こだわりの天然醸造味噌
味噌造りは米麹をつくることから始めます。醸造の要は麹にあるといわれていますが、ここは蔵人の経験と勘がすべての工程です。
蒸した大豆や塩と混ぜ合わせ木桶に寝かせていると、気温が上がるにつれて重しの下からプチプチと醗酵する音が聞こえてきます。出荷する前には、木桶の味噌をすっかり別の木桶に移して「天地替え」します。
Natural brew miso
Miso begins with the making of rice koji. It is said that the essential ingredient of the brew lies in the quality of the koji, but the experience and intuition of the brewer are also an integral part of the whole process.
Miso is made by mixing rice koji with steamed soybeans and salt, and allowing the mixture to rest in a wooden barrel over a certain period of time. At first, the sound of small bubbles will be heard as a sign of the fermentation process and indicate the rising temperature inside the barrel. Before being sold, the miso will move from the original barrel it was fermented in, to another wooden barrel when the fermentation process is finished. The original barrel will then continue to be used for fermenting the next batch of miso.
米麹をつくる
蒸し米を素手でほぐし、蔵人の勘で適温を探り、適温になったら麹菌を撒く。気候・米の状態等、常に一定でないものを「感覚」で測る。
石孫が仕事場を「工場」と呼ばない理由がここにあります。天然杉製麹蓋の中の米麹を手入れし、三日後には綿毛のような菌糸に覆われます。
The making of koji rice
First, with the bare hands of the koji craftsman, steamed rice is distributed evenly over a surface, removing any clumps, and left to cool slightly. Once considered ready, a choice made through the intuition of the brewer, koji enzymes are sprinkled on the rice. Care for the rice koji continues for three more days, where it is placed in trays of natural cedar, in order to develop the fluffy texture which is the trademark of koji rice. The sense and care of the brewer here is critical, as natural conditions vary throughout the year, meaning climate and rice conditions have to be catered for. This is the reason why here at Ishimago we do not use the term factory.
大豆蒸缶(むしかん)とは
巨大な蒸煮釜。大豆を釜一杯にしたら、圧力を掛けながら半時ほど蒸していきます。
毎年早春に仕込む味噌。大豆の甘い香りが蔵に漂うと、春を感じます。
The soybean steam pot
A huge steaming pot is filled with soybeans, which are then pressure steamed for about half an hour. As miso is traditionally made every spring, the sweet smell of steaming soybeans in the warehouse tells all of us that Spring has come.
熟成させる
生味噌を木桶に押し込むように入れていきます。米麹、塩、蒸煮大豆を合わせて木桶に入れたら全重量の一割くらいの重しを乗せます。百年以上使い続けている木桶には蔵付き酵母(いしまご恵比寿酵母)が住みついていて、約8ヶ月かけて熟成を促していきます。
The maturing process
Raw miso (where the ingredients are simply mixed together) is flattened by hand into a wooden barrel to ensure no air pockets remain. To ensure this condition continues (air is detrimental to the fermentation), the miso is also weighted with the equivalent of about ten percent of the entire weight of the raw ingredients. We have a unique yeast culture (called Ishimago Ebisu Yeast) within the storehouse that lives in the wooden barrels that has been used for over 100 years. The raw miso will ferment with the yeast culture and be aged for about eight months.
容器詰め
熟成した味噌は品質を均一にする為上下を入れ替えながら別の桶へ移して天地替えした後、酵母が生きたままの状態で容器詰めしてお届けします。石孫の味噌は地元の米・大豆で造っていて、米と大豆の割合や熟成期間の違いで色んな味が楽しめます。
Container packing
The miso is then transferred to another tub, meaning the miso that was at the top of the original barrel will now be at the bottom of the new barrel. This is an important process because it ensures an even quality of the final miso. The final product for sale is placed in a container in which the yeast remains alive (and therefore will give extra nutritious benefit, as well as continue to ferment at a slow pace). Ishimago’s miso is made from local rice and soybeans, and you can enjoy various flavors of our miso that have been blended on different ratios of rice and soybeans, and of course how long the miso has been aged also varies and creates various tastes.