An often overused
sauce in
Chinese food, especially on
rice and
noodles.
Soy sauce is a very
salty,
black sauce used in
cooking dishes as well as during
consumption. It very often does bring out the
flavor in
Chinese food, however, it sometimes ruins the nature of the
dish, especially in
Cantonese food.
Cantonese food is by nature a lighter variety of Chinese food. It's dishes are often steamed or boiled other than fried. Some people may consider this bland and go for more flavorful types, such as Szechuan cuisine. However, Cantonese food, in my experience, relies more on the flavor of the ingredients more than sauces and seasonings than other styles of Chinese cooking. To drown it in soy sauce would ruin the way the dish was meant to taste like, and any accompanying dishes as well, such as rice.
I have seen many people drench their bowls of rice in soy sauce. Even though it may appeal to their taste buds, rice should never be served with a heavy-tasting sauce. Lighter sauces, such as the sweet and sour sauce that comes with sweet and sour pork, is good, especially when the rice is eaten with the pork. Same goes for Chinese-style steak. However, rice in Chinese food is supposed to serve to contrast the tasty main dishes of the meal as a light-tasting addition. Chinese often dip pieces of the main dish in their rice before eating it. Drowning it in soy sauce would defeat that purpose.
Of course, people can eat food in any way that makes it tasty. Just a bit information on Chinese food, that's all.