Visitors to Taiwan love the island state for its rich and varied cuisine. Soy Sauce is one of the essential staples in almost every Asian cuisine.

One of Tour East’s very own team members ended up at the Hsin Wei Soy Sauce Factory’s doorsteps*.* What started as an accidental detour when she visited Hualien, turned out to be an interesting and educational experience.

The Hsin Way factory was founded in 1927 and soon became a popular producer and purveyor of local traditional food items. What makes this factory even more interesting is that it is the only soy sauce plant in Hualien that is still producing in the traditional ways. A lot of manual labour goes into stirring in the ferment wood casks every day. It takes one year of ageing to reach the sauce’s “Umami” level! 

The owner has now taken the factory to a new level by introducing new soy sauce flavours. A few of these have already become successful: yuzu, bitter melon and red quinoa. Outside of Aichi in Japan, the Hsin Wei Factory is the only producer using deep seawater to create their products.

Now in their third generation, the owners offer DYI experience lessons. Visitors can learn about the creation and wide use of Soy Sauce. And students can also learn how to make their own fermented umami tofu. They will find out that fermented tofu has a unique smell (as it is fermented, just like cheese) – and they certainly appreciate that the taste is better than the smell!

Don’t hesitate to get in touch with our colleagues in Taiwan at globalinbound.tw@toureast.net for more information on how your clients can include a visit to the Hsin Wei Soy Sauce Factory.