Meaning & use
Koji
Last updated
A mold, Aspergillus oryzae, cultivated on rice, barley, or soybeans and used to ferment ingredients in Japanese cuisine such as soy sauce, miso, and sake.
See it in a sentence
The brewer inoculated steamed rice with koji spores to begin the sake-making process.
Koji breaks down starches into sugars, giving fermented foods like miso their characteristic sweetness.
A note on using this word
Central to Japanese fermentation traditions for over a thousand years, koji is now used globally by chefs to add umami depth to non-Japanese dishes as well.
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