This is what I wanted to try for some time and horay! I finally found time! Making koji using fava beans (broad beans), flavourful and umami-rich ingredient. I wanted to make soy sauce using this.
Koji for traditional soy sauce is made using steamed soy bean and roasted then crushed wheat grain. Although there are huge room for me to improve the skill for traditional version😅, I have been desperate to try this variation because 1) I like fava’s flavour and am very curious how it is like 2) British grown fava is readily available and 3) gluten-free people are desperately waiting for this (although it is debatable whether soy sauce really contains gluten as wheat won’t be kneaded ). Oh, another reason I chose fava is that the nutritious composition resembles to overall nutrition of soy and wheat (ie it is protein-rich as well as starch-rich) and I though it is perfect alternative to using soy and bean.
Here is what I did. I washed and soaked the beans for roughly 1 hour (I would soak them at least overnight next time). Drained well and steamed them for 1 hour (without pressure). Sprinkle the koji starter (I used the one for soy-sauce from Hishiroku) and grew them for 24 hours (my usual procedure). I tried to keep the temperature around 30℃ to avoid natto bacteria contamination. This is where I paid attention most. However, I found it is much easier and stress-free than growing koji on soy beans. Perhaps it is because that air circulation is better due to the shape of the beans which is advantageous condition for koji to grow.
I am happy that I have less items on my To Do list at least for today (I know that it won’t be long before I come up with more things to do, though…😅)
ずっとやってみたかったそら豆麹、ようやくトライできました。これでそら豆醤油を仕込むつもりです。
お醤油のための麹は、本来蒸した大豆と炒って砕いた小麦に醤油に麹を成長させてつくります。醤油仕込みの経験も技術も全然満足できていないけれど、どうしてもこれをやってみたかった。理由は1）そら豆の味が好きで、話題のそら豆醤油どんなの？って興味深かった 2）英国産の乾燥そら豆が容易に手に入って地産地消が実現できる 3）グルテンの摂取できない人たちに朗報（どれだけのグルテンが醤油に含まれてるかは正直疑問だけど）。あ、それともう１つそら豆の栄養の構成が大豆と小麦を合計した構成に似ているから（タンパク質とでんぷん質の割合など）
実践した手順は次の通り。そら豆を洗って1時間浸漬（全然足りなかったと思う。次回は最低一晩浸漬します）。水切りして1時間の蒸し。菱六さんの醤油麹を種切りして、以降24時間通常手順。納豆菌にやられないように30℃以下をキープ。この点に一番気を配りました。でも豆の形状がいびつなのと表面が大豆のようにヌルヌルしていないので、大豆麹よりも全然楽だったというのが感想。
さて、どんなお醤油に変身してくれるのか、今から楽しみです♡
