Shio Koji

Shio koji is a special marinade that provides three major functions in cookery:

  • Salt consumption is reduced
  • Meat becomes more tender
  • A rich umami (savoury) flavour is produced

Reduce Your Salt Intake

Add shio koji to almost any food as an alternative to salt. If you replace one teaspoon of salt in your recipe with two teaspoons of shio koji your food will taste just as salty, but you will only be using 10% of the salt. 

A high salt diet can raise blood pressure and lead to coronary heart disease and stroke. The NHS recommend that adults should not eat more than 6g of salt a day – this is around a teaspoon. Any steps you take to reduce your salt intake is beneficial for your health. 

Meat becomes more tender

The enzymes present in shio koji have the ability to break down proteins, which makes meat more tender. Marinade any meat (chicken and white fish are especially good) overnight in a thin coating of shio koji and it will be transformed to another level!

Rich Umami Flavour

Shio koji contains protease which has the ability to transform protein into a range of amino acids. This creates a depth of savoury flavour that tastes delicious! It also contains amylase, which performs a similar function on starches; this makes carbohydrate rich food taste sweeter. To improve the flavour of dishes it is best to leave shio koji to ferment for one week before using. 

Shio Koji

Shio Koji is a special marinade that can reduce your salt consumption
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time0 minutes
Ferment7 days
Total Time7 days 5 minutes
Course: Ingredient
Cuisine: Japanese
Keyword: Koji, shio koji
Servings: 4
Calories: 361kcal

Equipment

  • Blender

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Mix all the ingredients together
  • Blend to form a smooth paste
  • Use immediately, or for a deeper flavour, leave in a clean jar at room temperature to ferment for one week. 

Video

How to make Shio Koji

2 thoughts on “Shio Koji

  1. Hi!
    Koji beginner her! Your site is really inspiring and so much to learn 🙂
    If I wait a week, should I wait to make a smoth paste?
    Best regards
    Anders

    1. Thank you for the lovely words!

      In a week the shio koji will still have the rice pieces visible. You can either use it as it is or blend to a smooth paste in a food processor – whichever is best for your recipe. Enjoy!

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