On Food and Cooking

Bean    paste,  to-pan  chiang, essentially a

chunky  wheat-barley-soy    miso,   used    to

make    savory  sauces

Hoisin  sauce,  ha-hsien    chiang, made

from    the residue of  soy-sauce   making,

mixed   with    wheat   flour,  sugar,  vinegar,

chilli  pepper; served  with    Peking  duck

and mu  shu pork

Sweet   wheat   chiang, t’inmin chiang,

smooth, soft,   brown;  made    from    wheat

flour   formed  into    steamed buns    or  flat

sheets, allowed to  mold,   then    brined;

used    as  the base    for Peking  duck    dipping

sauce

Fermented soy pastes and soy sauce were
carried by Buddhist monks to Japan, where
sometime around 700 CE a new Japanese
name, miso — mi meaning flavor — was
given to distinctive Japanese versions of the
paste. These involved the use of a grain-based
koji that provided sweetness, alcohol, finer