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If you’ve ever been at a sushi restaurant, you’ve most likely reached for the table’s resident bottle of soy sauce to fill your individual dish for dipping. Chances also are, that at least once, you’ve poured too quickly or too aggressively, and wound up with a splash of sauce on that freshly dry cleaned blouse or pair of pants you were planning to wear out for the rest of the night following dinner. Sound familiar? We’re not judging—guilty as charged right here!
Luckily for us all, thanks to writer and recipe developer Elly Curshen, we’ve discovered the secret solution for this problem, and now we never have to fall victim to another soy sauce incident again. It’s a simple innovation brought to life by a young man named Kenji Ekuan in the 1950s in Japan.
How to Use the Kikkoman Dispenser Correctly
If you take a closer look at your soy sauce bottle, you will notice the lid has two small openings, which are not there for users to pour the condiment from both sides. Instead, those openings were carefully placed t soy sauce easier. According to this Reel shared by Curshen, all you have to do is “hold your finger firmly against one side, and the soy sauce will stop flowing from the other, meaning no spills or splashes and complete control.”
History of the Kikkoman Dispenser
Until the 1950s, soy sauce in Japan was sold in large bottles, not ideal for pouring and frequent use in cooking or at the dinner table. People would typically divide a large bottle into smaller containers to use for cooking or as a condiment at the table. Obviously, this became messy and tedious, with soy sauce constantly dripping on the table or countertops.
Kikkoman, a widely known Japanese food manufacturer, was determined to find a practical solution for this issue, which was common in Japanese homes. The answer: Hire Kenji Ekuan, a famous industrial designer. He invented the reusable, dripless dispenser the company envisioned for its consumers.
However, the final design didn’t happen overnight. It took the development of nearly 100 prototypes! Eventually, Ekuan found the solution: a balanced, bell-shaped bottle with a flared opening that was easy to refill, and the brand’s now-signature red cap with two small spouts: one for pouring, and one for air intake. The Kikkoman dispenser debuted in 1961. Jump ahead to 2025, and this is the bottle we’ve all come to know and love in our favorite Japanese restaurants and home kitchens. It may be minimalistic, but it’s remained unchanged for six decades.
The Science Behind the Kikkoman Dispenser
The two spouts on the red Kikkoman lid each serve a purpose by working together. One is for the soy sauce to pour from, and the other is for air intake. Once you are finished pouring the soy sauce from one spout, place your finger over the other for a clean, controlled stop. No splashing, no dripping, and no more ruining your favorite shirt with soy sauce!
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