Kuniyoshi Ohtawara is a Japanese sushi chef at Hokkai, with a deep connection to the traditions of soy sauce and moromi. For him, these ingredients are part of Japan’s authentic culinary heritage. His interest in the lab was sparked by curiosity: how would non Japanese chefs approach moromi, and what new uses would emerge when imagination and cultural perspectives meet. The lab offered a rare chance to explore an ingredient he knew well, but through the eyes and techniques of others.
Kuniyoshi discovered that moromi has a surprisingly long-lasting umami taste that elevates other ingredients and creates complex interactions. Its depth proved especially suitable for building a miso-style broth. When he smoked the moromi for broth, in an attempt to replace the smoky depth of bonito flakes, the flavour intensified further. The smoking also enhanced the perception of saltiness, suggesting potential for reducing the total amount of salt used in dishes.
In his first trials he experimented with a duck breast marinated in a moromi-fig paste, but the most unexpected breakthrough came from marinating tuna. The effect on texture was far more dramatic than anticipated: after just one night, the tuna developed a structure comparable to more than a week of ageing. The result was creamy, nutty and richly infused with moromi’s flavour. Combined with sushi rice seasoned with his moromi-vinegar blend, it created a deeply umami-driven pairing
Keukengereedschap
- (domestic) smoke oven
- rice cooker
Ingrediënten
- 120 g moromi powder
- 5 g oak chip
- 200 g tuna
- 500 g rice
- 1 courgette
- 1 turnip
- 8 g kombu
- 30 g miso
- 300 g mirin
- 45 g sugar
- 300 g rice vinegar
- 65 g salt
- Tomasu soy sauce
- wasabi
Bereidingswijze
- Make broth. Soak 10 g moromi powder and 4 g kombu in 500 ml water overnight. Then
- pass it.
- Make broth for soup. Smoke 10 g moromi powder with 5 g oak chips in a smoke pan for 3 hours.
- Soak this smoked moromi powder with 4 g kombu in 500 ml water overnight, then pass it.
- Make marinade paste for tuna. Cook 300 ml mirin in a pan to evaporate the alcohol, then mix with 100 g moromi powder. Let cool. Marinate 200 g tuna in this paste overnight.
- Make sushi vinegar. Mix 50 ml moromi broth, 100 ml rice vinegar, 25 g salt and 15 g sugar.
- Make pickle marinade. Mix 300 ml moromi broth, 200 ml rice vinegar, 20 g salt and 30 g sugar.
- Cut the courgette and turnip, then soak them in 1 L water with 20 g salt (2%) for 3 hours. Strain, then marinate in the pickle marinade overnight.
- Wash and cook 500 g rice with 600 ml water. Once cooked, mix with 100 ml sushi vinegar.
- Make miso soup. Combine 500 ml smoked moromi broth with 30 g miso and heat.
- Remove the tuna from the marinade, pat dry, slice and make nigiri sushi.
