by : Reiko Japanese Food, Koji, Mushrooms, Tofu

Onion Koji Porridge with Tofu Steak and Spicy Enoki Mushrooms
玉ねぎ麹粥、豆腐ステーキと無限ピリ辛えのきのせ

This was a comfort food for me.

I love Enoki mushrooms, and this marinated Enoki turned out great.

The only negative thing is that my husband won’t eat Enoki because he says he does not like the texture.

So unfortunately or fortunately, they were all mine.

This was a little spicy, a little sweet, and super tasty.

This easy porridge was made with rice, water, dried Kombu, and onion Koji.

The onion Koji quickly adds a wonderful umami flavor.

The tofu steak was added for a little protein and the firm texture.

Doesn’t this look great?

The meal was completed with napa cabbage soup, pickled beets, braised Kabocha, and a cup of hot green tea.

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by : Reiko Koji, Pizza/Flatbread

Onion Koji Pizza
シンプル美味しい玉ねぎ麹ピザ

When it comes to pizza I usually say, “the more toppings the better!”

But this time I decided to savor the simple goodness.

Remember the koji onion I made a few weeks ago?

https://sideb.culinarytribune.com/2022/09/27/koji-salt-onion-koji%e5%a1%a9%e9%ba%b9-%e7%8e%89%e3%81%ad%e3%81%8e%e9%ba%b9/

I’ve been using it for many different things.

It definitely enhances the flavor of the dish, whatever I add it to, but it usually takes a supporting role.

So, this time I wanted to make it shine as a lead actor!

Homemade crust, tomato sauce, onion koji, and fresh thyme.

With this pizza onion koji was definitely the star.

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by : Reiko Koji, Tofu, Vegan Cheese

Salted Koji Tofu Cheese
塩麹とうふチーズ

I just recently made salted koji ↓.

https://sideb.culinarytribune.com/2022/09/27/

And I’m loving it.

One of the things I was interested in using my salted Koji for was “tofu cheese”.

I saw other people making it, and I needed to try it myself.

It’s super easy to prepare.

You remove excess water from tofu.

Cover the tofu with salted Koji.

Let it rest in a refrigerator for several days (I waited for 7 days).

And the tofu tastes like cheese!

That’s what it looked like after 7 days.

You can’t really see any difference, but you can tell that the texture is a bit different, smoother and denser.

I removed the Koji.

I can’t say it tastes like cheese, but it definitely developed the cheese-like Umami and creaminess.

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by : Reiko Koji

Koji Salt & Onion Koji
塩麹 & 玉ねぎ麹

I went back and forth, post it or not post it, wondering if anyone would be interested.

But I thought it would be a good idea to have a post about koji-salt and onion-koji because I have a feeling that a lot of dishes that use one of these will appear on this blog.

The one above is onion-koji.

And this one (above) is koji-salt.

Koji-salt is made of koji, salt, and water.

Onion-koji is made of grated onions, koji, salt, and water.

This is koji.

Koji is a naturally occurring culture that is used to make things like sake, miso, and soy sauce.

You can get koji in the raw form or the dried form like the one I got.

I got mine from amazon, but I also found out that the local Asian grocery store, United Noodles, in Woodbury, MN, carries it too,

When you open the package, this is what it looks like.

First, you crumble it into small pieces.

Then, the rest of the ingredients, mix well, and let it ferment.

It depends on the temperature in your house, but it took mine about 2 weeks to be ready to be used.

Once fermented, they become the Umami powerhouse!

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by : Reiko Koji, Soup/Stew, Tofu

Umami Soup
旨味たっぷり白菜とろみスープ

When the temperature dips from 90F degrees to 60F degrees in just one day, I know it’s time to make a big pot of soup.

Napa cabbage is one of my favorite ingredients for my autumn/winter soup.

I wanted to keep this soup tasty, but I didn’t want to add too much stuff to overpower the natural flavor of each vegetable.

Here is the secret ingredient, although I am going to tell you what it is, so it’s not that secret.

This is something I started about two weeks ago.

It’s a mixture of Koji, grated onions, and salt, and it was slowly fermented over the period of two weeks.

Koji is a naturally occurring culture that is used to make various things, such as sake, miso, and soy sauce.

When it is fermented, it becomes an umami powerhouse.

A few spoons of my newly created onion koji really worked well in this soup.

This soup is packed with veggies, tofu, and noodles.

It’s warm and comforting.

Exactly what I wanted.

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