Showing posts with label village tour. Show all posts
Thursday, 12 December 2019
Fermentation experience at a farmer's kitchen and soy sauce brewery in the Yamanobe ancient trail
BY Robin Hoshino
Nature’s Way - When it comes to food
Convenience is often king, but in the land of an legendary queen in Nara, two amazing women are going back to basics.
The Yamanobe Trail which runs through the countryside of Nara, is thought to be one of the oldest roads in Japan. Part of this road winds its way through the eastern edge of the Nara Basin, an area dotted with kofun - ancient burial places of Japanese royalty. Among these is said to be the final resting place of Queen Himiko, who ruled these lands more than a thousand years ago.
Soy sauce brewery Daimon Shoyu
Today, this region is home to a new generation of strong and inspiring women who are making waves in the local food scene for their incredible work. The first of these is Maki, a third generation brewer of Daimon Soy Sauce. We visited her family brewery one clear Autumn morning to find out more about what makes Daimon Soy Sauce unique.
Daimon Soy Sauce Brewery has been passed down through the women in Maki’s family, along with a passion for natural brewing methods. While much modern soy sauce is made in sterile factories, and has many additives to keep the flavor stable for a long period at room temperature, Daimon Soy Sauce is made using traditional techniques in enormous wooden barrels using koji bacteria that is cultivated in-house. As a daughter and mother, Maki is proud to use high quality ingredients and traditional techniques to produce a safe and healthy products for her family and people everywhere.
As soon as we entered the brewery we were hit by an earthy salt caramel-like smell. The entire space was a soy sauce ecosystem - life was in the air.
As we arrived she was busy preparing lunch in the open-air kitchen that overlooks her rice fields and a lake, right at the foot of one of the ancient burial mounds. Back in the kitchen all eyes quickly travelled to the Kamado - a traditional wood fired oven- in the middle of the floor. This is a clay mound-like oven with hollows on the surface for pots to sit into over the flames.
Daimon Soy Sauce Brewery has been passed down through the women in Maki’s family, along with a passion for natural brewing methods. While much modern soy sauce is made in sterile factories, and has many additives to keep the flavor stable for a long period at room temperature, Daimon Soy Sauce is made using traditional techniques in enormous wooden barrels using koji bacteria that is cultivated in-house. As a daughter and mother, Maki is proud to use high quality ingredients and traditional techniques to produce a safe and healthy products for her family and people everywhere.
As soon as we entered the brewery we were hit by an earthy salt caramel-like smell. The entire space was a soy sauce ecosystem - life was in the air.
Maki explained that they are very careful that the brewery does not get infected by other bacteria - the soy sauce bacteria are surprisingly delicate, and succumb easily to more aggressive strains such as those to make natto - fermented soy beans. Using the same barrels year on year gives the soy sauce bacteria a stable environment to thrive. This comes with real challenges - as well as taking a lot of time and labor, as this kind of traditional brewing becomes rarer and rarer, the craftspeople that support this industry are also vanishing - there is only one person in Japan currently making the kind of barrel necessary to brew soy sauce. For this reason too Maki is keen to get more people using this traditionally-made products.
We saw the soy sauce being brewed, and even got a chance to mix the moromi - the fermented mash in the casks, after which Maki invited us to taste the final product. She poured a drop into a sake cup. The colour was deep red, and the aroma fruity and earthy. The taste was deep and complex and satisfying.
Organic Farmer's Kitchen "Himiko's Garden"
After Daimon Soy Sauce, we took a short trip to Himiko’s Garden, a community kitchen and cafe, where we met Kaori - an organic farmer who grows ancient varieties of rice using natural farming methods.
While we waited for the rice to cook, Kaori explained each of her homemade condiments to us. There were several kinds of miso with different bases such as barley and black beans instead of rice and soy beans. We sampled salt-koji and she explained that the koji boosts the salt flavor so you don’t need as much salt if you use salt-koji instead.
Originally from Osaka, Kaori was inspired to move to Nara and study natural farming under an expert as she was concerned about the amount of additives and sugar in modern food. When she started growing her own fields of rice, she out-produced all her neighbours and even her teacher came to find out how she did it. After the tasting Kaori also took us down to the fields to look at the rice. In spite of the recent storms, the plants were looking healthy. She showed us the ancient black and red varieties as well as rice famous in sake-making.
When the rice was ready we sat down to a delicious macrobiotic lunch of vegetables, tofu, chicken, rice and miso soup. The food certainly packed a more nutritious punch that your average meal. After lunch we were brimming with energy.
Soy sauce and rice are perhaps two of the most basic components of Japanese food, and these days are often taken for granted - mass produced and sometimes even imported. Here in Nara, we could experience the quiet dignity that comes with valuing and protecting these essential parts of Japanese culture so that they can be passed on to the next generation.
Originally from Osaka, Kaori was inspired to move to Nara and study natural farming under an expert as she was concerned about the amount of additives and sugar in modern food. When she started growing her own fields of rice, she out-produced all her neighbours and even her teacher came to find out how she did it. After the tasting Kaori also took us down to the fields to look at the rice. In spite of the recent storms, the plants were looking healthy. She showed us the ancient black and red varieties as well as rice famous in sake-making.
When the rice was ready we sat down to a delicious macrobiotic lunch of vegetables, tofu, chicken, rice and miso soup. The food certainly packed a more nutritious punch that your average meal. After lunch we were brimming with energy.
Saturday, 23 December 2017
The art of Kudzu, cooking kudzu roots powder in Yoshino mountain
What is kudzu?
kudzu is a common wild plant, everywhere in Japan. The history of using kudzu plants as cooking starch or jelling agent. The starch is processed from kudzu roots, and its fiber is also used for weaving clothes. It is first appeared in manyoshu, a collection of Japanese poetry compiled in the early 7th century. |
| kudzu gashi |
Now, kudzu is also known as a good resource to utilize its starch among vegan and macrobiotic chefs. Sometimes we organize kudzu tour to Yoshino especially by the request of chefs or those who engaged in food products development.
Kudzu kai, the kudzu lesson in Yoshino by Nakai shunpudo.
The lesson starts by learning about biological aspects of the kudzu wild plants.
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| private cooking room with the kudzu specialist Mr. Nakai |
When is the suitable season for processing kudzu powder? How to process, and eat? What is the difference between honkudzu and kudzu?
Although most of Japanese people heard about kudzu, these questions could be difficult to answer.
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| kudzu roots |
After the lecture, we started cooking lesson, observing how starch absorbing water, gelatinisation process... learning 3 different recipes, kudzu kiri (noodle), kudzu mochi (dumpling) and kudzuyu (drink).
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| cooking kudzu kiri |
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| gelatinisation process |
Other things to see
Currently there is no place to see the process of making kudzu powder, however, Morino kudzu hompo, one of the oldest commercial kudzu processors in Nara has a museum to exhibit the traditional kudzu producing process, and also preserves 200 species of wild medicinal plants in the garden.
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| traditional method to produce kudzu in morino kudzu honpo |
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| organic cafe Hanasaka |
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| Lunch course |
Monday, 12 June 2017
Indigo Dyeing, Aizome experience
Japan Blue: Indigo dying experience
"indigo plants fermentation is exactly the same process as making organic fertilizer for agriculture", said 80 years old artisan, Mr. Uenishi, who taught us what he has learnt from his lifework.
Indigo is one of the oldest dyeing material in the world, and it is said that it was transmited from China or Vietnam together with rice plant in 7th century. In Konan city, Indigo dying has been handed down from generations to generations since 16 century in the Edo samurai worrier period. The 4th generation, Mr. Uenishi is over 80 years old, the last artisan of Konki senshoku (indigo dying workshop), and no one else is supposed to take over his job.
Uenishi san told us his passion towards indigo dying for us.
Sukumo, fermented indigo plant, material for dying, is hard and heavy like puer tea. Sukumo is not dissolved in water and alkaline and glucose solution are added and fermented for 100 days.
Organic fertilizer, puer tea, and sukumo of indigo plant are all fernented plants, and made by the same process of fermentation.
"It is heating up, while fermentation. It requires water to dry"
The indigo dying vase we have used had been cherished for long time from generations to generations.
After dying twice in the first vat, the indigo color is getting deeper.
After dying 4 times...
The blue color is getting more vivid when washed and dried.
Learning Indigo Dying
There are sevaral indigo dyeing atelier in Kyoto, Shiga, and Nara. It is possible to add indigo dying experience starting from Kyoto or Nara.
Tuesday, 4 April 2017
3 days culinary retreat in rural Kyoto: Learning traditional wisdom on food and life
Food is Life
"The life in the old times was painful. What was pain? Busy for surviving everyday."
Village grandmas always say like this. "Busy for living all the time"...
2 hours drive to the north from Kyoto city leads to a small cozy shuraku (village community) of Amaza, located in the hidden valley of Mount Ooe in Fukuchiyama, we had a retreat to experience this, thinking about "living"
Starting from making fermented koji mold, making miso by using home-made koji, miring (sake taste seasoning in Japan), amaze (sweet sake), mochi making(sticky rice ball), processing konjac by using ash, indigo fermentation, and so on.
Local village people also came and talked with us, having dinner together with locally harvested vegetables and sake, and we also visited their daily lives, hunting wild boars or harvesting vegetables....
This experience was valuable time, thinking about livelihoods and foods all the days.
※This program was held in the same place as Indigo Farm Stay：Indigo farm stay; whole living base "meoto", a natural sewing house in a hidden village in Kyoto
Program of the Retreat
（Fermentation）amazake (sweet sake making)
Day 2 AM （Fermentation）steam rice
PM （Food Processing）making lye from ash to make konjac
（Fermentation）Indigo fermentation
NT （Event）Hot pot party with local people
（Fermentation）sweet potato koji (fermented food)
Day3 AM （Fermentation）stirring koji
（Food Processing）steam land lace green rice
PM （Food Processing）yuzu-miso making,bean jam making
（Event）Visit to local villagers - wild boar hunter
NT （Event）Birthday party
（Food Processing）soake indigenous beans
Day 4 AM （Food Processing）steam beans
（Fermentation）rice mold koji is ready!
PM （Food Processing）baking salt, make miso by using koji and smashed beans
Fermentation
What is fermentation? We learned fundamental subject of fermentation, how Japanese traditional seasonings had been developed and passed down from generation to generation. What is beneficial bacteria and mold to make Japanese washoku's key ingredients.
1. Steam rice
2. put koji mold on steamed rice
3. on the Day 2, the koji mold is gradually stretching its fungal thread on rice
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Here is the detail of how to make koji：the art of fermentation: learning how to make koji, for brewing sake
Food Processing
We learnt how to utilize ash from local grandmas.On this occasion, we use wooden ash and straw ash to make coagulant for konjac without using Sodium hydrogen carbonate (NaHCO3).
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| boiling ash to make lye |
We were all convinced that granmas were talking about how to differentiate strong lye and weak lye.
When I was a master student of agriculture, I tried to understand by scientific knowledge, how substance react to the environemnt, however, village people all knew the relationship with substances, plants and people, ash and ph, without thinking scientifically, but just feeling by hands and nature. This is the methods people had been inter-related to the world, to the nature.
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| konjac by using broad leaf tree's wood ash |
We could not make konjac well be using scientific Sodium hydrogen carbonate (NaHCO3)
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| left: konjac by using wooden ash right: by using straw ash |
Recipe of konjac can be seen here: Kitchen Traveler (2) learning how to cook Devil's tongue, Konjac
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| mochi making |
Making Miso
Koji mold is ready after 3 days fermentation process
roast salt - in macrobiotic method to make salt more ”yang (positive)” state
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steam mizukuguri (land lace variety of soybean)
put miso ball into a bucket.
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| put sake paste on the top to prevent molding |
At leisure....
We also made clothes, and visit to local village people.
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| stitching on cloth |
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| local villagers caught small wild boar |
Time for Meals
Nanakusa gayu (rice poridge using 7 wild plants), irori hot pot, 3 times meals were also all special by using local specialties, while making koji mold, yuzu-miso processing, making lye, konnac, mochi making, and milim... Literally, we were doing yonabe (night pot in Japanese, which stands for working all the night), preparing food for next meals, while processing preservation foods
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| irori hot pot party with locals |
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| kuwai (arrow-whead, swamp potato / Sagittaria trifolia L. 'Caerulea') |
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| Birthday cake |
Visit rural Kyoto to learn traditional livelihood!
Always making something, eating something, concentrating on living. When we make ingredients from scratch, we notice how busy is making a living.
In modern days, we are selling our own times as a labour, and buying times of somebody else to make food ingredients.
We cannot go back to ancient era any more, however, it was absolute pleasure to share times of eating and make a living with somebody else like this retreat for some days.
Thank you for our mates and local village people, sharing this time together, this is unforgettable memory.
We would like to pass down these old livelihoods and organize events again.
Please contact us if interested in village life and traditional knowledge on food and fermentation. Our team will help you to organize various food programs.
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