醤しょう油ゆ

しょ

う

ゆ

Common wordJLPTN4Freq.FrequencyTop 5,000

Meanings

noun

The standard Japanese soy sauce, a fermented condiment made from soybeans, wheat, salt, and koji mold. Used in cooking and as a table condiment.

刺さし身みに醤しょう油ゆをつけて食たべる。
I dip sashimi in soy sauce and eat it.
この料りょう理りには醤しょう油ゆが欠かかせない。
Soy sauce is essential for this dish.

Written forms

醤しょう油ゆUsage38%
Standard kanji spelling; high priority in news and common usage.
しょうゆUsage39%
Kana spelling is common in everyday writing, especially when the kanji are considered complex.
醬しょう油ゆUsage18%
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form; 醬 is a traditional variant of 醤.
しょう油ゆUsage4%
search-only kanji form
Search-only mixed kana-kanji form; not a standard spelling.
ショウユUsage1%
正しょう油ゆUsage<1%
ateji (phonetic kanji usage)rarely-used kanji form
Ateji spelling; rarely used and not recommended for learners.

Kanji

醤a kind of miso
油oil, fat
醬any jam-like or paste-like food
正correct, justice, righteous

Similar words

たまり
Tamari is a type of soy sauce made with little or no wheat, often used as a gluten-free alternative. It has a richer, thicker consistency and a stronger umami taste compared to standard 醤油.
白しろ醤しょう油ゆ
White soy sauce is lighter in color and milder in flavor, used to preserve the natural color of ingredients in dishes like chawanmushi or clear soups.

Etymology

The word 醤油 (しょうゆ) is a compound of 醤 (しょう, 'fermented paste') and 油 (ゆ, 'oil'), though the second character is used phonetically. The reading しょうゆ is a contraction of earlier しょうゆう, which is preserved as a search-only reading. The condiment itself originated in China and was introduced to Japan, where it evolved into the distinct Japanese soy sauce.