[Sca-cooks] Concerning Ryori Monogatari

[Solveig Throndardottir]

Noble Cousins!

Greetings from Sólveig! There is a 19th century monograph on sakè production which was originally published by Tokyo University. I believe that it is still available online. Japan uses a very specific species aspergillus oryzae which is traditionally cultured on mochi. Mochi is made by steaming a specific cultivar of oryzae japponica which is known as mochi gome in Japan and is marketed as either “glutinous rice” or “sweet rice” in North America. Traditionally, the steamed rice is then placed in a large wooden mortar and beaten with a large wooden mallet until it is a paste. The paste would then be formed into disks called kagame mochi. Kagame is the Japanese word for mirror and the name derives from their shape. These disks can then be either eaten as is or used in a variety of other ways. Regardless, in Japan a very specific mold is cultivated and used for sakè production, miso production, &c. Shoyu (soy sauce) does date to period in Japan, but appears to have still been a fairly recent arrival ca. 1600. There are a number of earlier fermented sauces. 

Your Humble Servant
Sólveig Þróndardóttir
Amateur Scholar