Shio Koji Helps Your Food to Be the Best
The term “universal seasoning” has always struck me as a bit exaggerated. If we’re not talking about salt, there are a few spices that really enhance everything they touch, but shio koji comes close.
If koji sounds familiar, it’s because we used inoculated fluffy rice to mimic steak aging and get great results. When mixed with salt and plain water and allowed to stand, the same rice is fermented to become shio koji (or “salted koji”), a traditional Japanese miso-style pasta that enhances flavor, softens, darkens and adds sweetness. , piquant depth to all kinds of dishes.
You can find shio koji in some shops, but they are usually quite expensive and very easy to make at home. You just need some koji rice , sea salt and water. You can cook as much as you like, just aim for a ratio of four parts rice, one part salt and four parts water . As a result of our experiment with false aging , I was left with 90 grams of koji rice, which made about eight ounces of this wonderful paste.
First, pour the nicely mildewed rice into a large bowl and chop it up with your hands. Once it is fragrant – mine smells like popcorn – mix with salt and rub everything together. Pour in water, crush it a little more with your hands, adding more water if necessary, until all the rice is wet.
Pour it into several sterilized jars – just dip them in boiling water – and tighten the lids loosely. Let the paste sit at room temperature for a week or so (aim for two weeks if it’s very cold), stirring the koji once a day.
Once it’s beautiful and quirky, you’re ready to stir it up and spread it over all sorts of delicious treats. A couple tablespoons mixed with a little olive oil (and maybe a little citrus) makes a fantastic vegetable marinade, and spreading it all over the chicken (and letting it soften overnight) makes a deep-flavored bird with a golden hue. crispy skin. Want a quick pickle ? Mix a couple tablespoons (and a little dashi, if you have one) with almost any vegetable and let sit for 15 minutes or overnight; the longer you wait, the more fun your pickle will be.