| 词源 |
soybean. The ancient Chinese made a sauce called shiyu (shi, “salted food,” + yu, “oil”) from this bean, which they apparently named after the sauce; shi-yu became shoyu and then shoy in Japanese, which ultimately became soy and soybean (soy + bean) in English. The Japanese valued soy sauce so highly that it was part of the salary of Japanese imperial court officers in the fifth century. |