Nama shio koji packs an umami punch – use as a marinade for meat to give a deep flavour with a hint of sweetness. It is an unpasteurised, live food culture seasoning sauce made with malted rice, salt and a little alcohol. You can use the shio koji to make your own pickles, or add to sauces and soups to boost the savoury flavours. Or try your hand at fermenting your own miso.

Koji is one of the cornerstones of Japanese cuisine. Steamed rice and/or soybeans are inoculated with a naturally occurring fermentation culture called Aspergillus oryzae. The resulting mixture is left in a humid environment to ferment – around 50 hours later, the koji is ready. It is used in the production of soy sauce, miso, mirin, sake – all of the most important flavours and ingredients in Japanese cooking. Shio koji has salt added to the rice-koji culture to make a grainy, salty-sweet seasoning.

Use 10% of the weight of ingredients of nama shio koji – for example, if you have 200g chicken, use 20g of the koji seasoning.

Ingredients: water, malted rice, salt, alcohol. Once opened, refrigerate and consume as soon as possible.