We conducted mentoring with Aoyama, a luxury goods planner, and Suzuki, a menu developer at FabCafe Nagoya, who announced the details of their trial at the talk event KOJI THE KITCHEN vol.0 [KOJI MEETUP in Nagoya] on Sunday, October 10th.
The two had almost no experience in making koji, so after the event, they exchanged information via chat with Kojiya Sanzaemon, a researcher, about the content and progress of their attempts.
In the first Zoom mentoring session, participants shared their impressions and feedback on the koji they had made, and the discussion focused on selecting ingredients to pursue even greater flavor, and on setting the growth conditions for koji mold.
Mr. Sho Aoyama with Mr. Hashizume (Researcher at Kojiya Sanzaemon)
Aoyama uses black koji mold, rice koji mold, and soybean koji mold seeds to make koji from several different types of coffee beans, in order to change the flavor and give them new characteristics.
The raw beans that were actually koji-processed showed some very interesting results in terms of the flavor and changes of the koji. There was also trial and error in the process of roasting coffee beans under conditions that were different from normal.
Hashizume, a researcher at Kojiya Sanzaemon who regularly examines growth conditions and works on food hygiene, will also share his evaluation of the growth conditions and koji produced, and will continue to explore ways to add new delicious flavors to coffee through the process of koji production.
At the presentation on November 3rd, the koji-processed coffee will be extracted and guests will be able to taste it.
Guests will join us to comment on the possible changes that can be brought about by turning "coffee beans as a luxury item" into koji, and we will also announce future initiatives.
Yuta Suzuki with Mio Takeura (Researcher at Kojiya Sanzaemon)
Suzuki developed a sauce that goes well with sauteed pork made with koji, which will be served as a menu item at FabCafe Nagoya.
We make koji from a variety of ingredients, including not only rice but also grains and vegetables, in order to find a koji flavor that goes well with sauteed pork.
There are many points to consider, not just turning the ingredients into koji, but also the deliciousness of the sauce and hygiene management required for the cafe menu.
Takeura is a researcher who was involved not only in hygiene management during his daily inspection work, but also in the development of the koji seasoning "Kakeru Koji." He discussed the ingredients contained in the ingredients and the possible changes in flavor that result from them.
At the presentation on November 3rd, they will present koji dishes that have been developed to be served at the cafe, and guests will be able to sample them.
How should koji be installed in an actual restaurant kitchen? We will have guests join us for a critique, including a look at how koji should be installed, and we will also announce future initiatives.
KOJI THE KITCHEN vol.0
[Results Presentation - Gourmet Food and Koji Seeds]
The KOJI THE KITCHEN project is an exploratory project to create a new food culture centered around koji starter.
For over 600 years since our founding in the Muromachi period, Kojiya Sanzaemon has been providing brewing manufacturers across the country with starter koji, the raw material for koji, the foundation of Japan's fermentation culture, and continuing to work with koji.
The traditional culture of "koji," which utilizes the properties of the various types of koji fungus that live in Japan, has seen a definite boom in recent years.
With the development of fermentation communities based on people who make their own rice koji, the appearance of shops and cafes selling fermented foods, and the rise of the amazake boom as a "drinkable IV drip," koji is becoming a movement that is going beyond being just a raw material for making products such as soy sauce, miso, and sake.
And in world-famous restaurants such as Noma , koji-making and fermentation have become new culinary techniques, elevated to a gourmet identity, and various ways to utilize koji starter are being discovered one after another, expanding its possibilities in every direction.
Through the KOJI THE KITCHEN project, Kojiya Sanzaemon will collaborate with various ideas in the four fields of koji-related art, science, design, and engineering to explore and unveil previously unknown deliciousness created with koji starter.
Kojiya Sanzaemon will continue to explore and create a new food culture using koji together with all of our colleagues who share an interest in the possibilities of fermentation and koji, and will build a future base for fermentation culture starting from the Higashi Mikawa region.