Growing Seasoning | My Onion Koji

<Work time 15 minutes + leave for several hours>

Onion koji is the talk of the town. It's said to have such a complex umami flavor that it makes consommé unnecessary. Naturally, Inazo made it too.

When I made it for the first time, I thought, "Huh? There's no moisture at all. Is that okay?"

When it's done, doesn't it smell like onion? It's just regular onion.

When I made it into soup and drank it, it was delicious! So sweet.

From then on, apart from the antioxidant effects, fatigue recovery from the B vitamins, and oligosaccharides it contains (these will probably be featured in Inazo's column "Tama Hagane" soon!), it's also a quick and easy way to make delicious dishes that "seem like they took a lot of time and effort"! It also boosts the cook's reputation.

These days, I feel a bit scared when the onion koji in my fridge starts to run low. But I highly recommend giving this a try!

I want to use it in hamburgers and other things, so I'll go with something with less salt than my own shio koji !

・Salinity 5%

・Room temperature fermentation

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[Ingredients] *The amounts are listed as ratios only. Please adjust according to the size of your container and onions.

・Storage container   

・Onion...100

・Dried rice koji...35

・Hot water (50-60℃) ....35

・Your favorite salt....8 (1 small spoonful is about 7g)

▶view! Dried Rice Koji (White Koji No. 2) 500g Value Pack

▶View! Natural salt from Oku-Noto / Sun-dried flat pot method

[How to make] Steps 1 and 2 are the same as for My Shio Koji.

1. Rehydrate the dried rice koji in hot water.

Put the dried koji into a bowl and break up any lumps.

Add an equal amount of 60 degree hot water to the dried koji, mix well, then cover with plastic wrap and leave for 1-2 hours.

*If you don't have a kitchen thermometer, mix equal parts boiling water and 20°C water to get a temperature of about 60°C (similar to powdered milk).

If the temperature rises above 65 degrees, the activity of the koji mold will drop dramatically. Adjust the temperature in a container without koji before mixing it with the koji.

2. While it is standing, sterilize the container.

Wipe the inside with alcohol. If you don't have any, boil it to disinfect it, being careful not to get burned.

The salt concentration is kept low, so be sure to take care to control bacteria!

3. Finely chop the onion.

Apparently there is a method of grating the rice before pickling, but if you ferment it at room temperature, the grains of rice will remain, and Inazo wants a texture, so he pickles it by chopping it finely.

If you want it to be smoother, I recommend blending it with a mixer or hand blender after soaking!

4. Add salt and onion to the koji from step 1 and mix well.

5. Once the salt is thoroughly mixed, pour it into a sterilized container.

The key point here is to release the air.

However, since you probably can't vacuum it at home (it would boil over if you did), you press down hard to remove the air from the onions and then cover the surface with plastic wrap. If you just use plastic wrap, the onions will float, so you can put a weight on top, but a plastic bag filled with water... that's a bit scary, so I use that instead.

Not Tetsujin 28, but Kikugata No. 2! The aluminum cups used to make madeleines!

It's thick, round to begin with, and holds the wrap securely in place when placed in a round container.

If you don't have any, just layer some aluminum foil a few times to make it more round!

If it gets dirty, you can easily replace it and the onion koji won't get ruined.

Do you understand? It's something like this!

6. Leave at room temperature for 1-2 weeks!

Unlike shio koji, it doesn't need to be stirred, but like a mother cleaning her teenage son's room, I go and stir it every few days to check on it!

You can see how this looks at the bottom of this page!

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Week 1

The thumbnail is two weeks old!

If you want it smooth, put it through a blender.

\\ Completed! //

The Imaginary World of the Unlearned: A Mother's Feelings as She Peeks into Her Teenage Son's Room

Well, koji mold is aerobic, so when making shio koji, you have to mix it every day, right? That's what I thought. Why can't onion koji be exposed to air?

Probably because nasty bacteria will grow.

There are many different types of bacteria that attach to onions, both good and bad, and if they're left exposed to air, mold and other germs will grow. I ask the koji to be patient for a little while, seal the container, and encourage lactic acid fermentation at first. Once the lactic acid fermentation has progressed to a certain extent, the onions themselves become more resistant to germs, and the salt causes moisture to seep out of the onions, creating an environment strong enough to withstand the germs. Then, sorry to keep you waiting, koji! It's oxygen! That's what I was thinking, or so I thought from outside the glass after the first week.

I wonder if changing the balance between lactic acid fermentation and koji fermentation can produce different flavors.

Ah! The reason for grating it first is to prevent it from coming into contact with air! If you grate it, you can give oxygen to the koji right from the start!

Next time, I'll try the grated version too ♪