Fermented Foods: The Unique Flavors of Japanese Cuisine
Japanese cuisine is renowned throughout the world for its unique flavors. One of the most distinctive features of the Japanese cuisine is the use of fermentation, a traditional food preservation technique that dates back thousands of years.
Fermentation not only preserves food, but it also enhances its flavor and nutrition, The long history of fermentation has played an essential role in shaping its food culture.
Traditional Fermented Foods in Japan
Some of the most well-known fermented foods from Japan include Miso, Soy sauce, Sake, Vinegar, and Mirin. These foods are all made using a key ingredient called Koji, which is a type of mold that is responsible for breaking down the complex carbohydrates in grains and legumes into simpler sugars.
There is one such food as Natto, a sticky and pungent fermented soybean dish. Natto is made by fermenting soybeans with a type of bacteria called Bacillus subtills, which breaks down the soybeans and produces a unique texture and flavor. Natto is a good source of protein and fiber, and also contains vitamin K2 which is important for bone health.
Another popular Japanese fermented food is Tsukemono, which refers to a variety of pickled vegetables. Tsukemono can be made using a range of techniques, including salt fermentation, vinegar pickling lacto-fermentation and popular vegetables for pickling include cucumbers, radish and eggplant.
Shiokara is a salty and pungent fermented seafood dish that is made by pickling various types of seafood, such as squid or shrimp, in salt and their own viscera. Shiokara has a strong flavor and is often eaten with rice or as a condiment for sake.
Koji molds
I would like to delve deeper into the unique mold Koji which is widely used not only in Japanese cuisine but also in other industries such as cosmetics.
The representative species of Koji mold is a fungus called Aspergillus oryzae. It has a strong ability to produce starch-digesting enzymes and is therefore suitable for creating the sugars necessary for alchol fermentation, making it the perfect mold for sake.
Japan is the only country that uses A. Oryzae for alchol brewing. Other countries mainly use species of Rhizopus mold or Mucor mold for fermentation. Koji mold does not grow very quickly and natural fermentation is difficult, so during the Muromachi period (1336–1573), there were specialists called Koji-makers who cultivated and provided suitable mold for sake brewing.
Koji-makers have developed various strains of Koji to meet different uses and purposes and have provided them to sake breweries. In this way, Koji-makers developed Koji molds for Soy sauce and Miso.
New Products of Koji
Salt-Koji: Salt koji was created as a breakthrough solution as the demand for rice koji decreased due to the decline of households making homemade miso and sweet-sake. The idea was born in 2007 after discovering a description of “salt koji pickles” in literature from the Edo period. It was originally used as a pickling bed but has been transformed into a seasoning that can be easily mixed with food. Salt-koji has the ability to break down proteins into amino acids, making meat more tender when used as a marinade.
Koji cosmetics: The use of Koji in cosmetics was inspired by the beautiful hands of Japanese sake brewers. The hands of Sake craftsmen who work with Koji have no wrinkles or age spots and are firm to the touch. Despite working with water frequently, their hands covered in Koji were able to repel water. Nowadays, many Japanese sake breweries have its own cosmetic brands.
Other Fermented Foods by Region
A few examples of the fermented food culture in Japan.
Ishi sushi (Hokkaido): matured sushi made by fermenting salmon and rice koji together
Hatahata sushi (Akita): matured sushi made by fermenting sandfish and rice koji together
Kan-zuri (Niigata): a seasoning with a sweet and savory flavor made by fermenting salted chili peppers with rice koji, often used as a condiment for hot pot and other dishes
Kabura sushi (Kanazawa): matured sushi made by sandwiching salted yellowtail between turnip slices and fermenting with rice koji
Fugu ovary nukazuke (Sado): a traditional dish made by soaking poisonous fugu ovary in salt and rice bran for more than two years, with the mechanism of detoxification still not fully understood
358 tsukemono (Aizu): a pickling bed made by mixing salt, rice koji, and rice in a ratio of 3:5:8
Natto (Mito): fermented soybeans made using natto bacteria
Bettara-zuke (Tokyo): a sweet pickled daikon radish made by fermenting salted daikon in sweet sake
Shoyu no mi (Nagano): a type of name-miso
Ikanago soy sauce (Kagawa): a type of fish sauce made by salting ikanago (Japanese sand lance) and fermenting it, known as one of the three major fish sauces in Japan along with shottsuru (Akita) and ishiru (Noto)
Tofu shiokoji (Okinawa): a fermented food made by fermenting island tofu with rice koji, red koji, and awamori (a distilled beverage)
Source
Japan Web Magazine （Japanese）
https://japan-web-magazine.com/japanese-fermented-foods
Nishi Nippon Shinbum （Japanese）
https://www.nishinippon.co.jp/item/n/679658/
Videos
How to make Sake
Part I
https://youtu.be/hD0WRB7zCj0
Part II
https://youtu.be/SWpMWFuXxw4
