Follow me on Instagram: / thefallowseason
Shoyu Part One 日式酱油(上): • the fallow season | sh... '
It's been a year and a half since I brined my first batch of soy sauce - what an incredible journey it has been! Working with koji for the first time filled me with uncertainty and moments of panic, but now, after a few more batches of koji ferments, I feel more confident in my skills.
To be honest, I wasn't sure how this particular batch of shoyu would turn out. In this video, you'll notice that the volume of shoyu is only half of what it was when I initially brined it. That's because I extracted a portion six months ago to cook and taste when the shoyu was a year old. At that time, it had a delightful umami flavour but also a yeasty taste. I wasn't sure if that was good enough to showcase.
With uncertainties about what to do with the shoyu, I opted to store it in the fridge, hoping that the slowed microbial and enzymatic activity would be beneficial. Surprisingly, the time spent in the fridge significantly mellowed the flavours and harmonised them. This experience really demonstrates that there is still so much for me to learn about koji fermentation and soy sauce-making.
Homemade ferments and sauces will possess a distinctive character that distinguishes them from their store-bought counterparts. My shoyu has a light colour and a delightful fragrance reminiscent of rice and fruit. Its taste is mellow, less salty, slightly sweet, with a touch of acidity and a satisfying umami mouthfeel, although it could benefit from a cleaner flavour.
In contrast, store-bought shoyu is saltier, full-bodied, and offers a straightforward purity of flavour. Achieving that level of cleanliness in flavour is a goal I aspire to in future experiments.
In my upcoming soy sauce batches, I have a few exciting ideas to explore, such as more frequent stirring, covering the fermentation vessel with a porous cloth instead of an airtight lid, fermenting in earthenware vessels, attempting a Korean-style soy sauce infused with spices, and experimenting with a Taiwanese-style soy sauce incorporating black soybeans.
While the wait may have been longer, I hope you enjoyed watching the culmination of this journey. There is truly something enchanting about observing a lengthy fermentation process through its years of development. I trust that you, too, have experienced a taste of that magic.
Directions
1. Strain the aged shoyu through a cheesecloth-lined strainer without stirring. Let gravity do the work to avoid a murky liquid.
2. Cook the strained shoyu at 90°C / 194°F to eliminate unwanted microbes and stop enzymatic activities. This also enhances flavour.
3. If desired, strain the cooked shoyu again and pour it into a sterilised bottle or jar. Store at room temperature or refrigerate.
Негізгі бет the fallow season | shoyu part two 日式酱油(下)| slow food vlog
Пікірлер: 14