Turning Mushrooms into Liquid Umami
45sThe transformation of mushrooms into soy sauce is visually and conceptually intriguing, sparking curiosity.
▶ Play ClipAI Summary
This video demonstrates how to make homemade shiitake mushroom tamari (soy sauce) from homegrown shiitake mushrooms and soybeans. The process involves creating a mash, fermenting it with koji, and pressing out the liquid to yield a rich, umami-packed sauce. The creator also shares tips for speeding up fermentation and using the leftover mash.
Chapters
[00:00]
Harvesting Shiitake Mushrooms
The creator inoculated logs with shiitake mushroom spawn three years ago and now harvests fresh shiitakes every spring.
[00:14]
Inspiration and Mash Preparation
The project was inspired by Johnny Kyonkyu's video on making shiitake tamari. Soybeans are soaked overnight, boiled, and simmered with dried shiitakes for 15 minutes before blending into a chunky paste.
[00:38]
Adding Salt and Koji
Salt is mixed into the paste, then koji is added to initiate fermentation. Koji can be bought online or made at home.
[00:51]
Fermentation Process
The mixture is packed into a jar and fermented. Normally this takes 6 months to a year at room temperature, but using a dehydrator at 130°F speeds it up to just 3 weeks.
[01:10]
Color and Flavor Transformation
Koji converts starches and proteins into sugars and amino acids, creating deep savory and sweet flavors. The result is a shiitake-flavored miso paste.
[01:25]
Extracting the Tamari
The miso is pressed in a cheesecloth using a cheese press to extract the dark, umami-packed liquid. The leftover mash is dehydrated and fed to chickens.
[01:53]
Final Yield and Tasting
The final product is a homemade shiitake mushroom tamari, which tastes sweet and savory, like it's infused with MSG, and works as a soy sauce replacement.
This video provides a complete, step-by-step guide to making shiitake tamari at home, from harvesting mushrooms to bottling the final sauce. It highlights the fermentation process and offers a faster alternative using a dehydrator.
Mentioned in this Video
Tutorial Checklist
Study Flashcards (4)
How long does the fermentation process take at room temperature?
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How long does the fermentation process take at room temperature?
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Six months to a year.
00:51
What temperature speeds up the fermentation to three weeks?
medium
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What temperature speeds up the fermentation to three weeks?
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130 degrees Fahrenheit.
00:51
What does koji convert in the soybeans and mushrooms?
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What does koji convert in the soybeans and mushrooms?
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Starches and proteins into sugars and amino acids.
01:10
What is the liquid extracted from the miso paste called?
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What is the liquid extracted from the miso paste called?
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Tamari.
01:25
💡 Key Takeaways
🔧
Accelerated Fermentation
Demonstrates a practical technique to reduce fermentation time from months to weeks using a dehydrator.
00:51
💡
Umami Creation
Explains the biochemical process behind flavor development in fermentation.
01:10
📊
Tasting Result
Provides sensory confirmation of the final product's quality and flavor profile.
01:53Full Transcript
[00:00] Here's how I turned all of these shiitake mushrooms into an incredible mushroom soy sauce. So about three years ago, I inoculated some logs with shiitake mushroom spawn, and now every single spring they reward me with a fresh harvest of beautiful shiitakes,
[00:14] which happened to perfectly coincide with me seeing a video from Johnny Kyonkyu on making some shiitake tamari. So big thanks to Johnny for the inspiration for this project. Now first we need to make the mash, so I soak some soybeans overnight,
[00:26] and the next day I brought them up to a boil, skimming off the foam as they cooked. And once they were nice and tender, I added in my dried shiitakes and let them simmer for another 15 minutes. Then I blended everything together in batches until it was a chunky paste.
[00:38] I dumped it in a mixing bowl and mixed in my salt. Now comes the real transformation. To ferment this mash into something really special, we're using some koji. Now you can buy koji online or in a specialty Japanese market, but it's one of my favorite things to make at home.
[00:51] I've got a full video linked if you want to learn how to do that on your own. And I mixed the koji in the mash and packed everything tightly into a jar to ferment. And normally this fermentation process takes around six months to a year at room temperature but by fermenting in a warmer environment around 130 degrees Fahrenheit like this dehydrator right here we can actually speed
[01:10] that process up to just three weeks. And check out this color transformation. The koji has converted those starches and proteins in the soybeans and the mushrooms into sugars and amino acids, creating all of those deep savory and sweet flavors. And what we have here is a shiitake flavored miso
[01:25] paste, which I will save a jar for cooking, but I'm actually after the tamari or the liquid from this paste. So I loaded the miso into a cheesecloth and I pressed it in my cheese press and I extracted every last bit of that dark umami packed liquid. And for that leftover mash, I ended up
[01:41] dehydrating that and feeding it to my chickens so they could peck away at it for a little fermented snack. And in the end, I got a really solid final yield of some homemade shiitake mushroom tamari that I bottled up to use in all kinds of dishes.
[01:53] All right, sample time. Wow. That's so good. So sweet. Definitely a soy sauce replacement. Yeah. For sure. I bet you get shiitake mushroom. It's more, it tastes like it's infused with MSG, basically.
[02:07] Yeah. So much umami.
