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Shiokoji

Autumn Food, Blog

Soy Yogurt Shiokoji Soft Cheese & Crispy Black Sesame Mushrooms

19/10/2021 Leave a comment


The momiji are really turning in my garden now,  autumn has truly arrived ! Aki Kinu !

I wanted to make a meal using the flavours of the harvest season. To me mushrooms are a key ingredient at this time of year. Being high in vitamin D they are also the perfect thing for the body once we start to get less sunlight.
I adapted this recipe after being inspired by Riverfords organic vegetable box. I wanted to make it more Japanese so this is what I came up with.

First make your soft cheese. I have made soft cheese before with soy milk and there is a recipe on my pages for this but this is even easier. I used 1/2 a 400g pot of natural organic soy yogurt add to this a teaspoon of shiokoji. Shiokoji is a natural seasoning made with salt water and rice koji. If you want to make more cheese use the whole pot and double the Shiokoji.

Give it a mix and spoon your yogurt into a  piece of cheese cloth. Tie at the top and leave in a sieve over a bowl in the fridge to drain for around three days. You now have your cheese.

You can also use it with crackers and chutney it’s really delicious.

Next make a marinade for your mushrooms. I added one tablespoon of ground black sesame powder (surigoma kuro すりごま) to a bowl. To this add a tablespoon each of tamari, toasted sesame oil and  maple syrup give it a stir to combine and then add your mushrooms. I used a mix of shimeji, eryngii and maitake you can use what ever mushrooms you like. Give it all a good mix coating your mushrooms in the black sesame and leave for half an hour.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and brush the paper over with a little sesame oil then spread out your mushrooms. Bake in a moderate oven until they are crispy. Remove and sprinkle with chipotle flakes.
Toast some ciabatta or any crusty bread then spread with your soft soy yogurt cheese, top with mushrooms and finish with a dollop of  wasabi mayonnaise and a squeeze of sudachi ( both optional ). You can purchase these from The Wasabi Company see the links on my pages.

I had mine with a fresh salad, Kabocha pottage and for dessert persimmon kuzu mousse.


To make the mousse just use persimmon purée and a kuzu slurry (a tablespoon of kuzu root mixed with a little water) heat in a pan until it thickens and then spoon into a pot and cool in the fridge. Finish with some slices of persimmon.

Persimmon or kaki as they are known in Japan remind me of autumn there. You will see them growing everywhere  and at the farmers markets. A real taste of Japan. No wonder the Japanese call this time of year Shokuyoku no Aki (autumn the season of appetite ).

Blog, Spring Food, Summer Food

Shio Koji Tofu

04/03/2021 Leave a comment

Shio-Koji 塩糀 translates to salt mold it is a really versatile natural seasoning used in Japanese cooking to enhance the umami of food.

It is made by fermenting cooked grains traditionally rice with water, salt and aspergillus oryzae the mold also used to make miso, soy sauce and sake. Shio-Koji can be used instead of adding salt, it makes wonderful tsukemono (pickles) and can be used in soups and marinades. Shio-Koji is known as an all purpose seasoning, a  good probiotic due to its fermentation and it can help to strengthen the immune system it is also high in B vitamins and essential amino acids. Shio-Koji looks a bit like porridge with a sweet slightly fermented smell.
It’s easy to make yourself you will need.
300g of rice koji like the one below.

90g salt, 450ml of water and an airtight container.
Just mix together in your container and place in a warm area to ferment for around 10 days, stirring once a day for the first 3 days. Leave the lid slightly ajar. This will keep in the fridge when ready for 6-10 months.

Other than that you can buy it already made like the one shown below.

Today I’m going to use Shio-Koji to make Shio-Koji tofu, it’s really simple to make and turns out a bit like a soft cheese.

Just cut a block of medium tofu in half ( you can use more but I like to make around this amount every time.) Put the tofu in a pan of simmering water and simmer for around 10 mins. Remove for the pan. You now need to get rid of the water, you can try pressing it but I find that wrapping it in a clean cloth or kitchen towel and leaving it for a few hours works ok. When your tofu has dried out put your tofu on a plate and coat all  sides with shio-koji rubbing it gently in. Put your tofu in a zip lock bag squeezing out the air and seal it. I also then put the zip lock bag in a Tupperware type container. Place this in the fridge rubbing in the shio-koji every now and again. Leave for  7 -10 days then remove from the bag and gently wipe away most of the shio-koji. You can now use this on bread or crackers with a nice chutney.


It goes well in a salad as a substitute for feta or as a sandwich filling.

Why not try it in a caprese style salad with a drizzle of olive oil herbs, tomato and fresh ground black pepper. Perfect for summer picnics.

Blog, Spring Food, Summer Food

Yoshoku Caponata

15/05/2020 Leave a comment

A few years ago I had Caponata in a vegan cafe in Tokyo. Caponata is actually a Sicilian dish and is basically an eggplant hotpot stew. I decided to to make this recipe with a Japanese fusion. When you do this it is called a Yoshoku meaning western Japanese food. I set out to make this sweet and sour Sicilian classic using some Japanese ingredients.

The first thing is salted eggplant, I sliced 1/2 an eggplant in to thick rounds and then divided them into quarters. I then rubbed in Shio koji which is a fermented condiment in Japan made from salted rice malt.


I left the eggplant for ten minutes then added it to a pan with some olive oil and started to sauté. Then I added a stick of celery chopped finely and half a chopped onion. Then I added a tablespoon of mirin, Japanese brown rice vinegar and sugar along with a tablespoon of Yuzu juice. The Yuzu juice will give the sauce a nice citrus taste, I then added one tin of chopped tomatoes. Capers are normally added to this recipe so instead I added a teaspoon of sansho berries. Sansho is a Japanese pepper the green berries come precooked in a jar. They have a citrus fragrance the green berries are a quintessential spring Kyoto being used in the autumn ground into powdered spice.

I then added a tablespoon each of pitted black and green olives and turned down the heat of the pan put on the lid and let in gently simmer for 30 mins.

This dish is very versatile can be eaten over rice Caponata donburi, or cold on a crusty sourdough. How about using it as a topping for jacket potato or pasta, even as an inari filling.

Here I have served it with rice and a salad. Finishing off with a sprinkle of pine nuts some lemon rind and basil.