Soy sauce plays a supporting role. However, the taste of both the ingredients and the dish will change dramatically depending on the soy sauce. Tasting the soy sauce at Matsumoto Shoyu Shoten, I was reminded of the depth of this seasoning.
Matsumoto Soy Sauce Shop has a long history.
One street off the main street of Kawagoe, a “little Edo” district crowded with tourists, is Matsumoto Soy Sauce Shop, which has a history of about 250 years. The store facing the street sells a wide variety of soy sauce-related products, including not only soy sauce, but also soy sauce-based dressings, rice crackers, pickles, and soy sauce ice cream such as gelato. Matsumoto Shoyu Shoten’s recommended product is ” Hatsukari Soy Sauce. This soy sauce is made with a lot of time and effort, and is known to be a favorite among restaurants throughout the country.
Matsumoto Soy Sauce Shop’s specialties and “Hatsukari Soy Sauce
Matsumoto Shoyu Shoten is committed to using locally produced ingredients, and uses groundwater from Chichibu to make soy sauce the old-fashioned way. Although we do not produce a large amount of soy sauce, we do not use any additives, and our top priority is to provide safe and reliable soy sauce, ” says Kihisa Higuchi of Matsumoto Shoyu Shoten.
In 1764, the wealthy merchant Yokota Gorobei began producing soy sauce, and in 1889, Matsumoto Shinjiro, the founder, took over the business, giving birth to Matsumoto Soy Sauce Shop. Entering the warehouse, which was built in 1868, one is enveloped by the gentle and mellow aroma of soy sauce. The 30 cedar vats lined up in the storehouse are also 180 years old. While soy sauce produced by machines is shipped after about six months, the soy sauce here is matured slowly over the course of a year. Hatsukari Soy Sauce, a speciality of the brewery, is re-brewed for another year to give it a mellow flavor.
Our soy sauce is made in this warehouse and cedar vats. The yeast and lactic acid bacteria that live in these vats give our soy sauce its mild flavor.
Just like a sake brewery that produces delicious sake, this soy sauce brewery is old, but not “old-fashioned” at all. When you take a sip of the moromi, you will taste the umami first, rather than the salty taste. For example, the same fish sashimi tastes much better with this soy sauce. As long as the wooden vats in this brewery are healthy, you will be able to enjoy this flavor. I hope that the traditional way of making soy sauce will be passed down to the next generation, and above all, I hope that the company will continue to devote all of its passion and skill to making soy sauce. Matsumoto Shoyu Shoten offers tours of their traditional soy sauce brewery.
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