【Recipe】Salt Koji and Soy sauce Koji (Fermented salt and soy sauce) homemade UMAMI seasoning

2025年5月11日

Have you ever heard the word UMAMI?

“UMAMI” means “deliciousness” in Japanese.

SO, where the deliciousness is coming from in Japanese cuisine?

The answer is “fermented foods”!

Today I would like to share how you can make “fermented seasonings” in your own kitchen.

With these fermented seasonings, let’s start healthy living just like Japanese do.

Salt Koji

Ingredients

1 and 1/4 cups warm water

3tablespoons sea salt

7oz RICE KOJI

Procedure

Prepare boiling water in a big pot. Heat a jar in simmering water for 10 minutes to sanitize.
Add warm water and salt in the sanitized jar. Mix well until salt dissolves.
Cool the salty water to 140F.
Break the chunk of rice koji into smaller pieces and add to the salty water. Mix well.
Put the lid on loosely.
Leave at room temperature for 1 week. Mix daily.

(Most likely you will find the salt koji a bit dry 24 hours after making. If so, please add enough water to submerge the rice koji particles.)

After 1 week, keep it in the refrigerator. It will last for 6 months.

How to use Salt koji

Salt koji can be used as a replacement for salt.

It will be great for stir frying, soup, and marinade.

Thanks to the fermentation process, salt koji has a lot of flavors compared with regular salt.

Soy sauce Koji

Ingredients

3/4cup Tamari soy sauce

3 oz Rice koji

Procedure

Prepare boiling water in a big pot. Heat a jar in simmering water for 10 minutes to sanitize.
Put Tamari soy sauce in the sanitized jar.
Add rice koji to the jar. Mix well.
Put the lid on loosely.
Leave at room temperature for 1 week. Mix daily.

(Most likely you will find the soy sauce koji a bit dry 24 hours after making. If so, please add enough soy sauce to submerge the rice koji particles.)