Nihon Chomiryo Tabi
Aritaya Tennen Jozo Gunma Shoyu (有田屋 天然醸造群馬醤油)
In the maker's words
The story behind it
Aritaya, in Annaka, Gunma Prefecture, was founded in 1832. Annaka was a post town on the Nakasendo road, and for more than 190 years Aritaya has brewed shoyu (soy sauce) here, starting out as a purveyor to the Annaka domain. Today the brewery is run by the seventh generation of the Yuasa family.
Tennen Jozo Gunma Shoyu is made from soybeans and wheat grown in Gunma Prefecture without pesticides, together with salt from Japan. It is aged for two years by tennen jozo (natural brewing, with no heating to speed up fermentation), alongside the house yeasts that have settled in the stone storehouse over many years.
As the name says, both the soybeans and the wheat come from Gunma. The small 100ml bottle makes it easy to start by tasting it side by side with the shoyu you use every day.
How to use it
Start by dipping chilled tofu or sashimi in it to taste it on its own. It also works for seasoning simmered dishes and nikujaga (meat and potato stew), and on rice with raw egg.