In stark contrast to last year, the cold weather this spring continues. The snow on the mountains is not melting easily, so it looks like we'll be able to enjoy the beautiful snow-covered scenery for a while longer.
Vegetable growing is slowly starting, but there is some brewing work that needs to be done while the cold weather remains.
"Joshi" means "fermentation," which means using microorganisms to create the various things we need in our lives.
Soy sauce production is one of the many brewing jobs.
The ingredients of soy sauce are soybeans, rice (or barley), and salt.
Yes, it's that simple.
Koji mold is cultivated on these ingredients to act as a fermentation starter.
This year, we had the opportunity to make soy sauce together with the help of two people from Kamenoyama Farm, a nearby organic rice farmer. Every year, Pitara makes soy sauce using soybeans and barley, but these two are now using brown rice, roasting and grinding Sasashigure. Apparently, using brown rice also makes the soy sauce dregs taste even better.
This is the third year that the two people at Kamenoyama Farm have been making soy sauce. However, they have carefully prepared the environment, kept records, and meticulously prepared the ingredients, resulting in a beautifully finished soy sauce koji. I learned a lot from them.
The beautiful, light green soy sauce koji, freshly taken out of the room, is loosened and mixed, the densely packed spores are blown away, and then salt is mixed in, a process known as "shiokiri" (salt cutting), and the brewing process begins.
Put the soy sauce koji into a barrel, add spring water that you collected from Otaki Shrine the day before, stir well, and the preparation is complete.
You may be thinking, "What? It's over already?", but yes, it's over.
After this, the mixture is stirred once a day for about a month, and then the frequency of care is reduced to once a week, once a month, and so on, allowing it to slowly mature.
The mash, which has been aged for a year, is then squeezed to make soy sauce.
The two people at Kamenoyama Farm also own a soy sauce press, so this year they are planning to come to Pitara for a soy sauce pressing event. We are looking forward to it!
Speaking of brewing, I would like to report on the indigo dye "indigo" making that has been going on since last month, as well as the annual "stepping into the fermentation hotbed," so please look forward to the next issue!
