Nihon Chomiryo Tabi
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Start with these 2
Nagasaki / Saikai & SakitoSaltNo additives
Gotonada no Shio, Hon-nigari Shitate (本にがり仕立て 五島灘の塩)
「An island salt cheap enough to use every day, and good enough to change every dish.」
¥750
/ 750g
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Nagasaki / OmuraMiso
Choko Nagasaki Mugi Miso Barley Miso (チョーコー 長崎麦みそ)
「Barley koji from Japanese hulless barley alone. Unpasteurized, still living.」
¥1,250
/ 500g×2
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Nagasaki has more islands than any other prefecture in Japan. Land surrounded by water made salt, and places like Sakito grew wealthy on their salt fields. Salt is still made today from the seawater of the Goto Sea.
This is also where sugar entered the country, through Dejima. The road running from Nagasaki to Kokura came to be called the Sugar Road, and sweet confections and sweet cooking stayed along it. That is cited as one reason Kyushu shoyu turned out sweet.
- A prefecture of many islands that has long made salt from the sea
- Sugar arriving through Dejima, and the Sugar Road
Stories
Stories from this area
Refined salt vs "natural" salt: the salt that keeps its nigari, and the salt that strips it
The difference between refined salt and what people call natural salt, explained through one thing: whether the nigari is left in. How salt that is 99% sodium chloride came about, how the taste differs, and what the labelling rules actually allow, with the salt of Gotonada in Nagasaki as the example.
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Why Is Kyushu Miso Sweet? No Sugar Added - Barley Koji Is the Answer
Kyushu miso tastes sweet without any sugar. The reason is koji buai - the ratio of koji to soybeans. Kyushu's barley miso uses 15 to 20 parts barley koji to 10 parts soybeans, 1.5 to 2 times the koji of a standard rice miso, and barley koji converts starch into sugar readily. Aging is short, 1 to 3 months, so the sugar stays sugar. Salt sits at about 9-11% against about 12% for rice miso. Here is how barley miso and rice miso differ, plus makers in Oita, Nagasaki and Ehime (Fundokin Shoyu, Choko Shoyu, Gino Miso).
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Nearby
Nearby prefectures
Saga / SagaSoy sauceNo additivesLong-aged
Maruhide Shizenichi Shoyu (丸秀醤油 自然一醤油)
「Sweetness brewed from amazake: Kyushu's sweet shoyu, made with no additives.」
¥1,138
/ 300ml
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Saga / SagaMiso
Maruhide Shoyu Jikkoku Ten-Grain Miso (丸秀醤油 国産 十穀味噌)
「Not soybeans alone. A Saga miso brewed with ten grains.」
¥802
/ 500g
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Kumamoto / Kumamoto & KawashiriMirin
Zuiyo Tohi Akazake Cooking Sake (瑞鷹 東肥赤酒（料理用）)
「An amber sake carried on from the Hosokawa domain, with more gloss than mirin.」
¥1,703
/ 1800ml
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Kumamoto / TamanaMisoNo additives
Yamauchi Honten Maboroshi no Miso Rice & Barley Blend (山内本店 まぼろしの味噌 米麦あわせ)
「Brewed with Aso spring water. A medium-sweet miso with no additives, from a master craftsman.」
¥788
/ 500g
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