Soy and legumes

Also called peruñyaan, peruyyan, perunyaan.

side dish, mixed with hot water, chilli ('tero') and salt and eaten without frying [T2015]

1. Wash and cook2–3 h
2. Basket lined with ginger leaves, on rack above fireplace3–5 days

• Tamang JP. Naturally fermented ethnic soybean foods of India. J Ethnic Foods 2015;2:8-17. doi:10.1016/j.jef.2015.02.003
• Devi TA, Singh PK, Singh TA. Isolation, identification and characterisation of Bacillus species from peruyaan. AIJR Abstracts 2026;8(1):58

Also called 紅腐乳, 南乳.

red yeast rice (angkak, Monascus purpureus) in the brine for deep red colour; red koji made by soaking rice 24 h, steaming, inoculating and fermenting ~20 days at 27 °C [SIC-ftofu]; brine rice wine, sweet rice wine or diluted kaoliang (Taiwan); rose-wine/caramel 'ketchup-like' derivative [WP-Fermented bean curd]. Wangzhihe rose red furu (Beijing) is a named brand.

Also called 佐渡味噌.

red salty long-aged rice miso, historically shipped to Hokkaido, Sakhalin, Kurils

1. Mix and pack13–14 % salt
2. Long ageing13–14 % salt

• Japanese Wikipedia, 佐渡味噌
• 編集部 1973. 新潟 越後味噌と佐渡味噌. 日本醸造協會雜誌 68(3):175–180. doi:10.6013/jbrewsocjapan1915.68.175

The salty, reddish barley miso: less koji and more salt than sweet Satsuma miso, so it ripens for months instead of weeks. Saitama barley miso of northern Kantō was an Edo favourite [SIC-miso2].

Koji to soybean ratio

8–15 bu: barley weighs 0.8–1.5 times the soybeans

Salt

11–13 % of the miso

Ripening

3–12 months

Made like Sweet barley miso (Satsuma miso).

• Japanese Wikipedia, 味噌 (miso; type table of koji ratio, salt and ageing)
• Shurtleff W., Aoyagi A., History of Miso and Soybean Jiang, SoyInfo Center

semi-fermented soybean

• Shurtleff W, Aoyagi A. History of Natto and Its Relatives. SoyInfo Center
• Shurtleff & Aoyagi. History of Specialty Fermented Soyfoods

Also called 瀬戸内麦味噌.

light-coloured barley miso with high barley-koji ratio

1. Barley koji with high koji ratio; mix and ripen30 days – 3 months

Safety: barley miso colours and darkens after shipping faster than rice miso; tyrosine crystals and liquid separation can occur [DOMOTO-1989]

• Tokyo Seiei College, 日本各地のいろいろな味噌 (student nutrition sheet), 2017
• Dōmoto Y. 1989. 味噌の地域特性 —西日本編—. 日本醸造協会誌 84(2):76–82. doi:10.6013/jbrewsocjapan1988.84.76
• Itō Masako, 日本の伝統的発酵調味料である味噌について, あいち産業科学技術総合センター 食品ニュース No.16, p.3 (table adapted from みそ技術ハンドブック)

Also called 庄内味噌.

high-koji light-coloured rice miso

1. As reference rice-miso process with high koji share

• Tokyo Seiei College, 日本各地のいろいろな味噌 (student nutrition sheet), 2017

Also called 醤油の実, しょうゆの実, しょうゆ豆 (Nagano etc.), しょやの実, しょいの実, shoyu-no-mi.

chunky moromi relish eaten with rice

1. Make koji from soybean, rice and barley (or bean koji)
2. Add roasted soybeans or black beans; pack with raw soy sauce as moromi

Safety: keep cool; active ferment — sealed bags can swell or burst [JA-WIKI-醤油の実]

• Japanese Wikipedia, 醤油の実
• Yamanashi Prefecture, やまなしの食データベース しょうゆの実 (2023). https://www.pref.yamanashi.jp/shokuhin-st/shokuiku/yamanashinoshoku/shouyunomi.html
• Fukudome N., Utsunomiya Y. 郷土料理からみた醤油の地域特性. キッコーマン国際食文化研究センター FOOD CULTURE No.26, pp.8–25

Also called 水豆豉, Guizhou water douchi, bacterial douchi, Yunnan douchi (KNT-family listing).

wet, spicy douchi in its own liquor

1. Boil soybeans softhours (typical)
2. Warm, covered incubation (straw or cloth)2–4 days · 30–40 °C
3. Season and jar in liquiddays–weeks (typical)

• English Wikipedia, Douchi
• Tamang JP. Unveiling kinema: blending tradition and science in the Himalayan fermented soya delicacy. J Ethnic Foods 2024;11:29

Also called សៀង, seing.

Bacillus-fermented soybean listed with natto/kinema [T2015 citing ref 32]

1. Boil the soybeans
2. Ferment in shallow bamboo basketsA few days
3. Add to strong brine and ageat least 7 days

Safety: B. cereus occurs in some market samples; a B. subtilis strain (CeM6-7) has been proposed as a protective starter [NARO-sieng].

• Tamang JP. Naturally fermented ethnic soybean foods of India. J Ethnic Foods 2015;2:8-17. doi:10.1016/j.jef.2015.02.003
• Tamang JP. Unveiling kinema: blending tradition and science in the Himalayan fermented soya delicacy. J Ethnic Foods 2024;11:29
• Ek Sopheap, Isolation, characterization and bio-control activities of Bacillus subtilis from fermented soybean in Cambodia, NFRI (NARO) report, UNU-Kirin fellowship
• KAKENHI project 17300238 summary on sieng and Lao thua nao production (read via search summary)

Also called sonru, Sonru (Benin).

soft pungent condiment

1. First cook, dehull, second cook (as afitin)13–14 h
2. Add yanyanku near the end of the second cookminutes
3. Ferment covered2 days

• Zannou O., Chabi I.B., Koca I. 2018, Some traditional fermented food from African locust beans (Parkia biglobosa): production and volatile compounds, GSJ 6(9)
• Agbobatinkpo P.B., Azokpota P., Hounhouigan J.D. 2019, Dynamique de la fermentation des graines de bissap pour la production du yanyanku et du ikpiru, Annales des Sciences Agronomiques 23(2):171–182

Also called 蘇鉄味噌, ソテツ味噌, なり味噌, ナリ味噌, やなぶ味噌, しるわーしみす.

two types: shiru-wakashi misu (cycad-rich, often with sweet potato, saltier, for soup and cooking) and brown-rice-rich name-miso eaten as a relish; also made into pork, fish, squid, peanut, egg and bitter-melon miso with kokutō [JA-WIKI-蘇鉄味噌]

1. Harvest and split seeds; sun-dry kernelsseeds gathered from October–November; dried in wind and sun
2. Leach the toxin (detox)overnight soak, then sun-dry; repeated several times — a few days of soaking in total
3. Pound to meal and dry
4. Mix with soaked brown rice (± wheat) and steamnearly half a day
5. Make nari koji3 days
6. Pound with boiled soybeans, salt (± steamed sweet potato)hours
7. Pack and fermentat least 30 days

Safety: Raw cycad seeds contain cycasin (glycoside of methylazoxymethanol, carcinogenic; breaks down to formaldehyde) — causes headache, vomiting, even death if eaten untreated [YOSHIDA-2000]. Water leaching plus koji/plant enzyme hydrolysis detoxify it; long-term rat feeding of fermented sotetsu miso found it harmless [JA-WIKI-蘇鉄味噌]. Yoshida notes fermented products needed no separate pre-detox, but boiling cycad starch ≥20 min was also recommended. Do not shorten leaching or fermentation.

• Japanese Wikipedia, 蘇鉄味噌
• Yoshida H. 2000. 奄美諸島の発酵食品 (2). 日本醸造協会誌 95(11):830–834. doi:10.6013/jbrewsocjapan1988.95.830
• MAFF, にっぽん伝統食図鑑 (Japan's traditional foods), narimiso

soy nuggets steeped in grain wine (China, from c. 4th c.); rou dau nanh distilled soy/rice spirit (Vietnam); Cantonese kiu-tsee wine starter of boiled rice + soybeans + Glycosmis citrifolia leaf powder, moulded 4–5 days then dried (1878) [SIC-spec]. Belongs to alcoholic-drink / starter files.

Also called soy-dawadawa, soy-daddawa, soy-iru, soybean daddawa.

soup condiment; often kept up to a month after fermentation, deteriorates quickly

1. Boil (or roast) whole soybeans30 min boil, or 30 min roast
2. Dehull between palms or in mortar, washhours
3. Boil cotyledons1 h
4. Ferment in baskets lined and covered with banana leaves72 h

Safety: High moisture; pH and acidity keep rising in storage [Popoola2007]

• Opai-Tetteh S. The microbial activities involved in the alkaline fermentation of soybeans into dawadawa. MPhil thesis, Univ. Ghana / Food Research Institute, 1999
• Popoola TO, Kolapo A, Afolabi O. Changes in functional properties ... of stored soybean daddawa. Acta Sci Pol Technol Aliment 2007;6(3):51-59
• Darkwa, Amoa-Awua, Sakyi-Dawson 2003 (abstract via search)

Named special misos: genmai (brown-rice koji), moromi (unblended), nanban (chilli), taima (hemp seed), sobamugi (buckwheat), hadakamugi (naked barley) and gokoku (five-grain). Cycad miso now has its own entry.

• Japanese Wikipedia, 味噌 (miso; type table of koji ratio, salt and ageing)
• English Wikipedia, Miso

fermented tofu in brine (Pampanga — typical); name from [SIC-ftofu]

sake/rice-wine lees, crushed leaves and 'green mucor'; fermented only ~12 h [WP-Fermented bean curd, SIC-ftofu (chou doufu base, ≥12 h in wine and lees)]

Also called 淡豉, 干豉, dan douchi, mild shih.

unsalted dry soy nuggets used as seasoning and medicine (danouchi is still a Chinese materia medica item — typical)

1. Cook and mould (koji)several days
2. Wash, wrap in artemisia reed mat, ferment10 days
3. Dry

• Shurtleff & Aoyagi. History of Soy Nuggets (Shih/Chi, Douchi, Hamanatto)
• Shurtleff W, Aoyagi A. History of Natto and Its Relatives. SoyInfo Center

Also called tempe gembus, okara tempe, tempe ampas tahu.

soft, fluffy, cheap tempeh (fried as gembus goreng, mendoan)

1. Press and steam okara15–20 min
2. Inoculate, wrap in leaves, incubate24 h – 2 days

Safety: okara spoils fast before fermentation (typical)

• English Wikipedia, Tempeh
• Halodoc, Tempe gembus: kenali manfaat dan cara membuatnya (home guide)

Also called 豆腐の味噌漬け.

firm tofu wrapped in cloth and buried in miso for months; LAB develop; described in Tofu Hyakuchin (1782) [WP-Fermented bean curd]

• English Wikipedia, Fermented bean curd

Also called 豆腐よう, 豆腐餻.

firm island tofu dried outdoors ~4 days, cut in 1-inch cubes, washed with awamori; red (beni) koji and white rice koji softened 2–3 days in awamori, ground with salt; cubes fermented in this 3–6 months [SIC-ftofu]. No surface mould stage (typical). Earliest direct reference: Gozen Honzo 1832; in 1985 only one commercial plant (Maruyama, Naha) [SIC-ftofu].

Also called 潼川豆豉.

Mucor-type black douchi; tribute product from 1678

1. Mucor koji, steaming, mould-washing, flavouring, dryinglong storage (not quantified)

• ihchina.cn item 939 (Ⅷ-156), Tongchuan douchi

Also called 津軽味噌, 津軽三年味噌, Tsugaru sannen miso, Aomori miso.

red-coloured medium-karakuchi rice miso, salt ~13 %, long aged; used in jappa-jiru and kaiyaki-miso [JA-WIKI-津軽味噌]. [TSC-2017] describes the modern commercial product as not very dark.

1. Rice koji2 days · 30–35 °C
2. Cook soybeans, mix and pack13 % salt
3. Long cold ageingup to 3 years · 13 % salt

Safety: high salt chosen to prevent spoilage over multi-year ageing

• Japanese Wikipedia, 津軽味噌
• Kushibiki M. 1973, 津軽味噌 (味噌風土記) (Tsugaru miso), J. Brew. Soc. Japan 68(12):908–911, doi:10.6013/jbrewsocjapan1915.68.908
• Tokyo Seiei College, 日本各地のいろいろな味噌 (student nutrition sheet), 2017

Also called tempe gembus (okara tempeh), oncom (press-cake ferment), upcycled ferments.

protein cake or koji from waste streams

1. Steam or cook by-product
2. Inoculate and incubate24 h – 2 days · 30 °C

Safety: Tempe bongkrek (coconut press cake) can carry Burkholderia gladioli, which makes bongkrekic acid: >3,000 cases since 1975, ~60% mortality; banned 1988.

• Wikipedia, Tempeh. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempeh

Also called वड़ी, বড়ি.

urad (or moong) dal soaked, ground, often left to ferment overnight, mixed with spices (Punjab/Kashmir) or plain (Bengal bori), piped/shaped into cones and sun-dried for days; LAB/yeast fermentation reported in literature (typical). Not documented in fetched sources (Wikipedia page missing).

Also called वड़ी, ਵੜੀ, warri, vadi, bori (Bengal), sandige (south India, rice/urad version named by Chettri2008).

dry nuggets cooked in curries

1. Soak dhal and grind to a soft doughsoak hours (overnight typical)
2. Ferment in a closed container10 h
3. Mould balls or cones; dry alternating sun and shade~60 h total: 8 h sun / 16 h shade cycles

Safety: Enterobacteriaceae persist through drying; B. cereus reported in some trials, absent in others

• (search summary)
• Sandhu DK, Soni SK 1989 J Food Sci Technol 26:21-25 (cited)
• (comparison)

Also called 永川豆豉, Yongchuan tempeh-like black beans, mao-type douchi.

shiny black, moist, fragrant douchi

1. Clean, wash, soak, steam, spread to cool
2. Natural Mucor koji (zhiqu) in cold seasondays (count not found); production only November to February
3. Mix with salt and liquor, pack into jars (bandan, zhuangtan)
4. Post-fermentation8–10 months traditional ('up to a year'); melanin forms mainly in the first 10 days

• ihchina.cn item 939 (Ⅷ-156), Yongchuan douchi
• Chinese papers on Yongchuan, Yangjiang, Liuyang douchi (Acta Microbiol Sin 2023; Modern Food Sci Technol 2016; Food Sci 2011;32(1):177) read via search summaries

Also called 雪割納豆, 五斗納豆, goto natto, gotō nattō.

salted, koji-ripened natto relish

1. Make natto24 h · 40 °C
2. Mince and mix with rice koji and saltshort
3. Secondary ferment15 days · 25–33 °C

Safety: salt and koji acidity make it more stable than plain natto (typical)

• Shurtleff W, Aoyagi A. History of Natto and Its Relatives. SoyInfo Center

Also called 糟腐乳.

pehtze aged in fermented rice-wine lees (tsao sufu) [SIC-ftofu]