Ohkubo Murasaki Daijin Usukuchi Shoyu (大久保醸造店 本仕込み 紫大尽)
The story behind it
Usukuchi shoyu is often assumed to taste as light as it looks. This bottle runs the other way. It keeps the pale color and still draws a clear outline of savoriness.
Ohkubo Jozoten in Matsumoto was founded in 1905. They use only domestic ingredients with a stated origin and grade. The soybeans include Tsubuhomare grown in Nagano along with beans from Aomori and Niigata, the salt is Shima Masu from Okinawa, and the water is filtered through charcoal.
Brewing is done in kioke, wooden barrels lacquered on the inside, and the microorganisms living in that lacquer are treated as part of the environment rather than something to remove. It is a natural brew with no additives. They say the order of completion is fixed: taste at one year, aroma at two, color at three.
The murasaki in the name is an old word for shoyu, and daijin means to serve generously.
How to use it
For clear soups, dashimaki tamago, and simmered dishes, anything you want to finish without adding color. Put katsuobushi and nori on freshly cooked rice, pour this and hot water over it, and that is a bowl on its own.