Indonesian sweet soy sauce aka kecap manis is one of my most used sauces besides soy sauce and oyster sauce. These 3 sauces are a staple in my everyday Asian dishes. Stir fry, noodles, fried rice…and believe it or not, my own concoction of Chinese stew (may share in another time).
So…what’s the difference between soy sauce and kecap manis?
The obvious difference is soy sauce (or light soy sauce) is salty and with a consistency of water; whereas kecap manis is sweeter (manis means sweet in Malay/Indonesian) and has the consistency resembling maple syrup. I use light soy sauce in replacement of salt and kecap manis for color and the sweetness, of course. I like to use these two sauces together to balance the savouriness and sweetness in my Asian dishes.
I’m aware not everyone has a bottle of kecap manis in their kitchens and may not feel like getting a whole bottle for an one-off recipe; or you simply want the satisfaction of making sauces at home.
Either way, I thought you may be interested to make this at home since it’s neither a difficult nor an expensive exercise. Enjoy!
Make Your Own Kecap Manis (Indonesian Sweet Soy Sauce)
(I tweaked the quantity of sugar from the recipe found on The Peach Kitchen, as I like it a little thicker and more caramelly)
What you need:-
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup + 1/8 cup (i.e one half of a quarter cup) brown sugar
Instead of brown sugar, The Perfect Pantry has suggested palm sugar which I thought to be brilliant also.
Let’s get started:-
(1) In small pot, add brown sugar and soy sauce. (2) Boil the sauce over low to medium flame until thickens resembling maple syrup. If the mixture starts to boil vigorously and looks like it is going to overboil, leave the pot away from the flame until the boiling has calm down and continue to boil over low heat. You have to keep a watchful eye while the mixture is cooking to avoid overboiling. As the mixture cools down, it will further thicken.
{Printable version below}
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup + 1/8 cup (i.e. one half of a quarter cup) brown sugar
Instructions
- In small pot, add brown sugar and soy sauce.
- Boil the sauce over low to medium flame until thickens resembling maple syrup. If the mixture starts to boil vigorously and looks like it is going to overboil, leave the pot away from the flame until the boiling has calm down and continue to boil over low heat. You have to keep a watchful eye while the mixture is cooking to avoid overboiling. As the mixture cools down, it will further thicken.
I never knew this was so easy! Next time I need some, I’m going to make it. Thanks!
Hi Abby,
I hope you’ll make many delicious dishes out of this! 🙂
About how long do you boil it? Thanks!
I’ll say for the quantity in the recipe… my estimate is no more than 5 minutes using a gas stove. Hope this helps. 🙂
I just made a batch and it’s yum but super salty! Did you use low sodium soy, or just regular kikkoman?
Hi Abby… I used regular kikkoman. Sorry if it turned out too salty for you. Did you try to cook with it and the food turned out salty?
I made a lamb stirfry with it and it was delicious! I added a bit of ginger and garlic too, but that’s all. Sorry, I meant to say that it tastes a lot saltier than the ABC sauce, but it was perfect in the stirfry. Thanks Emily!
Phew.. i was like “did abby eat it straight or something?” hehe.. I agree it was saltier than abc sauce so one gotta adjust the salt when use the homemade version. Ur lamb stir fry sounds delicious.. i must try the lamb stir fry with kecap manis. 🙂 have a great weekend!
Here is recipe to make low sodium soy sauce i found from internet :
Heat vinegar (3/4 cup) slightly, pour over peeled/sliced garlic (to taste).
Let stand overnight. Discard garlic the next day.
Combine garlic vinegar with dark molasses (3 tbsp ) + onion powder ( 3 tbsp).
Store in tight container in refrigerator (last till 1 month ).
Shake well and warm little bit before use
I can eat Gluten anymore and all the Kecap Manis I have found contains gluten which is frustrating as a few of my favourite recipes have Kecap manis and I really like it, so thank you! I look forward to making it. How long does it keep for?
Hi katrina
I normally make a small batch at a time like a cup or so and the longest i have kept for is 2 weeks in the fridge. Since it made of juz soy sauce and brown sugar i suspect i can go even longer as long it does not look like there is mould or taste funny.
Soy sauce has a lot of gluten
There are several brands of gluten free soy sauce on the market, depending on the country you live in. Kikkoman, Ayam, Masterfoods all make a gluten free soy sauce. These are all available in Australia. Tamari is also a gluten free soy sauce.
Oops I meant Fountain, not Masterfoods.
I made the Kecap manis this evening so I could make Nasi Goreng. It was yum.
Instead of brown sugar or palm sugar i have used what is known as JAGGERY in India, which is in a way unrefined sugar and made from sugar cane.
it does resemble palm sugar somewhat but is not as sweet. The results depend on how much Jaggery is added, which in turn depends on how sweet you want it to be. I think it makes a really good substitute. I would like to get some original IKAN BILIS so that I can then match the taste.
Thank you for the recipes
Thank you
I have just returned from Bali and am so excited that making kecap manis is so easy. Thanks for the website. I also can’t eat gluten but in the healthfood aisle of the supermarket you can gluten free soy sauce which is not as salty. J
Thank you. I had no idea what kecap manis was and now I know how to make it.
I have been looking everywhere for Kecap Manis in groceries all over the city but can never find one. I never knew I could MAKE my own. This post is amazing. So is your blog! Subscribing. 🙂
Thanks Dennis. Sometimes I find it is easier to make things myself hehe! Glad that I can help 🙂
hi there!
Thanks for the spicy basil chicken recipe! Can I substitute honey for brown sugar to make this soy sauce?
Hi Daisy,
I must admit I have not tried with honey. The function of brown sugar is to provide the caramel & thick consistency, so in this sense honey could work. However may I suggest you try with flavourless honey as some types of honey can taste quite floral. I hope this helps! 🙂
Growing up in the Netherlands Kecap Manis was a staple in the fridge, now living in the US I used to order it online until making my own. I use low sodium and add some ginger and koriander through mine, you can also spice it up a little using chili pepper paste. Great for making Babi Ketjap
Hi Martin
Thanks for sharing your spin on ketjap manis. The addition of ginger and coriander sounds amazing and I can imagine it could be a staple for stir fry. 🙂
The use of (as we call It) gula jawa is more preferable for people who suffer from diabetes. Though I myself don’t have diabetes (fortunately) I use this kind of sweetener in almost everything.
im making a dish that requires this sauce, and i found ur recipe very helpful! however, theres one problem. I made it and set it aside to use for the dish later. now, as i check it, i see that it has become so thick that it is no longer sauce! LOL. What should I do? add more soy sauce?
Maybe just add a tsp of soy sauce and warm it for a couple of seconds in microwave. From my personal experience as the surrounding temperature drops the sauce.becomes very thick (even for the commercial ones) and the during summer time the sauce is more liquid. I hope this helps.
Hi , how long will this last in a fridge, as I would lie to make a batch.
Thanks
Daryll
Probably no more than a week.
Well that’s a lot easier than I thought. Thanks!
Definitely going to try making this! I am a huge fan of ketjap Manis! And there have been given some lovely variations too in the comments, I’m getting all excited 🙂
Hi can you use this as a dip for spring rolls etc?? thanks
Hi Marie, I personally don’t think it is suitable as a dipping sauce due its very thick and.sticky consistency. And taste was very sweet with some salty undertone behind it. xx Emily
Awesome!! Just in Indonesia and LOVED this sauce, didn’t realize it was so simple to make on my own. Thanks Emily 🙂
With kecap, I’ve learn my ups and downs, using any soy sauce, low-sodium. or Kikkoman, it goes back to your taste buds, and how you use it. most will say its too salty, or most will say its too sweet. Its all by going how much use it or how much spices your adding to your dish. umami
Good article – but please remove your suggestion that palm sugar is a ‘brilliant’ alternative – palm sugar is a horrible substance – while it may taste good, it is easy to find alternatives and it also ruins the environment for the orangutans and is killing their population off – its a well known issue.
Thank You! I was about to make the same comment and I saw yours!
Thankfully there are a lot of sustainable coconut sugar products available now that take care in avoiding orangutan habitats while supporting indigenous farming initiatives in indonesia. I just made some with coconut sugar and it was delicious!
I think you’re confusing Palm sugar with palm oil. Not the same thing
Hi Emily
You are just amazing. Thank you for this recipe. Have been thinking about making this for ever! Think you should make some dishes for your fans!
Damian
Hi! this looks so good as the other recipes i have looked at use a lot more ingredients. how much does this make because i need a little over a 1/3 of a cup for some beef satay i am doing for dinner 🙂
thanks, Sophie
Hi Sophie,
I think it makes slightly under 1/4 cup. There’s some loss of liquid due to evaporation during the process of thickening of the sauce. xx Emily
This is good for Nasi Goreng..
I’ve seen reference to kecap manis having star anise and garlic in it too?
I will try this recipe shortly!! But as I arrived at your page to find sustainable alternatives to the (evil) palm sugar, I won’t be using palm sugar!!!
It’s just great I can make this sauce with out contributing to the destruction of any Orangutans habitat or their lives. 🙂
Your recipes and tips are out of this world delicious. Please keep posting. Thank you V.
I applaud commenters for doing what they can to save orangutan habitat, but palm sugar is not made from the same types of palm trees that palm oil is made from, they are made from entirely different species. If you’re still worried, just make sure it’s coconut or date, or from countries where orangutans don’t live.
Oh I am so happy I found this recipe. I can not wait to try it. I was disappointed when my store discontinued the sauce and didn’t want to pay $13.99 a bottle from Amazon
This is very, VERY good! Thank you so much for sharing.
I use it with the recipe I’m linking below, and going the extra step by preparing the Kecap Manis, really raises the bar:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Black-Pepper-Tofu-365129
Hello, great site!
What is not clear is if you should use light or dark soy sauce for making Kecap Manis. I’d be glad to have an update on this !
Hi Belsha,
I used light soy sauce to make kecap manis – the brand I used Kikkoman soy sauce. I hope this helps! 🙂
Hello belsha,
I don’t think it matters all that much beyond personal preference. I use tamari (it’s smoother, more complex and seems to have less salt), and it works beautifully.
Thank you for the recipe for the Kecap Manis I have been buying it for years. Unfortunatly I haven’t been able to find it anymore. sincerely Brandie
Excellent!! I live in a town where I cannot find this sauce in grocery store… So I found this recipe, and it worked perfectly. Good directions, clear pics, helpful x 10!
Thanks so much Emily! And everyone else too. This is what I love about the internet when it works. In fact the internet works, I believe MAINLY because people take the time and sometimes also money to contribute from their personal experience and expertise. People also do it for money, of course, but not anywhere near the majority. The internet really. belongs to all of us.
Thanks for this recipe. It works perfectly!
i didnt have a brown sugar so i used white sugar and it burnt; it was on low heat though!!…
is it because of the white sugar or there is some thing wrong with my cooking??
Did you pour the white sugar and soy sauce together first before heating on low heat? if so, it shouldn’t burn. Brown sugar has an addition of molasses over white sugar. That’s it,.
made peanut satay with the help of this reciepe as i did not have readymade kecap manis. came out well.
thanks Emily
You are welcome! I am glad that you like the recipe! x Emily
Hi Emily, thank you for this recipe. Can’t wait to try it! I had seen another recipe elsewhere, can’t remember where as it was sometime ago and it had a stalk of lemongrass in it. What do you think? Perhaps lemongrass and some ginger-garlic? Martin (earlier post) had mentioned coriander. Some coriander leaves too? Then we could strain the mixture? Or too many flavours?
Thanks…Anjali
Hi Anjali,
Thank you for your interest in the recipe. Personally, I prefer to keep the ingredients for kecap manis as basic as possible. For one, I used it in a many of my dishes so having an ingredient like lemongrass may limit the dish you can add it to. Secondly, depending how much you want to set aside for usage later, adding fresh ingredients like garlic, ginger, coriander etc may shorten the storage life. I understand they would be well cooked through but I am just a little paranoid when it comes to stuff like that. However should you wish to add either of this ingredients, infused them with the soy sauce first (with a little extra water to prevent the soy sauce from burning) and strained before adding the brown sugar. This is because the finish result likened to thick caramel and this consistency may make it challenging to strain. I hope this helps, Anjali!
This was delicious! So easy. I lived in Indonesia for a while and often crave kecap manis. I put it on white rice and fried tempeh and it was just like being in Toraja utara 🙂
Thank you!
So glad to have found this recipe and it works a treat! I couldn’t find Kecap Manis in my local stores so googled to see if I could make it myself and came across this easy and tasty recipe. Five star recipe 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Thank you!
Dear Sharron,
I started to make my own kecap manis for the same reason. Don’t you hate it when this happens? I am glad to hear that it worked out well with you and thank you for your lovely feedback! x Emily
I made mine with some garlic, Lombok and star anise and as sugar I used Gullaw Jawa.
There are indeed many different recipes for Ketjap Manis. But this one is very tasty for a marinade for babi or ayam. Especially with Gado Gado this goes very good.
Hi! I made this last night to use for mehgoreng. It was delicious! My only issue is that the kecap manis solidifies when left in open air then I have to reheat it again before using. Any suggestions to avoid it? Thank you!