Why Shinshu miso (web limited article)

Miso is indispensable for Japanese dining table. There are more than 100 miso in Nagano Prefecture, boasting about 50 % of domestic miso share. The abundant clean water and the clear four seasons created delicious miso.

In Japan, various miso is made in Japan, such as rice miso, wheat miso, and bean miso. "Shinshu Miso" is a rice miso that features a clear Yamabuki color with rice koji, soybeans and salt as raw materials.

Regarding the origin of miso making in Shinshu, it is said that in the Kamakura period, the sense of comfort of monks was spread at Anyoji Temple in Saku City in eastern Nagano Prefecture. During the Warring States period, it is said that Shingen Takeda made miso as a soldier, and it was said that it was actively performed in various places, and even now, more than 100 unique miso breweries remain in Shinshu.

Making miso in Shinshu's life

In the first place, miso was inherited at home as a necessity. Not only miso soup, but also freshly picked cucumbers and celery vegetables, fried with oil, tasted, soaked in the harvested seasonal vegetables in homemade miso and preserved food. It is indispensable for.

The farmers in Shinshu seemed to have installed miso balls from March to April, when the cold of winter began to soften. In the fall and winter, it would dry out before aging, and if it was prepared in summer, it would rot before aging, so in the past it could only be prepared at this limited time. When the miso ball begins to turn slightly, put it in a tub, aged in the summer heat, and reaches out from autumn to early winter. Taking advantage of the four seasons of Shinshu, making miso has been made.
In the northern part of Nagano Prefecture, it was said that Nozawana was pickled in a tub taken out of miso, and the mellow umami of the miso left in the tub was added to Nozawaya pickles, and the two and two flavors were different.
The number of homes that make homemade miso with the trend of the times has decreased considerably, but in the mountain village of Shinshu, the making of miso at home is still inherited.

"I made soybeans and shipped it, so I wanted to make miso myself. When I was married to this house, I had already stopped making miso, so the women's association miso making class. I started making miso with my friends, and I would like to continue my children.

About 20 years ago, farmers in the Nagano City Nishiyama area, who use the spare time during the winter agricultural season, making miso. After harvesting soybeans in November, it started drying and started preparing in February. After washing the rice and soybeans, which are raw materials at home, they are brought to the processing office, steamed, mixed with koji, and aged until December.

"I was told," I don't need to measure the temperature, but I hope the feeling of touching with my hand will be about human skin. " However, when it reached more than 40 degrees, it was difficult to adjust the temperature at first, so I went to see the tub in the middle of the night.

After studying at the workshop, he has repeatedly thought and errored, such as changing the aging period or steaming instead of boiling beans.

"I like nature in this area, and the blessings of nature in this area are nurturing us. I have a feeling that it will enrich my heart while eating."

Chef Kei Kobayashi, a chef from Nagano Prefecture, who won three stars as an Asian in the French Michelin Guide for the first time, said about the miso of Shinshu as follows.

"The miso in Shinshu is the same as the fromage (cheese) in France. Bacteria are different, both in the neighborhood and next to each other. The taste is different. There are various flavors in each area and at home. That is attractive. I think

Making miso in Shinshu's life

▲ Ishii Miso Kosuke Ishii

Ishii Miso Kosuke Ishii
Kamakura and Koji Tanaka Tanaka

In the past, miso was made at home, but in the Meiji era, when the yilk industry became popular, a factory with many employees, such as Lake Suwa, began to produce mass -produced miso as a funding. Miso brewery is now being established for wholesale. Many miso breweries are born in the prefecture, mainly in the Suwa area from the genealogy. Furthermore, in the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, miso was sent to the Tokyo metropolitan area from Shinshu, which was not damaged, and its taste was known in the Tokyo metropolitan area. It was well received in the Tokyo metropolitan area, and Shinshu miso has developed further.

"Shinshu Miso" combines a refreshing umami and rich aroma that gains support from many people. What is the secret to nurturing that deliciousness?

"I think it was not possible to establish unless the water was abundant. Matsumoto City, where we hold the warehouse, is blessed with spring water, and water and air are suitable for making miso in natural brewing. I am "
It was Kosuke Ishii of Ishii Miso. This is the sixth generation of miso breweries founded in 1868.

Before the miso is completed, there are many processes that use water, such as cleaning, immersion, and steaming, and water plays an important role in all processes of miso making. There are a variety of miso breweries in Nagano Prefecture, which is blessed with water resources, such as clear snow -melting water from mountains and one of Japan's leading rivers.

Above all, the Matsumoto area is a land with many miso breweries after the Suwa area. Migahara Kogen in the east, the west is the Northern Alps, rich nature and fertile spaces, and making miso making that fully use high quality and abundant groundwater.

The area around Matsumoto Castle, which has Ishii Miso, is rich in groundwater and has many wells and spring, and the "Matsumoto Castle Town Spring Water Group", which integrally captures them, is the "Heisei 100 Named Water Selections" formulated by the Ministry of the Environment. Is also chosen.

▲ Kamakura and CEO Koji Tanaka

Another reason is raw material. Rice, soybeans, salt, simple, so the quality of the raw materials has a significant impact on the quality of miso.

"I think miso has long been made by miso breweries for raw materials made by local farmers. We add salt to soybeans and rice we have made to make use of the natural environment of this area. We want to make the old -fashioned way of making the old -fashioned taste and the craftsmen. I make it with my thoughts. It is one of the businesses that supplies raw materials to Ishii miso.

While more than 90 % of Japanese miso uses foreign -produced soybeans, Ishii Miso mainly uses Naka Sennari, a soybean variety born in Nagano Prefecture. In addition, rice is also particular about local raw materials, such as using local rice terraced rice.

The manufacturing method is a natural brewing in a cedar wood barrel that takes three years to ferment and aged slowly according to the natural climate. In the case of fast -brewing methods (methods that perform heating and fermentation in a short period of time), which is performed by major companies devised during the post -war food increase system, in two to three months, even miso brewing other natural brewing. It is common to ship in about a year, and the miso that takes three years to aged is characterized by darker color.

"It is said that it is better to make a better miso if there is a temperature change in natural brewing. Matsumoto is relatively dry, the temperature difference between day and night, and the severe climate of summer hot and winter cold is in the creation of natural brewing miso. It is very suitable, and the bacteria live in the air, as if the yeast and lactic acid bacteria live. It is made, and it is not possible to do it overnight, such as raw material, air, and bacteria grown in many years, and all blessings of miso are formed. I'm grateful when I realize that it will be done. "

Shinshu miso is created by the creator, farmers, and the natural environment with harmony. It is probably because there is such a starting point when you eat Shinshu miso somewhere when you eat it.

* This article is information as of March 2023. Please note that the handled products are subject to change.