Kecap manis is Indonesia's thick, syrupy sweet soy sauce — near-black, glossy and almost molasses-like, tasting intensely of caramelised palm sugar over a salty, fermented-soybean savouriness, with a warm background of star anise, galangal and garlic. Far sweeter and far thicker than ordinary soy sauce, it clings and lacquers rather than pours: it is the defining seasoning of nasi goreng and mie goreng, the glaze basted onto satay and grilled meats, and the base of the dipping sambal kecap set on almost every Indonesian table.