Ishii Shinshu Sannen Miso (石井味噌 信州三年味噌)
Stories about this bottle
The story behind it
Shinshu miso accounts for roughly half of all miso made in Japan. Most of it is fast-fermented and ready in a few months. Ishii Miso in Matsumoto still holds to three years.
Founded in 1868. Japanese soybeans and spring water from the Northern Alps go into cedar barrels for a full 3 years of tennen jozo (naturally brewed, no temperature control), passing through "two winters and two midsummers." Fermentation moving that slowly builds a deep reddish-brown richness and a saltiness with no hard edge.
On efficiency alone, three years makes no sense. They wait because the flavor gives them a reason to. Step inside the brewery and the cedar barrels stand in rows, as if time itself were aging in there.
How to use it
It shows its best in a miso soup full of ingredients, or in tonjiru. Also good for mackerel simmered in miso, and for pickling vegetables or tofu in miso. The depth of the aging becomes the backbone of the dish.