Soy Cultures

Soy Crafters Sections

POWDERED TEMPEH STARTER (PTS)

Tempeh is a delicious, Indonesian, cultured whole bean soyfood with a chewy texture. Whether your interest is in gourmet foods, or cutting back on meat, cholesterol, or calorie consumption for better health, tempeh fills the bill. A vegetarian source of Vitamin B12, this versatile food can be fried in the traditional manner, or baked, broiled, steamed, or barbecued. Easily cultured without special equipment, homemade tempeh tastes and smells wonderful. It slices better and costs far less than commercial tempeh.

The tempeh mold, Rhizopus oligosporus, that binds the cooked soybeans together into a sliceable cake, is grown on an entirely vegetable medium. Mature spores are harvested and combined with sterile organic rice flour for easy and accurate measuring.

Complete culture directions and recipes are included. One pound of dry soybeans prepared as directed will make 1.75 pounds of tempeh. Preparation time is less than 2 hours. Incubation time is about 24 hours at 85 F (32 C). Kept cool and dry, PTS has at least a 6 month shelf life at full potency.

Kit PTS: 11 gm	3 1-pound batches (makes 5+ pounds)	$3.00 each
Commercial PTS: 35 gm	10 1-pound batches (makes 18 pounds)	$5.00 each

POWDERED NATTO STARTER

Called Natto in Japan and Thau-nao in Thailand this cultured whole bean soy food has a strong, somewhat persistent, unique flavor. The bacteria, Bacillus subtilis var natto, that culture the cooked soybeans make a sticky, viscous polymer during the 6-12 hours of incubation. This creates wispy threads evident when the cultured soybeans are pulled apart.

A good source of protein, this robust soyfood adds zest to any grain or noodle dish, soup or sandwich. A little goes a long way, so what is not intended for use in a day or two may be easily frozen.

Natto Starter Kit: This packet contains culture directions, recipes, and enough spore to start 3 batches of natto, each making 5 cups or 1.5 pounds.

Commercial Natto Starter: A concentrated spore preparation, this vial has sufficient spore to start 48 pounds of dry soybeans making about 86 pounds of natto.

Natto Starter Kit	makes 4.5 pounds	$3.00
Commercial Natto Starter	makes 86 pounds	$12.00

MISO, SHOYU, TAMARI, and AMAZAKE STARTERS from JAPAN

	Amazake is a naturally sweet cultured rice drink. During the culture process, enzymes break down complex rice starches to sugars making amazake sweet to the taste for drinking or use as a natural sweetener in other foods.
	Miso is a savory seasoning which aids digestion and is used much like bouillon in soups, but also in an endless number of grain and vegetable dishes, marinades, and pickles. Basic miso varieties are named rice, barley or soybean, according to that main ingredient, and have varying amounts of salt, other ingredients and aging times.
	Shoyu (naturally fermented soy sauce) and Tamari are cultured liquid soy seasonings, similar to miso but made with more liquid.

All the above are two-step fermentations. Making koji, the first step, mixes cooked grains and/or soybeans with different strains of Aspergillus oryzae, a mold, called "tane koji" or koji starter. This first step involves cooking the grain, adding the starter, and incubating the koji culture about 48 hours. The second fermentation, making amazake, misos, shoyu, or tamari involves simply stirring the koji together with other ingredients according to the directions provided.

The five varieties of "tane koji" we import from Japan are listed below, each with the names of the products to be made with it and the aging times in parentheses. Kept cool and dry, all koji starters have at least a six month shelf life at full potency.

	Light Rice Koji Starter for sweet white Shiro Miso (1 month), light yellow Shinshu Miso (6-12 months), Amazake, Koji Pickles, and Sake
	Red (Rice) Miso Koji Starter for red rice Sendai Miso (6-12 months), and sweet red Edo Miso (4-6 weeks)
	Barley (Mugi) Miso Koji Starter for regular barley, Mugi Miso (12-18 months), mellow barley, Amakuchi Mugi Miso (1-2 months), and Nattoh Miso and Hishio condiments.
	Soybean (Hatcho) Miso Koji Starter for soybean, Hatcho Miso (18-24 months), and Wheat-free Tamari (18 months)
	Shoyu Koji Starter for naturally fermented wheat and soybean soy sauce, Shoyu (6-12 months)

Koji Starter Kits are available for each of the five varieties. Each kit contains:

    1. Starter for 6 pounds of koji for misos or 2 gallons of shoyu.
    2. Step-by-step directions for making koji.
    3. Recipes for each fermentation mentioned above in the variety descriptions.

Koji Starter Kit

Order by variety name

$3.00

KIT CULTURE SPECIAL: 5 Kits (PTS, Natto or any Koji) Be sure and specify your choices! $13.00

Commercial Miso & Shoyu Koji Spore Packets: Each of the four Miso varieties above are available in 40 gm packets, each with spore sufficient to inoculate 440 pounds of koji substrate (rice, barley, or soybeans). Shoyu Koji Starter is a 60 gm packet with enough spores for 295 pounds each of soybeans and wheat to make 100 gallons of Shoyu.

Commercial Miso Koji Starter	Order by variety name	$22.00 each 40 gm pack
Commercial Shoyu Koji Starter		$22.00 each 60 gm pack

Fresh Organic Light Rice Koji - for Light Rice Misos, Amazake, Pickles & Sake (Not Available Outside U.S.A.)

The first fermentation is done for you! Organic lightly polished rice, is cultured with Light Rice Koji Starter. This 1.5 pound package of gently dried koji will allow you to make up to 10 quarts of amazake, 6 pounds of miso, lots of pickles or some of each. Recipes for Shiro and Shinshu Miso, Amazake, and Koji Pickles are included. Please refrigerate or freeze the unused portion.

Organic Light Rice Koji

1.5 pound package

$18.00

Seed Miso (Not Available Outside U.S.A.)

Unpasteurized miso, seed miso, is an ingredient in miso making that contributes active beneficial organisms to get new Misos fermenting vigorously. A recommended addition to your first homemade miso, seed miso can be saved from your first batch for all future Misos.

Seed Miso

4 Ounces

$11.00 (Requires additional shipping. See U.S. Orders)