Mr. Kawaguchi, a dashi sommelier deeply versed in food cultures both in Japan and abroad, had a dilemma. He wanted to deliver a "real dashi" made without any animal-derived ingredients to his vegan students. That encounter became the catalyst for the birth of Minoyo's new product, the "soybean dashi pack."
The "vegan dashi" that a dashi sommelier kept searching for
On July 26, 2024, in the height of summer, Mr. Kawaguchi paid a visit to Minoyo.
Mr. Kawaguchi is a dashi sommelier who runs a dashi class in Kyoto. His class draws many foreign students fascinated by Japanese culture, and among them was a certain number of vegans. "A dashi made only from kombu, or only from shiitake, feels lacking. Couldn't we make a more fragrant vegan dashi with real depth?"—Mr. Kawaguchi had long been searching for the answer.
He sometimes roasted soybeans himself to use in dashi, but it took effort every time, and the flavor was never consistent. "When I heard there was a product where soybeans were roasted specifically for dashi, I simply couldn't sit still," Mr. Kawaguchi says.
"So this product existed all along!"
With Minoyo's roasted soybeans before him, Mr. Kawaguchi tried drawing a dashi. A fragrant aroma rose up, and sweetness and umami spread. Quality that does not deteriorate even in storage. What a professional dashi sommelier had sought for years was right there.
"It's precisely because they are a bean shop that specializes in roasting that this quality is possible. This is the real thing."
With Mr. Kawaguchi declaring this, development of Minoyo's new product, the "soybean dashi pack," got underway.
"Hokkaido kombu × log-grown shiitake × roasted soybeans." The three ingredients came together
The combination Mr. Kawaguchi proposed was three ingredients: Hokkaido ma-kombu, log-dried shiitake, and roasted soybeans.
Above all, what Mr. Kawaguchi strongly recommended was the shiitake. Domestic shiitake grown on logs, finished with a special low-temperature drying technique. Of a quality that sets it apart from ordinary dried shiitake, it rehydrates into plump shiitake in just 15 minutes after pouring hot water over it. It has no distinctive off-notes, and only the umami dissolves out cleanly.
"When the sweetness of the soybeans, the umami of the kombu, and the aroma and depth of the shiitake come together, it creates a richness you'd never think came from plants alone."
When the three ingredients came together, the outline of the vegan dashi Mr. Kawaguchi had envisioned finally came clearly into view.
The "true value" of soybean dashi revealed at the tasting event
Carrying the finished soybean dashi pack, Mr. Kawaguchi and Minoyo held a tasting event. The tasting menu that day was substantial. Osumashi (clear soup), chikuzen-ni, takikomi gohan, kombu-and-shiitake tsukudani, soybean kanroni, and soybean florentine—two dashi packs complete a meal for four. And everything was vegan-friendly.
Every participant confirmed for themselves, while actually eating, the fact that "the depth of flavor is completely different with soybeans than without."
What surprised participants even further was "making use of the dashi residue." The soybeans left after drawing the dashi become an ingredient for cooking as they are. A plump texture, a hint of sweetness. On learning that the dashi residue, which was meant to be thrown away, could even become the star of a dish, exclamations of admiration rose here and there in the venue.
Carrying Japan's food culture into the future
"In shojin cuisine, soybeans have long been used for dashi. But people today have forgotten that. I think the soybean dashi pack is a product that reawakens that memory," Mr. Kawaguchi says.
Declining kombu harvests due to climate change, a global shift toward plant-based food culture, rising health awareness. The timing of the soybean dashi pack's birth is not unrelated to the currents of the times.
Since that summer day when Mr. Kawaguchi visited Minoyo, a dashi sommelier's perspective and Minoyo's roasting technique came together, and a new form of dashi culture began to move.