[Gourmet Experience Report] I participated in an "Easy Koji Experience Using a 130-Year-Old Kobe Soy Sauce and Carefully Selected World Salts"!

Trapol Editorial Department

The Trapol editoral department introduces fascinating places across Japan, including regions visited by Trapo staff who have traveled to 47 prefectures and 600 cities. We present them in an easy-to-understand manner, focusing on locally popular spots, gourmet food, and unique ways to enjoy these places as experienced by the locals.

Everyone, have you ever used koji? "Koji," rumored to be good for your health. So, to uncover its secrets, I experienced the plan by guide Kaoru Tai! I will report on how I savored the world of koji with all five senses through "learning," "making," and "eating" experiences.

DATE POSTEDFEB 202319

Does it get sweeter with aging!? I tried experiencing Koji making

First, you crumble the koji starter. Doing this separates the koji, preventing it from clumping when applied, which is said to make it more delicious.

Next, marinate the koji in salt or soy sauce. (You can choose whichever you prefer!) I chose soy sauce. The key is to add enough soy sauce to completely cover the koji!

The ingredient used is, incredibly, a prized soy sauce from a long-established shop over 130 years old. If using salt, you can choose from various Japanese and international salts to prepare the koji.

After that, we'll take it back and wait for it to age. At this point, our guide, Tai-san, taught us something like this.

Me: "Roughly how long until this shoyu koji is ready to eat?"

Mr. Tai: "It'll be delicious to use in about two weeks! But the longer it ages, the sweeter it gets, and after about two months, it'll taste like mitarashi dango. So, I think it would be interesting to use half of it in cooking after a while, and wait a bit longer for the rest."

The koji pickles are exquisite! And you even get souvenirs!

You can even try pickling your own pesticide-free vegetables, grown by Tai-san, using koji!

Put your favorite vegetables in a bag and first salt-cure them.

After squeezing out the moisture, I added the koji and seasonings. The combinations are endless, and I'm excited to see what kind of flavor it will create.

The pickles we made could be taken home as souvenirs. They were exquisite when I actually tasted them! Even after the experience was over and I returned home, I could still enjoy the koji.

Easy Koji Recipes! Hooked on Koji with the Abundant Variations.

At the venue, we enjoyed exquisite dishes made with koji handmade by our guide! The meat, marinated in koji, and a wide variety of homemade pickles. We all sat around the table, participants and Tai-san, and had a lively discussion about koji.

Koji has so many ways to be incorporated, its possibilities are truly endless!

In conclusion

"Knowing" about koji, "experiencing" its creation, and "eating" it deliciously. Throughout the day, I also listened to Tai-san's "Koji Lecture" and came to feel that koji is much more familiar.

It was a fulfilling and thoroughly satisfying experience, not only receiving the salt koji and soy sauce koji we actually made as souvenirs, but also getting pickled organic vegetables with koji!

I can't wait to taste the matured soy sauce koji in two months!

My local friend, Tai Kaoru. They were a very friendly and easygoing person!

Click here for our Koji experience plans.

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