Nihon Chomiryo Tabi
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Sendai miso is said to have begun when Date Masamune set up miso breweries in his castle town and had it made there. It is a salt-forward rice miso that uses a high proportion of soybeans and rests for a long time, dark in color and strong in aroma.
Head toward the sea and you reach Kesennuma, a leading fishing port of the Sanriku coast and an oyster-growing area. There is a way of thinking here that puts the sea directly into a seasoning, as with oyster extract blended into shoyu (soy sauce).
- Sharp, salt-forward Sendai miso, said to begin with Date Masamune
- The idea of turning Kesennuma oysters into shoyu
Sendai miso is a salt-forward miso
Sendai miso is a rice miso, but among rice misos, which tend toward the sweet, it falls clearly on the salt-forward side. The color runs from reddish brown to a deep amber, and the salt content is somewhat high. Long aging rounds out the salt and brings out a strong aroma along with the savory depth.
The high ratio of soybeans is another feature. That gives the flavor body, and in miso soup it produces a clearly defined taste. It differs in raw materials from a soybean miso such as Aichi's Hatcho miso, and is distinguished by its use of rice koji. Miyagi is also rich in seafood along its coast, including oysters, and seasonings that draw on the savory depth of the sea are made here as well.
Date Masamune and the Goensogura
The beginning of Sendai miso is traced back to Date Masamune. During the campaign in Korea, while miso from other domains spoiled over the summer, the Sendai miso Masamune had brought with him did not degrade and did not lose its flavor. This is said to be how its reputation was made.
Afterward, Masamune built the Goensogura, a facility for producing military miso in-house. Set up in the Kadan district of the Sendai castle town in 1626, it was a large-scale miso works and is sometimes called the oldest miso brewery in Japan. Production and management were entrusted to merchants of the castle town, and that became the starting point of Sendai miso as an industry.
Local dishes and their seasonings
- Hatto-jiru (はっと汁)
- Dough kneaded from wheat flour, stretched thin, and simmered in a shoyu-based broth. A dish of the northern part of the prefecture, where the seasoning of the broth decides the whole impression.
- Kaki no Dote Nabe (牡蠣の土手鍋)
- Miso is spread around the rim of the pot and broken into the broth as oysters simmer. Salt-forward Sendai miso balances the sweetness of the oysters.
Makers in Miyagi
- Sendai Miso Shoyu
A Sendai miso maker descended from the Goensogura lineage. They continue to make salt-forward Sendai miso. - Ishiwatari Shoten
A maker in Kesennuma. They work with ingredients from the sea, including an oyster shoyu made from Sanriku oysters. - Jinchu
A food maker in Sendai. They release products tied to the city's specialties, such as a chili oil made with beef tongue.
Nearby prefectures
