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Soy and legumes from Japan — Miyagi

Sendai miso (salty red rice miso)仙台味噌

Sendai miso is the salty red rice miso of Miyagi. Soybeans are steamed deep, mixed with well-aged rice koji at a low koji ratio and plenty of salt, tamped hard into vats and turned several times over months of ripening. A cool post-ripening finishes it.

Fully documentedSoy and legumes5.1 months

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceStandard proportions in the 1965 unified packing guide of the Miyagi miso and soy sauce cooperative, for miso shipped out of the prefecture. The 1988 revision allows more koji, and the guide sets the salt in the water phase at 21.5 %.
Soybeans100 kg[MATSUMOTO-1998]
Rice (for koji)70 kgGrown into well-aged rice koji, then mixed with salt (salt-cut koji)[MATSUMOTO-1998]
Salt46 kgGood-quality salt[MATSUMOTO-1998]
Seed water, a 12–13 % brineCalculated from the moisture of the beans, koji and salt[MATSUMOTO-1998]
Starterrice koji (米麹); the guide forbids seed miso and recommends adding lactic bacteria and yeast instead

Total time across the recorded steps: 5.1 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countMoulds32–42 °C

What changes: Koji mould grows over the steamed rice for about two days until well aged

Step 1 of 6
Grow well-aged rice koji
Time
42 h – 2 days
Set
Temperature
32–42 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Moulds
Lactic acid bacteria
Yeasts

Making the koji a little over-aged is part of the style. The guide gives turning points at 36–37 °C (piling), 38–39 °C and 40–42 °C. Output: rice koji, crumbled and mixed with the salt.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

koji mould grows into the rice and makes the enzymes that give the miso its taste

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

Sendai miso is the salty red rice miso of Miyagi. Soybeans are steamed deep, mixed with well-aged rice koji at a low koji ratio and plenty of salt, tamped hard into vats and turned several times over months of ripening. A cool post-ripening finishes it. Made in 6 steps over 5.1 months. The longest step, ferment and turn, takes at least 4 months (Matsumoto I 1998) and runs at up to 30 °C (Matsumoto I 1998). Salt is 21.5 % (Matsumoto I 1998). Koji mould on rice and Added lactic acid bacteria and yeast do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 4 monthsSet[MATSUMOTO-1998]Ferment and turn
Temperatureup to 30 °CSet[MATSUMOTO-1998]Ferment and turn
Salt21.5 %Set[MATSUMOTO-1998]Cool the beans and mix with the salted koji and seed water

What makes this one different

Sendai miso uses little koji and a lot of salt, so it ripens slowly and depends on the koji enzymes for its taste. The beans are steamed deep and only coarsely crushed, the mash is tamped hard and turned several times, and a cool post-ripening finishes it. The Aichi type table gives salty red rice miso koji at 5–10, 11–13 % salt and 3–12 months [aichi-itc]. Shinshu miso uses a similar koji ratio but ripens short and stays pale.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Naturally brewed Sendai misoRipened at outdoor temperatures with no heating; turned in midsummer, at least twice [MATSUMOTO-1998].

Safety

Its high salt keeps it stable through months of ripening. The packing guide forbids hot packing and seed miso, and it adds sorbate, alcohol or heat only at shipping to stop packs from swelling.

History and sources

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

Tradition holds that the miso Date Masamune took to Korea kept better than other lords' miso, and that he later built a miso works (goenso-gura) in Sendai. In the mid-17th century the domain's Edo mansion at Ōi brewed the same miso and sold its surplus in Edo. Sendai miso became a regional collective trademark in 2007 [MAFF-TF-sendaimiso]. The unified packing guide was written in 1965 after five years of trial brewing, and revised in 1968 and 1988 [MATSUMOTO-1998].

  1. [MATSUMOTO-1998] Matsumoto I., Kumai K. 1998, 赤色辛口味噌 越後味噌・仙台味噌 (salty red rice miso: Echigo and Sendai miso), J. Brew. Soc. Japan 93(12):932–941, doi:10.6013/jbrewsocjapan1988.93.932 (the Sendai part, by Kumai, summarises the cooperative's unified packing guide)paper
  2. [MIYAGI-2019] Hanyū Y., Koyama S., Sakurai K., Hatanaka S. 2019, 仙台味噌における麹等の品質管理技術の確立 (quality control of koji for Sendai miso), Research Report of the Miyagi Prefectural Industrial Technology Institute 16gov
  3. [MAFF-TF-sendaimiso] MAFF, にっぽん伝統食図鑑 (Japan's traditional foods), 仙台味噌 (Sendai miso)gov
  4. [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