:
> > On Sun, 9 Aug 2015 17:56:25 -0700 (PDT), dsi1 >
> > wrote:
> >
> >> On Sunday, August 9, 2015 at 7:56:29 AM UTC-10, cshenk wrote:
> >>> dsi1 wrote in rec.food.cooking:
> >>>
> >>>> On 8/8/2015 8:54 AM, cshenk wrote:
> >>>>>
> >>>>> What i did not like in Hawaii was the local shoyu called Aloha.
> >>>>> Oddly sweet with less flavor. Preferred brand is a thicker Datu
> >>>>> Puti.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Carol
> >>>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Aloha probably tastes weird to people not raised on the stuff. Oddly
> >>>> enough, it's Hawaii's favorite shoyu. As an added bonus, it's fairly
> >>>> cheap!
> >>>>
> >>>> It was Aloha that invented hydrolyzed shoyu product after the war
> >>>> because we needed a lot of shoyu and we wanted it yesterday. And the
> >>>> rest is history. 
> >>>
> >>> Yup! It tastes sweet and sort of insipidly pallid compared to a true
> >>> brew and sorry if that doesnt match what you'd hoped to hear. I'm not
> >>> being mean, its just a developed taste to like it. Conversely you
> >>> might not like a fuller sort.
> >>
> >> I expect nothing less than your honest opinion. My point is that we like it and I'm fully aware that it tastes kind of weird. I don't recommend that anybody use Aloha Shoyu unless they were raised on the stuff. If they used Aloha on the table in restaurants on the mainland, people would probably be put off but I'd be as happy as a clam. Possibly they might use Aloha in L&L restaurants on the mainland.
> >>
> >> People over here also like real shoyu too - Yamasa and of course, Kikkoman. I also like Pearl River Dark soy sauce although it's hard to find. I have to look in Chinese markets and if I'm lucky, there will be a dusty shelf in the back with a forgotten bottle. I use that only for cooking, there's no way I'd have that on the table.
> >
> > One thing I've found over the years that I absolutely do NOT like is
> > Tamari.
> >
> > My current love is kecap manis, which is a sweet soy sauce. I
> > substitute it every time I see both soy sauce and sugar called for in
> > a recipe and it's right on the money. I don't want to spend a lot of
> > time trying to figure out where I bought this when I run out. I'll go
> > where I think I bought it and if they don't have it, I'll give Datu
> > Puti a try. It would be a better match for Filipino style adobo
> > anyway. I already have their cane vinegar, so hopefully I won't need
> > to buy the set, which is the way my main grocery store sells them.
> >
> > I am guessing that the sweetness of the Aloha is a nod to the myriad
> > of Filipino workers who flocked to Hawaii back in the days when they
> > needed field workers to harvest sugar cane and pineapples.
> >
> >
> >
>
> Beats me what they were thinking. They just needed to produce a batch of
> shoyu fast and couldn't wait 6 months or so. They probably thought it
> tasted weird too. OTOH, there was a lot of pent-up demand for the
> product - and the rest is Hawaii history.
>
> My grandma had a shoyu factory - that's what my dad says. I don't know
> anything about it but my guess is she did have to wait a long time to
> make a batch and it was probably pretty tasty. I suspect that it was a
> cottage industry in Hawaii at the time.
Originally factory was short for "manufactory," and thus meant "made by hand."
By the way, in the Vegemite thread I revealed that Vegemite and its big
brother Marmite are both sources of umami. When yeast cells break down,
they release glutamic acid.