Uoi Gozen Miso Kaden, 17-Bu Koji Brew (魚井の御膳みそ 糀傳 17割糀仕込み)

The story behind it

The name gozen miso is said to come from its having been served at the table of the Hachisuka family, lords of the Tokushima domain in the Edo period. The brewing uses a lavish amount of rice koji (the fermentation culture Aspergillus oryzae), which put it out of reach of ordinary people at the time.

Indigo growing was a major industry in Awa, and shirome whole soybeans were the crop planted between the rows. Brewed with plenty of rice koji and a restrained amount of soybean, the miso never turns salty-sharp; it comes out sweet and thick instead. Gozen Miso is a registered trademark of the Tokushima Prefecture Miso Industry Cooperative, and only member breweries may use the name.

This Kaden, brewed by Uoi Shoten in Kita-Sako, Tokushima City, is a 17-bu koji brew: 1.7 times as much koji as soybean. It is aged slowly with shirome whole soybeans, salt from Naruto and selected rice koji.

It is sweet, but not with the sweetness of sugar. This is the sweetness of koji converting the starch in rice into sugar.