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Soy sauce popsicles at Songshengyuan store. [Photo/tidenews.com.cn]

Shaoxing's soy sauce-flavored popsicles, developed by the century-old Shaoxing brand Songshengyuan, have sold more than 30,000 sticks since their launch six months ago, adding a creative twist to the city's traditional food culture.

The soy sauce popsicles are now available at Songshengyuan's stores in popular tourist destinations such as the Luxun Native Place, Keqiao ancient town, and Anchang ancient town.

"It's my first time trying soy sauce popsicles in Shaoxing. I thought it would taste strange, but the blend of soy and cream is surprisingly good!" said a visitor surnamed Wang from Shanghai, after sampling it at the Luxun Native Place outlet.

One of the key ingredients in the popsicles is bingyou, or ice soy sauce, a premium soy sauce handcrafted by Wu Guangzhong, an inheritor of Shaoxing's traditional soy sauce brewing technique. This signature product of Songshengyuan is made through a process that takes five years — three years of sun exposure and two years of indoor fermentation.

Unlike regular soy sauce, bingyou is thick, dark, and has a richer taste. During the first stage, the sauce is sun-dried until it reduces to one-third of its original volume, causing salt crystals to form on the surface like ice, hence the name. After two more years of fermentation, the crystals dissolve back into the sauce, deepening its color and taste.

Traditionally used for braised dishes, bingyou gives the popsicles a distinctive aroma and creamy taste.

In recent years, there has been a national trend of creative cultural popsicles, often inspired by local landmarks or made with regional ingredients. Shaoxing's soy sauce popsicles, blending innovation with heritage, stand out as a flavorful symbol of the city's culinary ingenuity.