Event

Koji 101 with Stacie Miller

Koji is the Japanese name for the fungus Aspergillus oryzae. It came into use 9,000 years ago around 7,000 BCE. Koji is used to transform the unfermentable long chain starches found in rice into simple fermentable sugars. It also breaks down complex proteins turning them into tasty amino acids.

Traditionally Koji is used to make soy sauce, miso, sake and other similar rice and soy based foods. Recently Koji has been used to pioneer new and exciting culinary innovations. Koji can be used to accelerate dry curing meats and charcuterie. In 2 days you can have a steak that is comparable to a 30 day dry aged steak. Cuts of charcuterie that take 2 months can be ready in 14 days.

Chef Stacie Miller had the pleasure of working with one of the pioneers of new Koji cooking,
Jeremy Urmanski (Larder, Cleveland) over the past summer learning traditional and new uses of Koji. Come learn the basics for starting to work with Koji. Learn how to inoculate rice and grow your own Koji. How to use the Koji rice to make Amazake (sweet Koji), Shio (salt Koji) and how to use them to culture meats, vegetables and dairy. How to make white miso and collect mirin and tamari from your Koji.