Soy Koji Vegetables and Tofu, and Salt Koji Pickles

Sounds like a grand claim, doesn’t it. I’m going out on a limb, predicting that once chefs and trend setters get their hands on this hard-to-find ingredient, they are going to be slapping it on everything. Remember when wasabi and edamame were unheard of, then they were in sushi bars, then they were on edgy, fusion-y menus, and now they are in every supermarket across the country?

Well, I predict that an unassuming looking little packet of something called “Kouji” is eventually going to follow that trajectory.

You see, I recently had lunch with my old friend Yukari Sakamoto, just back from Tokyo, and she gave me these packets of mysterious stuff. Labeled in Japanese, they had little screw tops, and one was white and lumpy, the other brown and chunky. She said, “You know koji, right?”

It may help to know that Yukari Sakamoto is the author of Food Sake Tokyo, and she blogs about her adventures in food here. She is also an expert on Sake and Sochu, and knows Japanese food intimately.

Of course, I did know that there is a koji culture that is used to make miso, sake, amasake, and other fermented foods. I’d always seen it as dried, chalky looking white rice, which was used almost like yogurt culture. DIY folks bought it at natural foods stores to make various Japanese “soul food” and macrobiotic stuff. So I said, “Yes, I know koji.”

So she handed them to me, and said, “Just mix it into stir-fry, coat some vegetables with it, use it like salt.”

Koji Packages

I stuffed it into my bag and got back to catching up and enjoying lunch with a beautiful family.

So it was later that I finally took a close look at these mysterious little bags. I googled it, and then I sent her an email. I needed a little bit more guidance.

I asked, “So I knew that koji was a culture used to ferment rice and soy, I didn’t realize it was a condiment. Would it be good in a braise?”

She responded: