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Soy and legumes from Japan — Toyama

Etchū miso (Toyama rice-koji miso)越中味噌

Etchū miso is the rice-koji miso of Toyama. Boiled, mashed soybeans are mixed with plenty of rice koji and salt, packed into wooden tubs that are only lidded, not weighted, and aged six months to a year. The result is moist, rather salty and high in koji, and it dissolves quickly in soup.

Fully documentedSoy and legumes6.1 months – 12 months

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe usual proportions of Toyama farm home miso surveyed from 1955; the survey found this formula too salty and low in protein, and recommended a less salty, karakuchi-style formula.
Soybeans10 partsBoiled and mashed[Kubota1958]
Rice koji10 parts[Kubota1958]
Salt10 parts[Kubota1958]
Seed water5 parts[Kubota1958]
Starterrice koji, made by sprinkling koji mould on steamed rice in a koji room

Total time across the recorded steps: 6.1 months – 12 months

Start
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What changes: Soybeans boil, cool a little and are mashed

Step 1 of 5
Boil and mash the soybeans
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Moulds

The 1950s farm survey found many households boiled the beans too briefly, which slowed ripening. Output: mashed soybeans, cooled.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
mashed
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

boiling kills most microbes

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

Etchū miso is the rice-koji miso of Toyama. Boiled, mashed soybeans are mixed with plenty of rice koji and salt, packed into wooden tubs that are only lidded, not weighted, and aged six months to a year. The result is moist, rather salty and high in koji, and it dissolves quickly in soup. Made in 5 steps over 6.1 months – 12 months. The longest step, age, takes 6–12 months (MAFF). Koji mould, sprinkled on cooled steamed rice to make rice koji does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step6–12 monthsReported[MAFF-TF-kome_kozi_miso]Age
Temperature30 °CReported[MAFF-TF-kome_kozi_miso]Grow rice koji in a koji room

What makes this one different

Etchū miso is lidded but not weighted, so it stays moist, and it uses more koji than most salty rice misos. The Aichi type table gives salty light-coloured rice miso, the class that includes Hokuriku miso, a koji ratio of 5–10 and 11–13 % salt [aichi-itc].

Related ferments

Variants

  • Koshi misoPassed through a fine strainer before sale into a smooth cream [MAFF-TF-kome_kozi_miso].
  • Tsubu misoSoybean and rice grains are left whole [MAFF-TF-kome_kozi_miso].
  • Uki-kōji misoOnly the soybeans are strained; the koji grains stay whole and float in the miso [MAFF-TF-kome_kozi_miso].

Safety

High salt keeps the miso stable through months of ageing. Too little salt let a trial batch turn sour soon after packing [Kubota1958].

History and sources

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

Toyama once had many koji shops where households had their miso made. As home miso making declined, the koji shops became miso makers. The prefectural soy sauce and miso co-operative was founded in 1947, and a koji-shop group won a MAFF food-culture award in 2013 [MAFF-TF-kome_kozi_miso]. A 1958 study of Toyama farm miso found it low in protein, high in salt and water, and slow to ripen [Kubota1958].

  1. [MAFF-TF-kome_kozi_miso] MAFF, にっぽん伝統食図鑑 (Japan's traditional foods), 米こうじ味噌 (Toyama rice-koji miso)gov
  2. [Kubota1958] Kubota N. 1958, 富山県下の農村自家用味噌の欠点とその改良法について (faults of farm home-made miso in Toyama and their improvement), Nōsan Kakō Gijutsu Kenkyūkaishi 5(3):130–131, doi:10.3136/nskkk1953.5.130paper
  3. [aichi-itc] Itō M., 日本の伝統的発酵調味料である味噌について (On miso), Aichi Center for Industry and Science Technology, Food News No. 16, p. 3; type table adapted from みそ技術ハンドブックgov