DEMYSTIFYING KOJI

I just cannot understand it. At times I feel the way the whole world discovers or respect Japanese products seems to be out of perspective. At times they regarded their products as far superior or even have the magical elixir of life!
One good example is their fermented product or koji which is used widely to seed or culture their various fermented food and beverages such as miso,soy sauce and sake. There is really nothing special about it or the great hype being associated with it. Koji is just the fermenting agent! koji can refer both to a fungus and to a food ingredient that is commonly made using rice, barley, or soybeans.
Seed koji refers the spores of the fungus Aspergillus oryzae. The fungus is a type of mold that is native only to the humid Southeast and East Asian regions.
MAKING KOJI
Koji is made by sprinkling seed koji over steamed rice, barley, or soybeans and cultivating the fungus under temperature conditions suitable for its growth. As the fungus propagates, enzymes break down the grains' starch and proteins into sugars and amino acids.
DIFFERENT KOJI FOR DIFFERENT FERMENTATION
The main factors determining are type of koji and type of substrate used. Different types of koji are used for different type of fermented food. Even for sake there are various types of koji seeds used.
Although the main microorganism for koji is Aspergillus, koji are known to contain about fifty types of enzymes. The most important enzymes in a koji are alpha amylase, glucoamylase and acid protease.
The poor reception for koji type of fermentation is probably due to the western obsession with SF than SSF


UNPOPULARITY OF KOJI IN INDUSTRIES
Using koji has now grown out of popularity because modern fermentation industries are always looking for automated fast fermentation under the mantra of "faster, cheaper, and more." Mass production of widely used foods by fast fermentation led to the emergence of national brands in the fermentation industry. This lead to cheaper fermented food and beverages. However the drawback is that fermentation is not simply a process you can just speed up the fermentation time and volume produced. This has the effect of affecting the quality of the fermentation products in terms of subtle flavors and rich nutrients of naturally fermented products. In trying to short cut the fermentation extraneous enzymes and additives are added. This of course will affect the fermentation process and the quality of the fermented products.

A GAME OF TEMPERATURE, TIME AND HUMIDITY

Making koji is often a family secret. Generally it takes three days
Rice- soaked in water overnight - steamed 40 minutes- cool down, scarred to facilitate fungal growth-- sprinkled with seed koji--- transfer to fermentation room
If we look at the whole koji preparation it is more an intimate play of temperature, time and humidity. Different types of temperatures are exploited and controlled to get the right koji and enzyme activities. There is a frequent use of cloth and straw wrapping to insulate the koji temperature



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