Miso Production: Extended Koji Fermentation

Noma's approach to miso production extends the Japanese tradition to non-traditional substrates — yellow pea miso, sunflower miso, hazelnut miso — using the identical koji fermentation principle on different protein and starch sources. The resulting pastes express the flavour of their source ingredient through the amino acid profile that koji's proteases liberate from those specific proteins.

• Korean doenjang applies the same principle using naturally colonised meju blocks (without controlled koji cultivation)
• Turkish tarhana adds lactic fermentation to a grain-dairy base
• The same protein hydrolysis principle underlies all aged fermented paste traditions globally