I'm a health-conscious person and always curious about fermentation. I've posted some fermented products here before, and today I'd like to introduce hishio kōji, which is a traditional fermented seasoning made from soybeans and buckwheat.

Since it's hard to find in stores, I make it on my own. Hishio kōji tastes like mixing soy sauce and miso because of one of ingredients, soy sauce. Compared to soy sauce, it has a milder flavor and less sodium. It contains lactic acid bacteria and yeast richly, which help improve intestinal environment. I often use it as a substitute of soy sauce.

Without further ado, let's make it!

Ingredients: soy sauce, hishio which is a type of starter made from soybeans and buckwheat that have been fermented for a year to eat, and umami (dried seaweed powder).

Making hishio kōji is very simple. You first mix soy sauce, hisio and umami into an enamel pod.

You stir it every day with a spatula for two to four weeks. It's up to the season. In the summer season, it ferments faster than the winter season. Since I took the photos of the passage of time, you can see how the fermentation develops. As it progress, it starts smell like alcohol. When it progresses deeper, the smell changes. It's always fascinating to watch.

The picture below shows the result after two weeks.

I store it in a clean jar and keep it in the fridge.

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