”Miso” that can be eaten as is
Sendai ”miso” is a type of ”miso” which is made using the method from the brewery Masamune Date established near Sendai Castle to make ”miso”. Sendai ”miso” is salty and reddish in color, and has a rich flavor. It is also called ”namemiso”, because you can eat it as is.
The brewery of ”Sendai Miso” has a long history.
We visited Konno Jyouzou Co., Ltd. which makes Sendai ”miso”. The company has more than 100 years of history since its foundation, but it used to be a soy sauce manufacturer. ””Miso” used to be something you made at home.” Akio Konno, the president of the company who showed us around told us. Konno began making ”miso” after he took over as president.
How Sendai ”miso” is made.
Sendai ”miso” is made of soybeans and ”rice-koji”. When Konno Jyouzou Co., Ltd. started ”miso” production, even the domestic soybeans were not always of good quality. So they started cultivating their own soybean, asked for help from the local farmers to teach them about soybean growing, and started making ”miso”.
We visited the ”miso” factory, escorted by the factory manager, Goto. He climbed up a huge tank, took off the cover carefully, and presented Nakata with a handful of ”miso”.
”Have a taste. And smell it.”
It was ”miso” in the very beginning stages of maturing. It tasted still young. The aroma of soybeans was still strong.
”It will be allowed to mature for a long time, and the depth of taste and ”umami” will be brought out.” commented Goto. To make ”Especially for You”, one of the most popular products at Konno Jyouzou Co., Ltd., it takes two to three times longer to mature than standard products.
”Good ”miso” also looks good. And the reverse is also true. I can tell immediately that if it’s good when I see it.” Goto added, as he put the cover back on. The appearance and taste are proportional. He can also tell how much it has matured by the appearance.
Drink soy sauce?
We were shown to a different place for tasting ”miso”. When ”miso” is dissolved in hot ”dashi” water, we could appreciated the depth of Sendai ”miso”. ”Dashi” made from bonito goes best with Sendai ”miso”, we were told.
After ”miso” tasting, we had a very interesting experience. Tasting soy sauce.
Several bottles of soy sauce stood in a row and we had a taste comparison. It was interesting that Nakata and other members of the staff all chose different soy sauce as their favorite. According to Goto, soy sauce has so much variety in taste, sweet, salty, and others throughout the country, with many varieties just in the Tohoku area. For example, in and around Akita, a sweeter sauce is preferred. There is a tendency that ”amakuchi” is preferred in areas closer to the sea. Preference varies from region to region.
Different soy sauce for different food
Nakata commented ”The sauce I like is different when tasted on its own and when eaten with ”sashimi.” We normally don’t drink soy sauce straight. We usually dip some kind of food in the sauce.”
”That’s true. We usually dip something in soy sauce or pour it over food. We must always keep that in mind. I think there should be many kinds of soy sauce.”
Konno Jyouzou Co., Ltd. produces about 15 varieties of soy sauce to suit different situations. They even have soy sauce especially for ”sushi”. We often see soy sauce for ”sashimi” but not very often for ”sushi”.
The taste of food changes when the soy sauce changes. Different people have different preferences. If you try tasting different soy sauce varieties and figure out your preference, it may broaden your views about the whole food culture.
