Soy Sauce!

“Dark amber, warm like honey, briny like the sea.” Three children raft down a river of soy sauce to investigate the condiment, including its fermentation process and taste profile (“umami, the spirit of savory”). Playful singsong rhymes detail how “everyone makes soy sauce// from their family recipes”: while all soy sauce ferments from soybeans, “adding toasty wheat” is specific to Japan, and in Korea, “jujubes and chilis” create a “spicy-sweet” flavor. Later, introduced fungi blooms called koji noisily produce a mixture that “breathes and lives!” After salting, it’s time for patience—“Good soy sauce takes years to make.” Lively images of the protagonists and tables filled with food take readers on an educational tour with plenty of how-to charm. A note and visual glossary conclude. Characters cue as East Asian. Ages 4–8. (Jan.)