At our previous podcast episode, we mentioned to share in a blog, a little more about Haku Sakura Shoyu - cherry blossom infused white soy sauce and Tsuru Bishio Sai-Shikomi Shoyu - double fermented soy sauce from Shodo Island, Kagawa pref.
Sakura shoyu went really well with local Black Sea Bass sashimi. We felt the cherry blossom flavor was developing in the back ground pleasantly, to compliment delicate and sweet taste from the fish. The shoyu is handcrafted by shoyu master craftsmen at Yamaroku Brewery. Sakura flowers are caught in a net to inspect the quality and handpicking to select. The flowers are dipped in red shiso vinegar first, then are packed in salt piles to be preserved. After a couple of days, they are rinsed, air-dried, and added into white soy sauce to infuse. The white soy sauce is aged in a white shoyu barrels over four seasons to make the flavor round and smooth, yet quietly complex in taste.
Tsuru-Bishio keeps traditional method in production. When Rod showed surprise in his face after tasting it at our Vodcast, he said, it must be a type of shoyu for steak, like A1 sauce! We tasted Miyazaki A5 wagyu sashimi with Tsuru Bishio and fresh wasabi, and we both agreed.
Tsuru Bishio is made by all hand-crafted method. After the first fermentation to complete the fresh soy sauce, it'll be sent to the second process, instead of water, to have another fermentation process, So we call it double fermentation or restock, Sai-Shikomi in Japanese. The double fermented shoyu will be aged for four years in wooden barrels for the final product. Shoyu that is made in Shodo Island is drier than ones in other the areas. You would be surprised at the intensity and purity in Tsuru Bishio.
Hope you see this useful.
-WR