Sweet soy sauce, or kecap manis, is a thick, syrupy Indonesian soy sauce sweetened with palm sugar, making it sweeter, thicker, and less salty than regular soy sauce. Its syrupy texture lets it cling to food, making it useful as a marinade, glaze, or dipping sauce. It's a key ingredient in Indonesian dishes such as satay, nasi goreng, and rendang, and is used across Indonesian, Malaysian, and Thai cooking to add sweetness and depth to stir-fries, marinades, and glazed vegetables. It shouldn't be swapped 1:1 for regular soy sauce, since it's much sweeter and thicker; a mix of soy sauce and dark brown sugar or molasses is a reasonable substitute if it's unavailable.