Shio Koji - liquid koji salt

Shio-Koji has been a popular food seasoning in Japan for centuries. It is largely unknown in Europe and America. Koji is rice fermented with a mushroom (Aspergillus oryzae), which can be used as an alternative to salt or soy sauce for seasoning. It is similar to the use of yeast and bacteria to make beer, wine or cheese. The production is quite simple. The spores of the mushroom are mixed with the steamed rice and stored at 50 ° for a few days. The starch of the rice is thus converted into sugar, releasing fatty acids, amino acids and natural glutamate. This form of koji is called kome koji in Japan. If you add sea salt during production, you get Shio-Koji. The sugar and the salt contained in the Shio Koji bring out the taste of the food even more. This flavor, we Germans would say `hearty` is called umami in Japan. Shio-koji can be used for all types of meat, fish, tofu and vegetables.