Make Your Own Miso in the Traditional Way at a Century-Old Miso Brewery in Kyoto

Continuing a Family Legacy of Traditional Miso Brewing

The Nishijin district of Kyoto was historically home to a large number of sake and soy sauce breweries due to its abundance of pristine groundwater. As a major hub of transportation and commerce, Nishijin’s food culture thrived through the convergence of ingredients from across Japan. The production of fine miso was a natural development, with a variety known as Saikyo white miso favored within the cuisine of Kyoto’s imperial court.

Masatsugu Kato’s great-grandfather worked at a soy sauce brewery in Nishijin as a young man. In 1917, he left this job to found Kato Miso, where traditional handmade miso has continued to flourish to this day. As fourth-generation owner, Masatsugu Kato has endeavored to carry on this legacy, producing Saikyo white miso as well as other varieties such as Akadashi miso. His miso continues to be favored in Kyoto’s high-end ryotei restaurants, which specialize in yushoku-ryori (traditional court cuisine).

Explore the Miso-Brewing Process with a Private Guided Tour

While miso soup is now immensely popular worldwide, many consumers have simply no idea how the magic ingredient – miso paste – is created. Put simply, miso is made by fermenting soybeans using salt and steamed rice mixed with koji—a rice mold used to break down the starches in the rice that is also instrumental in making sake and soy sauce. Of course, setting up this fermentation process involves many delicate steps that Kato will explain during his tour of the miso brewery.

The tour begins downstairs among the immense wooden kioke barrels that Kato’s great-grandfather inherited from the soy sauce factory in 1917. As Kato will explain, the barrels themselves are not passive observers, but active participants in the fermentation and maturation process, containing ecosystems of beneficial microorganisms that contribute unique flavors to the miso. Kioke barrels in Kyoto tend to be comparatively tall and slim to fit within the city’s narrow buildings, which reportedly minimizes oxygen exposure, thus improving flavor.

Moving upstairs, Kato will lead you into the koji room (normally off-limits to visitors), where koji is cultivated to be used in miso brewing. The brewery specializes in a method called ita-koji, where steamed rice infused with koji spores is flattened in a tray and aged until the mold weaves the rice into a single mat that resembles a white felt-covered board (ita means “board” in Japanese). This is the key ingredient in transforming soybeans into miso paste.

As you enter the koji room, note the distinctive aroma that permeates the air. Through experience, Kato is able to read fluctuations in this aroma to understand when the koji requires more oxygen. In many ways, he views the koji as a silent partner, just as vital as he is to the miso-making process. He even acquires old wooden koji trays from across Japan to ensure that they are not thrown away.

Make Miso with Your Own Two Hands

Having toured the brewery to learn about the process, you will next move to a workspace on the second floor to try your own hand at making miso. Because producing the primary ingredients – rice koji, salt, and steamed soybeans – takes several days, Kato will prepare these in advance. You will learn how to mix these in a large tub, mashing the soft soybeans before blending them thoroughly with the other ingredients.

Mashing the soybeans and mixing the ingredients by hand does not require strength or endurance. Even small children can easily participate in this part of the process, but it is immensely satisfying. Watching, feeling, and smelling the ingredients transform into the beginnings of the useful paste they will become is immensely enjoyable and gratifying.

When finished, you will have approximately 1 kg of miso to take home with you in a sealed container. It will need to mature for several months before it is ready for use. Kato will advise you on proper storage methods and the length of time required, which can vary depending on the climate where you live and the season when you will be returning. The most important thing is to keep the container sealed to ensure that no air can enter.

Enjoy Miso Tasting and a Warm Bowl of Miso Soup

Having thoroughly mixed your miso, you will no doubt be growing curious about the flavors of this special paste. Because your own miso will not be ready for several months, Kato has devised a special tasting session where you may try 4 miso varieties made at the brewery. These include their signature Saikyo white miso as well as reddish-brown Akadashi miso. As a Wabunka exclusive, you can also try unique varieties not normally sold in stores and enjoy homemade amazake—a sweet fermented non-alcoholic beverage. 

As you taste each type, note the variations in balance between sweetness and more savory umami flavors. Based on your miso tasting, you will select your favorite of the four to try in a nice, warm bowl of miso soup. While many different ingredients – vegetables, tofu, mushrooms, pork – can be added, this soup will be made using miso, dashi, and boiled water so that you can fully concentrate on the flavors of the miso itself. Kato will also advise you on different ways to use miso when you are cooking in your kitchen at home. 

Participate in an Ancient Japanese Culinary Tradition

The tactile experience of mixing ingredients with your own two hands makes it easier to appreciate the ancient roots of miso. The versatile paste has been made in Japan for at least 1,300 years, stretching back to the days when Kyoto was emerging as the imperial capital known as Heian-kyo. At first a delicacy prepared for the rich, in later centuries it became an everyday condiment made at home by the people and enjoyed by emperors and commoners alike.

Touring Kato’s family brewery in Kyoto and making miso alongside him makes you a part of this ancient Japanese culinary tradition. After you are back home and your miso is finally ready for use, you will think back on your special experience with Kato when you use it in your kitchen. When it inevitably runs out, you may even be inspired to try your hand at making miso at home yourself.