Interesting Japanese Salts

Michael Laiskonis · October 1, 2003

Knowing my obsession for odd salts and sugars and powders of various sorts, my boss, Takashi, just returned from Japan, with some fun things for me to play with. I long ago forgot the hiragana, katakana, and the handful of kanji characters I learned in high school, so I can't make any sense of what the labelling might offer in the way of info. Until I can get a thorough translation...

ume-shio Where exactly does the plum figure in? How is it made? In what is it used?

kaiso-shio Or 'seaweed salt.' From which variety of seaweed? How is it made? In what is it used?

sanso-shio (Oxygen salt?) This is simply an extremely fine powdered salt. The illustrations suggest it is an all purpose seasoning. Any special significance?

A fourth salt, which even Takashi didn't have a name for, but he described it as salt that had been stuffed into bamboo, then burned- the resulting ash apparently having some significance. He went on to explain that some will add a spoonful to water and take it as a 'blood cleanser.' Not so much smoky in flavor, but more an aroma and flavor of sulfur and ammonia, like a hard boiled egg whose time has passed. What the hell is this?! Any culinary uses?

And finally, he brought me a bag of wansanbon, of which I have long been curious, but had never seen nor tried. I understand that it undergoes a complex method of refinement, and that traditionally it seems to be simply pressed into small candies... Any sources for detailed info or other traditional/potential uses?

margaret · October 1, 2003

I just did a google search to see what I could find on these - they sound interesting.

The ume-shio seems to be made from ume that are salt preserved for about a month, until they begin to seep a yellow-ish juice they call white plum vinegar. Then the resulting juice is left to air dry for another half month, leaving behind the ume-shio.

http://store.yahoo.co.jp/ume1/8080.html

This web page recommends using it on tempura, grilled meats and fish, o-musubi and other rice dishes, etc. I can imagine it being nice on tempura.

This is an interesting page about the kaiso-shio. It lists the steps for making it, which seem to be:

Soak some seaweed (something called hondawara? Maybe Kristin knows?) in sea water, let it air dry on a rock. Repeat this process three times.

Allow the seaweed to dry. Roast it to ash in a fire. Mix the ash with the concentratd seawater. Strain it through a piece of cloth.

Transfer the water to a clay vessel, boil over a fire. The salt will begin to accumulate at the bottom of the pot. Take it off the fire quickly once all liquid is gone, and voila! kaiso-shio.

This web page suggests using it on roasted potatoes.

I haven't been able to find much on the other products you mentioned - I'll see what else I can dig up.

Where in Japan did your friend get these?

Edited for spelling problems.

Edited October 1, 2003 by margaret (log)

jhlurie · October 1, 2003

Geez. Did a search for all topics on eG with "Salt" in the topic title and boy have we pounded the topic. But Michael's proved there's always something new under the sun, 'cause I don't see anything on Japanese salts at all.

By the way... Welcome to Shio Town! :biggrin: I'm a little confused about the word "shio" though, it appears to mean both "salt" and/or "rapid current in the sea". Is there some different emphasis or is it really the same word?

This blogster talks about his attempts to find Green Tea Salt--shio macha. Turns out it simply Green Tea powder mixed with ordinary salt. :raz: So I guess sometimes these things turn out to be pretty, er... obvious.

Edited October 1, 2003 by jhlurie (log)

ankomochi · October 1, 2003

A fourth salt, which even Takashi didn't have a name for, but he described it as salt that had been stuffed into bamboo, then burned- the resulting ash apparently having some significance. He went on to explain that some will add a spoonful to water and take it as a 'blood cleanser.' Not so much smoky in flavor, but more an aroma and flavor of sulfur and ammonia, like a hard boiled egg whose time has passed. What the hell is this?! Any culinary uses?

I did a google search and found that it is TAKESHIO, bamboo salt. Takeshio is a traditional Korean Salt, made by monks about 1300 years ago. It has more mineral than regular sea salt. You can use it as bath salt; you can massage your body with takeshio. Takeshio Soap is used at Spa in Korea. For culinary purpose, you can use it as regular salt -- kimchi, tsukemono, salda dressing,

For Wansanbon, it might be Korean salt.... I have no idea....

torakris · October 1, 2003

‚h@will answer what I can. I don't know too much about salt and admit the salts I have in my house are Morton's kosher, Morton's table and Maldon sea salt! :shock:

I have eaten both ume-shio and kaiso-shio they are normally served like condiments or "dips" to be sprinkled on foods or have the foods dipped into them. They are popular with deep fried foods and rice and pickles, other salts used this way include goma-shio (mix of sesame seeds and salt), sanshou-shio (mix of Japanese "peppercorn" and salt) and matcha-shio (mix of green tea and salt).

Thank you Margaret for explaining the process of making them I had no idea.

Hondawara is a type of seaweed and it is also the name of a family of seaweeds of which hijiki is part.

As to jlurie's question about the word shio and dual meanings, yes both the word salt and the word for tide are the same pronunciation but the character for writing them is different. shio for salt is ‰– and shio for tide is ’ª@Athere are a lot of words in Japanese that are pronounced the same but have different characters for writing. For example the word kami means paper, hair and god! My absolute favorite dual meaning word (my friend and I discovered this when we were 3rd year Japanese students) is reikishi, the most common usage is the word history but it can also mean to come to an untimely death by being run over by a train! :blink:

sanso-shio and the take-shio I am not familiar with and I will see what I can find.

wansanbon I am not familiar with either, is there anyway you can post the characters for it?

Michael Laiskonis · October 2, 2003

Thanks to all for your contributions- it will be a great help to me!

As for the wansanbon, I should have been more clear; it is a form of sugar- one that is highly refined and at least here in the US, isn't so easy to procure. I know there have been some Food Arts articles that have made mention, but I thought I'd tap this group for info before I start digging through my files!

torakris · October 2, 2003

Thanks to all for your contributions- it will be a great help to me!
As for the wansanbon, I should have been more clear; it is a form of sugar- one that is highly refined and at least here in the US, isn't so easy to procure. I know there have been some Food Arts articles that have made mention, but I thought I'd tap this group for info before I start digging through my files!

the sugar you are looking for is called

wasanbon (there is no n after the wa) the characters look like this

˜aŽO–~

The only way I know of using it is in these pressed shaped wagashi thingies :blink:

picture:

http://www.hohgetsubo.com/kiwa_omo.htm

Later today I should see a friend of mine who owns a French style bakery with her husband who also grew up in a wagashi-ya-san family, they should know something about it.

torakris · October 2, 2003

wasanbon now has its own thread:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST...ST&f=19&t=28869

okinawaChris · June 1, 2005

I'm interested in finding the best salt to use on Yakitori. After researching the web, I've come up with a few leads such as:

Salt from Shizuoka

Nazuna Sea Salt

Are there true differences or are these more of a marketing ploy. Is there a specific type or region famous for their salt? Is Sea Salt best? Also, is the chicken salted prior to being put to the fire, or as it is being grilled? Thanks in advance for any advice!

torakris · June 2, 2005

Is there any place in Japan that doesn't make salt?? :hmmm:

Even my mid-sized supermarkets have about 20 types.....

I have bought various salts over the years and found very slight differences in taste, mostly in the level of "saltiness". Favorites is really going to come down to personal preference.

I think some of the most famous ones are the salts from Noto, Ishikawa Prefecture and anything from Okinawa.

Hiroyuki · June 2, 2005

There is really no single salt suitable for yakitori. Every yakitori-ya (yakitori shop) uses the one that they think the best for them. For example, this yakitori-ya (Japanese only) uses salt from Fujian, China, and this one (Japanese only) uses salt from South Australia.

After all, any salt will be accepted as long as it's not table salt.

Also, is the chicken salted prior to being put to the fire, or as it is being grilled?

There are basically two types of yakitori, shio (salt) and tare (sauce). To make shio yakitori, you sprinkle salt on yakitori immediately before grilling and sprinkle additional salt while grilling as needed. To make tare yakitori, you need not sprinkle salt.

torakris · June 2, 2005

You could probably use any salt except for table salt (bland) and tsukemono-you (salts for tsukemono) because they tend to be really wet and clump together.

Japan also has a really nice selection of flavored salts, maybe you could try some of those.

There's an idea for a restaurant, a yakitori shop where the entire menu is just different kinds of salt.... :biggrin:

okinawaChris · June 2, 2005

You've read my mind! Being in the restaurant business, I am researching all the time. I've tracked down Jidori being produced in California and I know I want a "location identified" salt from Japan. Having various salts for different types of Yakitori is a great idea. I'll have to name one special menu item the "ToraKris"!

I've tried the sea salts produced locally down here in the south and they are very good. It's all coming together....great Jidori, special salts from Japan, a good Awamori & Sake list....now if I can find Bincho charcoal that doesn't cost an arm and a leg in the states I'd be set!

Then again, if I stay longer in Japan, I can switch to my Burger and Apple Pie business idea as we are sadly lacking in that true American cultural cuisine here.

You could probably use any salt except for table salt (bland) and tsukemono-you (salts for tsukemono) because they tend to be really wet and clump together.
Japan also has a really nice selection of flavored salts, maybe you could try some of those.
There's an idea for a restaurant, a yakitori shop where the entire menu is just different kinds of salt....
←

smallworld · June 3, 2005

Then again, if I stay longer in Japan, I can switch to my Burger and Apple Pie business idea as we are sadly lacking in that true American cultural cuisine here.
←

Oh, please stay in Japan longer then. I really miss real apple pie!

JasonTrue · August 2, 2005

I posted about cooking with matcha in the Cooking forum earlier today. I've been doing more matcha cuisine recently, and it turned out to coincide neatly with this month's Is My Blog Burning? theme.

Actually I ended up with a little more matcha salt than I really need. So I'm wondering if anyone has some other ideas on what to do with it. The obvious thing is tempura, but I've done that already. Assuming no other inspiration, I'll just use it on some fresh oborodoufu or something. (I'm vegetarian, but there's no reason to restrict your ideas to animal-free cuisine).

Based on trade show experiences and dining out on trips, flavored salts seem to be slightly in trend for the last year and a half or so in Japan, and the ones I remember best, due to my own personal biases, are yuzu salt, matcha salt, and various gray, black and red salts from Vietnam, Hawaii, and so on. Of course the very fine yuki-shio was nice for tempura also. (I've also been using a truffle salt imported by another Seattle couple, which must be fun with tempura). I like the truffle salt with my eggs, but I can't see that working for the matcha-jio or yuzu-shio.

So I am wondering if anyone has other interesting uses for these seasoned salts. My girlfriend suggested using on the rim of a cocktail glass for a mixed drink with my matcha gin... I'm not sure it would serve the same purpose that salt does against the grapefruit juice on a salty dog or the lime juice on a margarita, though. I also can't bring myself to mix matcha and most fruit juices yet.

Below: A photo of the tempura, pasta and cheesecake I made with matcha... more photos and details on my blog.

torakris · August 2, 2005

As usual, gorgeous pictures Jason!

I can't think of too much to do with matcha salt besides tempura or tofu as I haven't really figured out ways to work with matcha in savory dishes.

The yuzu salt sounds like it would be wonderful sprinkled onto grilled fish/chicken or a plate of steamed/grilled/sauteed vegetables.

yimay · August 18, 2005

how about some homemade chocolates/truffles with a bit of the flavored salt sprinkled on top for decoration and flavor?

smallworld · August 19, 2005

I always dip kara-age in sansho salt, and I bet yuzu or matcha salt would be good too. I imagine yuzu and sansho salt would be nice seasonings for yakitori, as well. And of course kushi-age is often served with flavoured salts. Hmm, bit of a theme there...

As for non-deep-fried food, the past three years or so I've noticed more and more sushi being served sprinkled with salt. I really like it this way, especially with toro. Don't think matcha or sansho would be good this way, but the various fancy (non-flavoured) salts or maybe even yuzu salt might be nice with sushi.

And how about flavoured salts on edamame or fresh sliced tomatoes?

gfron1 · January 22, 2009

Can someone tell me what the heck I just got here!? I received all of these samples at the Fancy Food Show but there is no English so I'm a bit perplexed as to what is what and how I should use them. I'm particularly stuck on the liquid salt. Any translators willing to help me out?

This one smells like salt and pepper mixed but its pretty so I thought I would post it

Hiroyuki · January 22, 2009

I'm not familiar with any of the salts you showed.

The leftmost one: Wa no O shio (Japanese Salt)

Roast salt produced in Tsushima, Nagasaki prefecture.

Salt suitable for Japanese dishes.

Goes well with tempura, rice balls, white-fleshed fish sashimi, sushi, and tofu.

長崎県・対馬産焼塩。【和の御塩】は長崎県壱岐対馬国定公園の海水を使用して、和食に合うお塩として造りました。てんぷら、おにぎり、焼き鳥、白身魚のお刺身、お寿司、そしてお豆腐にもよく合います。そのまま振りかけてお召し上がり下さい。

from here.

I'll get to other ones later, when I have more time.

torakris · January 22, 2009

What you called liquid salt is most likely nigari, it is hard to tell from the picture though. Nigari is mostly used as a coagulant in tofu making but I found this site that lists many other uses.

I have only used it in tofu making...

Hayley Casarotto · January 22, 2009

Can someone tell me what the heck I just got here!? I received all of these samples at the Fancy Food Show but there is no English so I'm a bit perplexed as to what is what and how I should use them. I'm particularly stuck on the liquid salt. Any translators willing to help me out?
This one smells like salt and pepper mixed but its pretty so I thought I would post it
←

I'm pretty sure the one that smells like salt and pepper is sansho salt. Looking forwards to Hiroyuki's next post - the others are all new to me too

Hiroyuki · January 23, 2009

The second one from the left: Nigari (bittern), as Kristin has already mentioned.

Third: Unindentifiable from the photo.

Fourth: Aguni no Shio.

Aguni Island is located in Okinawa.

Rice balls and pickles

It of course brings out the flavor of grilled fish, tempura, and other ingredients, but it is recommended for use in simple dishes

だから、おにぎりやお漬物で・・・。

焼き魚、てんぷらなどなど素材の味を引き出してくれることはもちろんですが、オススメは素朴な料理です。

「おにぎり」や「お漬物」では、素材が少ない分、塩のうま味は最大限に出ます。

from

http://shop.ryukyuichiba.co.jp/ryukyu/7.1/959/

Fifth: Churaumi no Shio

Type: Dry

Taste: Sweet-flavored (high calcium content, so that saltiness is

Particle: Medium

Country of origin: Japan (blend of overseas salt and Okinawa seawater)

●タイプ：　ドライ　　　　

●味：　　　甘味塩　　　

●粒子：　　中　　　

●原産国：日本（原料は海外産と沖縄海水のブレンド）

from

http://www.rakuten.co.jp/cook/104129/232071/

Sixth: Unindentifiable from the photo.

Seventh: Wa no Mo Shio

It contains two seaweeds, arame (Ecklonia bicyclis) and hondawara (Sargassum fulvellum).

Tempura, rice balls, yakitori, white-fleshed fish sashimi, sushi, and tofu.

てんぷら、おにぎり、焼き鳥、白身魚のお刺身、お寿司、そしてお豆腐に。

from

http://www.fkco.jp/shop/9_48.html

Eighth: Okhotsk no Shizen En

I'm not sure but it looks:

Salt fresh from the pot

Can be used in any dishes.

釜揚げ塩

どんなお料理にも使えます

from http://www.tsurara.co.jp/

Ninth (first one from the right): Unindentifiable from the photo.

The one lying flat at the center: Same as the eighth one, right?

The one at the lower right: Unindentifiable from the photo.

Hiroyuki · January 23, 2009

I'm pretty sure the one that smells like salt and pepper is sansho salt. Looking forwards to Hiroyuki's next post - the others are all new to me too
←

The package says black pepper...

gfron1 · January 23, 2009

Wow - thanks Hiroyuki. I'll get better picks for the ones you can't read. It looks like I have a pretty good collection of salts here.

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