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Soy and legumes from Japan — Yamagata

Shōnai miso庄内味噌

Shōnai miso is the rice miso of the Shōnai plain in Yamagata. A school food sheet describes it as a "shikkari" (solid, well-defined) white miso made with a large share of rice koji. No source read gives its koji ratio, salt or ripening time.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Shōnai miso itself. Its own sources do not record how it is made, so the steps and scenes below are those of Sendai miso (salty red rice miso), the closest documented soy and legumes ferment, shown as a guide to the method, not as a record of Shōnai miso.

Short entrySoy and legumes

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedWhat goes in. No source gives amounts for this ferment.
soybeans
rice koji
salt

Total time across the steps of Sendai miso (salty red rice miso): 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 · steps of Sendai miso (salty red rice miso)
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
Yeasts
Lactic acid bacteria

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

Shōnai miso is the rice miso of the Shōnai plain in Yamagata. A school food sheet describes it as a "shikkari" (solid, well-defined) white miso made with a large share of rice koji. No source read gives its koji ratio, salt or ripening time.

What makes this one different

The same sheet lists the nearby Aizu and Akita misos as red and salty; Shōnai miso is described as having a lot of rice koji and as white.

Related ferments

History and sources

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

  1. [TSC-2017] Tokyo Seiei College, 日本各地のいろいろな味噌 (student nutrition sheet), 2017web