inigoaguirre

Hi, I first blanch the albedo (the white part of citrus) changing the water and blanching again until i get rid of most of its bitterness and puree it with the juice and the rind in order to a cream that jellifies thanks to the pectin in the albedo, i sometimes also use olive oil in the mix and even miso... the uses, almost anything, aromatizing a sherbet, for fish tartar... check this links on my blog: Tuna tartar with comlete kumquat gel Lemon servet also with kumquat salmon with red orange and miso gel:

Hey Nathan, in case i'm not too late, try and roast the weat, all good qualities soy sauces are elaborated this way, producers say that it helps to darken the sauces andit also intensifies the taste cheers and please keep post your process!!

hi takadi, great news! please let me know how you use it. you can buy and see info re. the cooking temp controller here: http://auberins.com/index.php?main_page=pr...&products_id=44 It’s a great device normally used for sous vide cooking (cooking a vacuum packed product at a very precise temp inside a water bath). There's a very interesting doc there on the basis on sv cooking. The device it’s very easy to use. The rice cooker is plugged in to the temp cooking controller (which is plugged to the wall) in order to control the flow of electricity. It also has a thermometer that measures the temperature of the rice cooker pot so that you could set the temperature and program a timer. You can find a better explanation at their site (copied from the page): It can be used to precisely control the temperature of a cooking pot such as rice cooker, slow cooker or table top roaster. The temperature range of the cooking device can be controlled from 5 degree above the ambient to 250 F (140C) with one degree precision and stability. Operating the temperature controller is easy: plug the cooker to the output socket of the controller on the back, drop the sensor into the pot from top and place the cover, turn on the controller and cooker, set the cooking temperature and timer. It will do the rest of job for you. When finished, the timer will display END and turn on the beeper to tell you the food is ready.

Final process on soy sauce making: filtering and pasteurization After the long process of fermentation and, for the past 6 months, almost daily stirring the moromi (the fermented mix of soy, flour and brine) while sunning at my terrace, the mash has darkened considerably and seemed a good moment to filter and pasteurize the soy sauce. Its interesting to see how a hotter climate (Spain vs Canada) and 3 extra months fermentation affects the final product, (comparing to that of Canucklehead’s soy sauce) both in terms of aroma and colour. After filtering through increasingly smaller holes, (first a normal colander, then through a sieve and finally a smaller filter, I have obtained a dark soy sauce, just a tone lighter than the colour of any industrial shoyzu with added brown - reddish tones. (I have obtained only 4’5 litres of soy sauce out of 9 litres of moromi). You can see here the miso and the filtered soy sauce before pasteurization here: There are no mayor changes in terms of colour and aroma in the soy sauce before and alter pasteurization. The mayor difference is that before pasteurization it is more difficult to separate the fat from the rest of the liquid. In terms of flavour, the soy sauce has richer and more complex aromas, with notes that remind of a strong miso and ordinary shoyzu. Still, it’s less salty than ordinary shoyzu. I have found no flavours like fermented fish sauce in the process as that of Canucklehead’s. In order not to kill off aromas through heating, I have pasteurized the sauce for 3 hours at 70º Celsius, which is enough to kill off any harmful bacteria. I have used a device attached to a rice cooker that maintains a precise temperature through time. It is perfect for sous vide cooking, but it has other thousands applications. While pasteurization the liquid divided into 3: The fat separated and formed a very thin film on top of the soy sauce The liquid became clearer And the solid remaining floated beautifully on the sauce as if it were miso on a soup. After this process the sauce went through a final filtering process and also had to skim off the fat with a consommé de-fattening jar (the fat floats on the surface and remains in the jar while pouring). Foto jarra This are photos of the 2 soy sauces, the first being the unpasteurized one (with small fat granules still floating in the sauce; you might notice that the soy sits in the base of the bowl adapting an irregular shape) and the second pasteurized and skimmed of the soy oil. And the very final product, the soy sauce bottled and labeled:

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Although the short answer is 16-30% salt to water ratio, this is a kind reply from a person working at Kikkoman Europe re. this very same matter: Dear Mr. Inigo Aguirre, First of all, we thank you for your inquiry made to us and your interest in making soy sauce by your self for educational purpose. As per your inquiry, I’m happy to reply although this may not be enough information to you. It all depends on what kind of soy sauce (salty, light etc.) you intend to make, but we suggest that you use 30g of salt per 100ml of water to use. I hope you would find a way to make it successfully. Best regards, And this is just an extract from another mail replying to my query on the minimum % of salt that should be used for light salted soy sauce: For your information, it is recommended that you use at least 15 to 16% of salt against water, otherwise Moromi mash can be decayed.

hi there, yes, when i poured the brine i marked the water level, i add more mineral water and as it evaporates. i think that the aspergillus is not salt resistant, but the encimes produced by the aspergillus are (only on brines under 30% salt concentration).

thanks! doent octopus become more chewy when you leave it in vinegar? from my experience the muscle seems to contract when exposed to an acid another question (sorry, i dont speak japanese) how is the octopus reconstituted?

hi there, i have just bought some dried octopus in lisbon. so far the only think i have been able to think of is the basic browning and slicing, as a snack with a vinagrette and a beer... i have also did a stock, but it just tasted as normal octopus stock; i was specting a stronger aroma and flavour. has anyone any ideas on how to prepare this dried octopus? thanks a lot, íñigo sorry, cant upload the pictures. you can click here on my blog to view the photos: http://inigoaguirre.wordpress.com/2008/05/...bfesto-se-come/

the purpose of the salt brine is to kill the mold and maintain the enzimes it produced alive and fermenting. icheck this "recepie" on the book of miso on google books (making traditional japanese shoyzu): http://books.google.es/books?id=N3EJorOxXt...dJ-Go#PPA184,M1

i just used normal soy beans and flour. re: ratio solid ing in proportion to the water: i used just enough water to cover the solid ingredients. i don't think that using old soy sauce would help much. the mold develops on its own... and its killed when introduced into the salt brine. the yeast will naturally ocurr with the addition of wheat flour.

i have new pictures after 3 weeks sunning... the weather has not been too good, but apparently it will improove from now onwards. the liquid is getting much darker, and hopefully the weather will help with the process. as you can see, a part of the soy and flour mix is dissolving and sinking at the bottom. will post more pictures soon. i'm not sure you can see the pictures... i'm new at egullet. in case you cant, you could see it on my blog: umami madrid sorry cant upload them. can anyone help me uploading the pictures? cheers

And, for the love of gawd, don't slice habaneros, then go to the bathroom! ← and never, ever have sex after handling very, very hot peppers

i guess so but i really couldn't tell

i supposse i will be trying until the taste seems good enough to stop fermenting. for me it will be a question of trying and and error (or not!)