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Soy and legumes from Japan

Hishio / moromi (grain-soy jiang eaten as a relish)醤

Hishio is the old Japanese family of salted, fermented pastes taken from Chinese jiang. Its grain-and-soy branch, koku-bishio, made from soybeans, grain and salt, is an ancestor of miso and shoyu. A Nara revival made since 2010 ferments koji of soybeans, barley and sorghum in brine.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Hishio / moromi itself. Its own sources do not record how it is made, so the steps and scenes below are those of Shōyu no mi (soy-sauce 'fruit' — koji moromi relish), the closest documented soy and legumes ferment, shown as a guide to the method, not as a record of Hishio / moromi.

Short entrySoy and legumes

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo historical amounts were found in the sources read.
Soybeans[SIC-miso2]
Grain (rice, wheat or barley)[SIC-miso2]
Salt[SIC-miso2]
Sake or sake leesOften added in the Nara-period koku-bishio[SIC-miso2]

Total time across the steps of Shōyu no mi (soy-sauce 'fruit' — koji moromi relish): 35 days – 36 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
Close-up: water moving into a bean

What changes: Washed soybeans soak a full day and night

Step 1 of 5 · steps of Shōyu no mi (soy-sauce 'fruit' — koji moromi relish)
Soak the soybeans a day and a night
Time
24 h
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Moulds

Output: soaked beans.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Hishio is the old Japanese family of salted, fermented pastes taken from Chinese jiang. Its grain-and-soy branch, koku-bishio, made from soybeans, grain and salt, is an ancestor of miso and shoyu. A Nara revival made since 2010 ferments koji of soybeans, barley and sorghum in brine.

What makes this one different

Koku-bishio (soy and grain hishio) is the ancestor of miso and shoyu; it is distinct from shishi-bishio (fish, shellfish and game) and kusa-bishio (vegetables and fruit). The Taihō code (701) set up an official bureau, the Hishio Tsukasa, for hishio and miso.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Kodai hishio (Nara)Revived in 2009–10 by a Nara food study group, the Nara industrial technology centre and the Nara shoyu co-op: soybeans, barley and sorghum are heat-treated, made into koji and fermented in brine (full method not published), then eaten as a seasoning or on rice.
  • Shishi-bishio and kusa-bishioThe meat-and-fish and the vegetable branches of Nara-period hishio.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The first written records of hishio date from the Nara period, in the Man'yōshū and the Shōsōin documents of 730–748, which mention a soybean hishio. The Engishiki of about 927 lists at least ten kinds of miso and hishio and records hishio paid to officials as part of their wages.

  1. [SIC-miso2] Shurtleff W., Aoyagi A., History of Miso and Soybean Jiang, SoyInfo Centerbook
  2. [JA-miso] Japanese Wikipedia, 味噌 (miso)wiki
  3. [MAFF-TF-kodaihisio-narasyouyu] MAFF, にっぽん伝統食図鑑 (Japan's traditional foods), 古代ひしお・奈良醤油 (Kodai hishio and Nara shoyu)gov