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Fermentation Atlas

Soy and legumes from Chūbu — Aichi

Mame miso / Hatchō miso (soybean-only koji miso)豆味噌

Mame miso is made from soybeans and salt only. Steamed soybeans are shaped into balls and grown with koji mould, then packed with salt and water into tall cedar vats under stacked stones. Hatchō miso in Okazaki ages at least a year, traditionally two summers and two winters. Made in 5 steps over 10 months – 2 years. The longest step, age, takes 10 months – 2 years (MAFF Geographical Indication register No. 49). Salt is 10–12 % (Japanese Wikipedia). Aspergillus oryzae does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step10 months – 2 yearsSet[GI-49][JA-WIKI-八丁味噌]Age
Temperature60 °CReported[KOIDE-2019]Shape miso-dama balls
Salt10–12 %Reported[JA-miso]Pack with salt and water under stones
AciditypH 4.5–5.1Set[GI-49]Age
DocumentedSoy and legumes10 months – 2 yearsGI No. 49 (Hatchō miso), JapanMore soy and legumesMore from Japan

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe GI allows only soybeans and salt (with water). The sources give no fixed amounts; Okazaki makers pack about 6 t per 2 m vat.
Soybeans · All of the soybeans become koji; no rice or barley[GI-49]
Salt[GI-49]
Water[GI-49]
Koji spores mixed with roasted barley flour (kōsen) · The flour spreads the spores, soaks up condensation and stops the balls sticking[KOIDE-2019]
Starter: koji (Aspergillus oryzae) grown on soybean balls (miso-dama)

Total time across the recorded steps: 10 months – 2 years

Start
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What changes: Soaked soybeans are steamed soft

Step 1 of 5
Soak and steam the soybeans
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Aspergillus oryzae
Moulds

Output: steamed soybeans.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

No rice or barley: the soybeans carry the koji mould themselves, shaped into balls. With little sugar there is little yeast or lactic activity, so mame miso relies on koji enzymes, ages a year or more under heavy stones and ends very dark and rich in free glutamate.

Related ferments

Made the mame miso / hatchō miso way

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Hatchō miso is traced to the late 1400s or early 1500s [SIC-miso2]. The ball-koji method was settled around 1830–1844 [GI-49].

  1. [GI-49] MAFF Geographical Indication register No. 49, 八丁味噌 (Hatchō miso) specificationspec
  2. [JA-WIKI-八丁味噌] Japanese Wikipedia, 八丁味噌wiki
  3. [KOIDE-2019] Koide A., Matsumoto K. 2019, 種類と製造方法の違いによる味噌の調理学的特徴 (cooking properties of miso by type and method), Bulletin of Nagoya Women's University 65:61–71paper
  4. [YOSHII-1963] Yoshii H. 1963, 豆みその近況 (mame miso today), J. Brew. Soc. Japan 58(5):437–440, doi:10.6013/jbrewsocjapan1915.58.437paper
  5. [AICHI-ITC] Itō M., 日本の伝統的発酵調味料である味噌について (miso types table adapted from the Miso Technology Handbook), Aichi Center for Industry and Science Technology, Food News No. 16, p. 3gov
  6. [JA-miso] Japanese Wikipedia, 味噌 (miso; type table of koji ratio, salt and ageing)wiki
  7. [WP-Miso] English Wikipedia, Misowiki
  8. [SIC-miso2] Shurtleff W., Aoyagi A., History of Miso and Soybean Jiang, SoyInfo Centerbook