SRDas, 5 months ago

Catching back up here to add this mini thread 1/4 on our #SoySauce #FactoryTour at #Yuasa
I had made a timed tour reservation (via email via website) - not because of the historical reason (Yuasa town is where soy sauce started in #Japan - via kinzanji-miso, though heydays here are well past), but mainly because this place still does cedar cask (kioke) #fermentation and we wanted to see (and smell) that tradition

#Wakayama #Food #Travel
#DasInYuasa

Huge Cedar fermentation casks with metal cable and rope around
Printed sign with history of soy sauce in Japanese and English: The origin of Soy Sauce from Kinzanji-miso The birthplace of Japanese soy sauce is south of Osaka in Yuasa which is in Arida-gun Wakayama. It is said that the origin was in 1254 when Hottoukokushi (1207-1298) of Koukokuji temple of Yura (10km south-west of Yunsa) came back from the Southern Song. He had also learned how to make kinzanji miso as well. He began to propagate his knowledge of making soy sauce and how to make kinzanji miso. At present, kinzanji miso is made as a side dish for rice, by fermenting soy beans, rice, barley and several type of vegetable with salt and the other flavorings. Since the water of Yuasa was good making for miso, it was started to be made as a daily. In the process of making miso, the liquid that came up to the surface of the miso in the barrel was found to be good for cooking food. Soy sauce finally came to be brewed in various ways. This is said to be the origin of soy sauce in Japan.
Narrow poster with cartoon map and illustration of items for soy sauce production. A person is leaning forward to speak into a mobile device to translate

SRDas, 5 months ago

3/4 tours are free and anytime but with the pre-reservation (and 300¥) we got to do the fun fragrant moromi mixing - kaiire which is the mixing and aerating the morimi.
Here's a short 54 s vid of this bit

The moromi/mash fermentation - started in winter goes on for 1½-2 yrs before pressing into #SoySauce
#Yuasa #FactoryTour #Wakayama #Japan #Food #Travel

Video of a room with a cedar cask low down and with a brush slurry that is stirred and mixed with a paddle or oar

SRDas, 5 months ago

4/4 I won't belabor this (though Yuasa thread continues) but after the mixing, we saw other bits of the facility and then, and then (to the kids surprise!) we got to mix up and bottle our own (koji pre-inoculated) soy sauce! With instructions to aerate etc and to be filtered in a year. This took about 30+ mins
A terrific soy sauce factory tour and making experience (also ahem #homeschooling )

#SoySauce #Yuasa #FactoryTour #Wakayama #Japan #Food #Travel
#DasInYuasa

A table and stools in room. The table is set up with 4 stations with empty bottles and bags of soy sauce dry ingredients and instruction sheet
A clear plastic bottle with a brown slurry inside
Two kids sitting across a table, reading instructions and pouring and measuring water and with soy sauce ingredients in bottles in front of them

SRDas, 5 months ago

Long 🧵 3/n
So today we were excited about the #Nori #FactoryTour and see the production of the first harvests of the season. Thanks to a Japanese friend who called the factory and said we wanted to visit - the tour was set up (Japanese language only but we said that was ok) and emails exchanged confirming. Sea conditions were bad an email said yesterday asking if could do it earlier at 10am. So 10am we were there! This is where the boats get the seaweed in and nori production starts

Beach area with piers and a fenced off compound
An open gate in a fenced factory compound area with blue skiy and big white clouds on a sunny day
Sea with a small concrete harbor area with a few small boats docked. Beyond the pier is the area where the seaweed is grown

SRDas, 5 months ago

Long 🧵 4/n
First we went up the platforms to look into the big outdoor tanks where the seaweed gets washed first (with seawater) - there are two sets, stages here. [These were empty now - bad sea conditions today]

Next - inside!
#Nori #Seaweed #FactoryTour #Kobe

Inside the empty tank a rotating multiple paddle
Narrow wooden platform to the side of tall tanks. A kid is going down the steps that lead up to the high wooden pkatform that allows access to the lids at the top of the tanks
A second set of outdoor tanks - white with white lids. In the background is the corrugated siding of the factory building

SRDas, 7 months ago

6/8
(I found out later the cloth is pretreated with baking (not washing) soda) the dye fixes immediately and the cloth is washed right after to remove the paste and washed - by hand and then a roller mechanism that swishes and rolls do the whole length of the cloth gets washed. Some amazing fixer - look at that white! Centrifuge dryer before wringing and then final drying.

#Chusen #Dyeing #FactoryTour #Travel #Sakai #Japan

A person standing next to a machine over a low tank of water. The machine has a swinging roller over the water and cloth on the roller gets swished in the water
Machine swishing white chusen cloth in water
An open top centrifugal dryer spinning with colored clothes inside