Soy sauce in Japan

[Akiko]

I think that is enough of an endorsement for me . There are a few places out there selling a few of the issues and I'm going to order them. Shame, I'd much rather watch the anime but I don't have a multiregional dvd player (I should really get one).

[_john]

I think that is enough of an endorsement for me  .  There are a few places out there selling a few of the issues and I'm going to order them.  Shame, I'd much rather watch the anime but I don't have a multiregional dvd player (I should really get one).

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offtopic:

if anyone knows where to order the dvd online in Japan I would love to know about it. great manga, great anime. i think it is educational, in the way that iron chef is educational

[Hiroyuki]

I think that is enough of an endorsement for me  .  There are a few places out there selling a few of the issues and I'm going to order them.  Shame, I'd much rather watch the anime but I don't have a multiregional dvd player (I should really get one).

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offtopic:

if anyone knows where to order the dvd online in Japan I would love to know about it. great manga, great anime. i think it is educational, in the way that iron chef is educational

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I wonder if their DVDs have been released... I have just checked both the Amazon and Rakuten sites, but I can't find any.

[Hiroyuki]

I was reading about kijoyu or namashoyu which is unpasteurized shoyu. does anyone have any experience with unpasteurized shoyu? I'm curious about the taste difference (and the price difference).

Sorry, no. It's way too expensive for me to buy...

I also was wondering how I can tell the difference between normal shoyu (koikuchi shoyu) that is produced in the traditional manner from those that are produced using shortcuts. Is price always a good indicator or is there something similar to "certified organic" that distinguishes these types?

What do you mean by "shortcut"? Tamari shoyu takes three years to make, while koikuchi shoyu takes six months to make. How long does it take to make those "shortcut" shoyu?

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someone told me that by using chemicals the process be shortened to as few as 2 months. This is just hearsay so I'm not entirely sure.

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I think I know what they mean, and I managed to find one source of information:

http://mrs_yang.hellokitty.ne.jp/blog/d/10108567.html

This blogger visited the Kikkoman plant in Noda city. She had read the comic book "Oishinbo", in which "sokusei" (accelerated?) soy sauce was mass produced using defatted soybeans, which was unsavory and flavorless because it wasn't brewed, and she thought that Kikkoman would make shoyu the same way. She was wrong. They took as long as eight months to make shoyu. She later learned that in the postwar period until the 1980s, they seemed to produce shoyu in a similar way, but in the 1990s and after, they stopped making such inferior shoyu and started to make efforts to make real, savory shoyu.

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that makes sense. I actually consider kikkoman soy sauce to have quite good flavor. I've read the first 10 volumes of Oishinbo I wonder which volume is about soy sauce.

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55, if I remember correctly.

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Correction: Episode 5 in Volume 3, according to this site.

[budrichard]

I purchased this at our local Mitsuwa. It was quite expensive. We did a blind tasting with a range of Kikkomen from Japan and the US including one Kikkomen 'Chef's Choice'. This one was preferred over all. I think a label around the bottle is gone but I seem to remember that this is an aged shoyu in cedar barrels. Am I correct and what does the label tell one? Thanks-Dick

[Hiroyuki]

That's a great shoyu, budrichard!!

It's a product of Marushima Shoyu. The ingredients are soy beans, wheat, and salt only , and are brewed in cedar barrels, as you say.

The second label says:

穀醤 (Koku Hishio): Product name

古式伝統醸造: Ancient, traditional brew

瀬戸内海　小豆島: Shodo Shima (Shodo Island), Seto Nai Kai (Seto Inland Sea)

超特選: Super select

I've never had a shoyu that good!

[budrichard]

Thanks for the reply. There must have been another label in English around the bottle because i remember the website picture you provided the link to.

The bottle is empty but I am going to take it to Mitsuwa, the next time I go to purchase another. It is certainly the best I have ever tasted. We used a variety of shoyu with bonito extract for sashimi/sushi before finding this one. Now that's all we use for dipping. I think it's too expensive to cook with! -Dick

[budrichard]

Could not purchase the same shoyu. This one is supposed to be made by the same company but due to the price, I don't think that it is aged in cedar vats like the other. Any commnets from the label? -Dick

[Hiroyuki]

Not by the same company but by Fundokin, headquartered in Ooita prefecture.

I'm not sure if it is aged in cedar barrels or not; the company's website doesn't say anything about it. But still, your soy sauce is much, much better than regular ones.

It's made with whole soy beans (not generically modified), wheat, and sun-dried salt, and aged with traditional techniques for about 12 months, as compared with about 6 months for regular dark soy sauce. No additives are used.

Hmm... I keep buying regular, cheap ones...

[budrichard]

Thanks for the prompt reply and assistance!

We had a little of the first shoyu left and did a blind tasting comparison. Three of three individuals picked the first shoyu over the one I just posted about. The flavor is more intense. If you get a chance to try that shoyu, please do. -Dick

[budrichard]

The shoyu from Fundokin that we purchased was used for sashimi for two seperate times. The conclusion from my son and i is that it is actually too strong. We had to dip just little of a piece of fish or otherwise it overwhelmed even Maguro. No email back from Marushima so I don't know a US importer for thier shoyu. -Dick

[feedmec00kies]

I was hoping for some information on this one. It was discounted at a local Japanese market (from about 15 dollars to 6), so I figured I might try it. I assume that it's because the date on the bottle says "08.02.14" which I take to mean this February, which would be why it was discounted. Still, I couldn't help being curious.

Ignore how the background looks like I was trying. It was just because my boyfriend was trying to take a good picture of a bottle for reference on Ratebeer. Unfortunately, that means he didn't get a good close picture of the label, but I can take one later if necessary/requested.

Anyway, the importer's label on the back says, "Igeta Yubikiri Shoyu Yukimaru", and lists the ingredients as "Soysauce [sic] (soybean, wheat, salt)."

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated!

Edited January 30, 2008 by feedmec00kies (log)

[helenjp]

"Naturally Fermented

WHOLE SOYBEAN SHOUYU

Made with: organic soybeans, organic wheat"

The red seal says "Izumo: Yubikiri genman" ([from]Izumo, a cross-my-heart promise). This brand is for organic, no-preservatives products.

Yubikiri genman is a brand owned by shoyu and shoyu-based seasonings manufacturer Igeta, based in Izumo.

"Whole soybeans" means fermented from regular, dried soybeans, not from defatted soybean meal.

[Hiroyuki]

the date on the bottle says "08.02.14" which I take to mean this February, which would be why it was discounted.

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Yes, 08.02.14 means February 12, 2008.

In Japan, we usually use this format: YY.MM.DD.

Judging from the official website of the manufacturer, it' a very good product!

[prasantrin]

Because the soy sauce doesn't contain preservatives, once you open it you should use it relatively quickly. I'd definitely keep it in the fridge.

[torakris]

This new product sounds intriguing, if I find it in a store I may just give it a try:

Soy sauce-sauce for ice cream (アイスクリームにかける醤油）

Earlier this year Nestle put out a soy sauce flavored Kit Kat, I wonder if soy is the new sweet?

[smallworld]

I wonder if soy is the new sweet?

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A natural extension of the recent popularity of salty sweets? Actually, it might not be so new, as one of my all-time favourite wagashi, kurumi yubeshi, is flavoured with soy sauce.

I wonder what other traditional sweets use soy sauce?

[prasantrin]

One of my students mentioned trying soy sauce ice cream, and she said it was really good.

If you look at things like mitarashi dango, or the New Year's treat of toasted mochi with soy sauce and sugar, the idea of using soy in sweets is not so much of a stretch.

[smallworld]

Oh yeah, dango! I'm not a fan of mitarashi dango, as the sauce is usually way too sweet and the sticky texture is kind of gross. I prefer plain shoyu-dango, but as it's not sweet at all I guess it doesn't count.

So what's this soy sauce sugar mochi? We do isobe with soy sauce and nori (and sometimes cheese ) and kinako mochi with kinako and sugar, and there's no mixing of the two. Never even considered it. Am I missing out?

[prasantrin]

So what's this soy sauce sugar mochi? We do isobe with soy sauce and nori (and sometimes cheese ) and kinako mochi with kinako and sugar, and there's no mixing of the two. Never even considered it. Am I missing out?

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My first oshogatsu in Japan, my friend's family introduced me to yaki-mochi with soy sauce and sugar. It's a very common thing, I think, as whenever I tell Japanese people I like yaki-mochi with butter and sugar, they say, "Ehhhhhhh??!??!?! Soy sauce and sugar! Not butter and sugar!!!"

[Hiroyuki]

For the record, I use soy sauce only. NO SUGAR! I'm a Kanto man, and I think adding sugar is practiced in some areas of Japan (Kansai?, Tohoku?).

[prasantrin]

For the record, I use soy sauce only.  NO SUGAR!  I'm a Kanto man, and I think adding sugar is practiced in some areas of Japan (Kansai?, Tohoku?).

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It's definitely Kansai, I think, because that's where I first learned it, and the people I've spoken with at my current place of employment (Hyogo-ken) know it, as well.

But my friends from Nagasaki and Tochigi (I think Tochigi is Kanto, but it's practically Tohoku ) eat it, too.

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

I'm going to agree with Hiroyuki on this one... I'll pass on the shoyu and sugar on my mochi. Shoyu alone, yes. Sugar alone, yes, but not both at once. My husband and older 3 kids eat their mochi with shoyu and sugar though.

When I was a child, my grandmother used to buy 10-12 pounds of mochi from mochitsuki (a fundraiser) at the Buddhist temple she attends in Los Angeles. She was always horrified that my brother and I would pull a piece of mochi out of the freezer, microwave it until soft, and sprinkle sugar on it. That was something that I think my dad (not Japanese) taught us to do.

[prasantrin]

She was always horrified that my brother and I would pull a piece of mochi out of the freezer, microwave it until soft, and sprinkle sugar on it. That was something that I think my dad (not Japanese) taught us to do.

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You should have pulled out the butter and sugar at least once! Every Japanese person I've met has been pretty horrified at the idea of butter and sugar with toasted moch, but once they've tried it, they liked it! At least the younger generations do...maybe the older generations with more traditional taste buds wouldn't care for it so much.

I have to admit, though, the idea of microwaved mochi horrifies me, as well!

[RAHiggins1]

I've found a Shiro Tamari (white soy sauce) but have not found where to order it outside of contacting this company.