HOME



picture info

Miso
is a traditional Japanese seasoning. It is a thick paste produced by fermenting soybeans with salt and kōji (the fungus ''Aspergillus oryzae''), and sometimes rice, barley, seaweed, or other ingredients. It is used for sauces and spreads; pickling vegetables, fish, or meats; and mixing with dashi soup stock to serve as miso soup, a Japanese culinary staple food. Miso is high in protein and rich in minerals, and it played an important nutritional role in feudal Japan. Miso is widely used in both traditional and modern cooking in Japan, and as of 2018 had been gaining worldwide interest. Typically, miso is salty, but its flavor and aroma depend on the ingredients and fermentation process. Different varieties of miso have been variously described as salty, sweet, earthy, fruity, or savory. History The origin of miso of Japan is not completely clear. *Grain and fish misos had been manufactured in Japan since the Neolithic era (Jōmon period, 14,000–300 BC). These are ca ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Miso Soup
is a traditional Japan, Japanese soup consisting of miso paste mixed with a ''dashi'' Stock (food), stock. It is commonly served as part of an meal, meaning "one soup, three dishes," a traditional Japanese meal structure that includes rice, soup, and side dishes. Optional ingredients based on region and season may be added, such as ''wakame'', tofu, ''Allium fistulosum, negi'', ''abura-age'', mushrooms, etc. Along with ''suimono'' (clear soups), miso soup is considered to be one of the two basic soup types of Japanese cuisine. It is a representative of soup dishes served with rice. Miso soup is also called in some parts of Japan, especially around Tokyo. Miso paste The type of miso paste chosen for the soup defines a great deal of its character and flavor. Miso pastes (a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting soybeans with salt and the fungus ''Aspergillus oryzae'', known in Japanese as '':ja:麹, kōjikin'' (麹菌), and sometimes rice, barley, or other ing ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Kōji (food)
Kōji (, also written as the kokuji ) is a filamentous fungus, most commonly ''Aspergillus oryzae'', which are traditionally used in Japanese cuisine for the fermentation of food, or a mixture of such a culture with wheat and soybean meal. The latter can be fried and eaten directly or processed to a sauce.René Redzepi, David Zilber: ''The Noma Handbook Fermentation - How to make Koji, Kombucha, Shoyu, Miso, Vinegar, Garum, lacto-fermented and black fruits and vegetables and cook with them.'' 5th edition, A. Kunstmann, 2019. . The term ''kōji'' in English refers specifically to the Japanese types of starter cultures. The same Chinese character (, more commonly written as the homophonic in simplified Chinese texts) is used in Chinese to refer to Chinese starter cultures; see jiuqu. In Japanese, the genus ''Aspergillus'' is known with the common name of , though the term is not fully limited to the genus (for example, ''Monascus purpureus'' is called "red kōji mold"). Charact ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Douchi
''Douchi'' is a type of fermented and salted black soybean most popular in the cuisine of China, where they are most widely used for making black bean sauce dishes. Shurtleff, W.; Aoyagi, Abr>History of Fermented Black Soybeans (165 B.C. to 2011) Lafayette, California: Soyinfo Center, 2011 ''Douchi'' is made by fermenting and salting black soybeans using Qu ( zh, c=麹, p=Qū), which is similar or identical to the Miso ferment, Koji. Douchi can be classified as ''Aspergillus''-type Douchi, '' Mucor''-type Douchi, ''Bacterial''-type Douchi, or '' Rhizopus''-type Douchi. There are two main stages to the Douchi making process; first you make the Koji, then there is a prefermentation stage. There can also be a maturation or post fermentation stage, were the Douchi is mixed with other ingredients, like brine, and allowed to age. The black type soybean is most commonly used. The process turns the beans soft, and mostly semi-dry (if the beans are allowed to dry). Regular soybeans ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea in the south. The Japanese archipelago consists of four major islands—Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu—and List of islands of Japan, thousands of smaller islands, covering . Japan has a population of over 123 million as of 2025, making it the List of countries and dependencies by population, eleventh-most populous country. The capital of Japan and List of cities in Japan, its largest city is Tokyo; the Greater Tokyo Area is the List of largest cities, largest metropolitan area in the world, with more than 37 million inhabitants as of 2024. Japan is divided into 47 Prefectures of Japan, administrative prefectures and List of regions of Japan, eight traditional regions. About three-quarters of Geography of Japan, the countr ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Shaku (unit)
or Japanese foot is a Japanese unit of length derived (but varying) from the Chinese , originally based upon the distance measured by a human hand from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the forefinger (compare span). Traditionally, the length varied by location or use, but it is now standardized as 10/33 m, or approximately . Etymology in English entered English in the early 18th century,Oxford English Dictionary, Volume XV page 148 Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, 1986 a romanization of the Japanese Go-on reading of the character for . Use in Japan The had been standardized as since 1891. This means that there are about 3.3 () to one meter. This definition was established by Meiji government law; until then, even though the unit was given the same name, its length varied depending on the era. At the same time, other units were established based on shaku. English:1Shaku = 10 Cun = 100bu Japanese:1尺 = 10寸 = 100 分 The ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Grapheme
In linguistics, a grapheme is the smallest functional unit of a writing system. The word ''grapheme'' is derived from Ancient Greek ('write'), and the suffix ''-eme'' by analogy with ''phoneme'' and other emic units. The study of graphemes is called '' graphemics''. The concept of graphemes is abstract and similar to the notion in computing of a character. (A specific geometric shape that represents any particular grapheme in a given typeface is called a glyph.) Conceptualization There are two main opposing grapheme concepts. In the so-called ''referential conception'', graphemes are interpreted as the smallest units of writing that correspond with sounds (more accurately phonemes). In this concept, the ''sh'' in the written English word ''shake'' would be a grapheme because it represents the phoneme /ʃ/. This referential concept is linked to the ''dependency hypothesis'' that claims that writing merely depicts speech. By contrast, the ''analogical concept'' defines gr ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Edo Period
The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characterized by prolonged peace and stability, urbanization and economic growth, strict social order, Isolationism, isolationist foreign policies, and popular enjoyment of Japanese art, arts and Culture of Japan, culture. In 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu prevailed at the Battle of Sekigahara and established hegemony over most of Japan, and in 1603 was given the title ''shogun'' by Emperor Go-Yōzei. Ieyasu resigned two years later in favor of his son Tokugawa Hidetada, Hidetada, but maintained power, and defeated the primary rival to his authority, Toyotomi Hideyori, at the Siege of Osaka in 1615 before his death the next year. Peace generally prevailed from this point on, making samurai largely redundant. Tokugawa sh ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Daimyōs
were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominally to the emperor and the ''kuge'' (an aristocratic class). In the term, means 'large', and stands for , meaning 'private land'. From the ''shugo'' of the Muromachi period through the Sengoku period to the daimyo of the Edo period, the rank had a long and varied history. The backgrounds of daimyo also varied considerably; while some daimyo clans, notably the Mōri, Shimazu and Hosokawa, were cadet branches of the Imperial family or were descended from the ''kuge'', other daimyo were promoted from the ranks of the samurai, notably during the Edo period. Daimyo often hired samurai to guard their land, and paid them in land or food, as relatively few could afford to pay them in money. The daimyo era ended soon after the Meiji Restoration, wit ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Sengoku Period
The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as the period's start date, but there are many competing historiographies for its end date, ranging from 1568, the date of Oda Nobunaga#Ise campaign, Omi campaign, and march to Kyoto, Oda Nobunaga's march on Kyoto, to the suppression of the Shimabara Rebellion in 1638, deep into what was traditionally considered the Edo period. Regardless of the dates chosen, the Sengoku period overlaps substantially with the Muromachi period (1336–1573). This period was characterized by the overthrow of a superior power by a subordinate one. The Ashikaga shogunate, the ''de facto'' central government, declined and the , a local power, seized wider political influence. The people rebelled against the feudal lords in revolts known as . The period saw a break ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Bhikkhu
A ''bhikkhu'' (, ) is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male, and female monastics (''bhikkhunī''), are members of the Sangha (Buddhist community). The lives of all Buddhist monastics are governed by a set of rules called the pratimokṣa, prātimokṣa or pāṭimokkha, pātimokkha. Their lifestyles are shaped to support their spiritual practice: to live a simple and meditative life and attain Nirvana (Buddhism), nirvana. A person under the age of 20 cannot be ordained as a bhikkhu or bhikkhuni but can be ordained as a samanera, śrāmaṇera or śrāmaṇērī. Definition ''Bhikkhu'' literally means "begging, beggar" or "one who lives by dāna, alms". The historical Buddha, Gautama Buddha, Prince Siddhartha, having abandoned a life of pleasure and status, lived as an alms mendicant as part of his śramaṇa lifestyle. Those of his more serious students who renounced their lives as householders and came to study full-time under his supervision also adopted this lifest ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Nattō
is a traditional Japanese cuisine, Japanese food made from whole soybeans that have been Fermentation in food processing, fermented with Bacillus subtilis, ''Bacillus subtilis'' var. ''natto''. It is often served as a breakfast food with rice. It is served with karashi, ''karashi'' mustard, soy sauce, soy or tare sauce, ''tare'' sauce, and sometimes Allium fistulosum, Japanese bunching onion. Within Japan, ''nattō'' is most popular in the eastern regions, including Kantō region, Kantō, Tōhoku, and Hokkaido. ''Nattō'' is often considered an acquired taste because of its powerful smell, strong flavor, and sticky, slimy texture. A 2009 survey revealed that 70% of the 3,827 respondents (0.003% of the population) found the taste pleasant, and others who may not find the taste pleasant still eat the food out of habit. History Sources differ about the earliest origin of ''nattō''. One theory is that nattō was codeveloped in multiple locations in the distant past, since it is ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]