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.\"<\/p>\n
On July 26, 2024, in the height of summer, Mr. Kawaguchi paid a visit to Minoyo.<\/p>\n
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?\"\u2014Mr. Kawaguchi had long been searching for the answer.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\"It's precisely because they are a bean shop that specializes in roasting that this quality is possible. This is the real thing.\"<\/p>\n
With Mr. Kawaguchi declaring this, development of Minoyo's new product, the \"soybean dashi pack,\" got underway.<\/p>\n
The combination Mr. Kawaguchi proposed was three ingredients: Hokkaido ma-kombu, log-dried shiitake, and roasted soybeans.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\"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.\"<\/p>\n
When the three ingredients came together, the outline of the vegan dashi Mr. Kawaguchi had envisioned finally came clearly into view.<\/p>\n
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\u2014two dashi packs complete a meal for four. And everything was vegan-friendly.<\/p>\n
Every participant confirmed for themselves, while actually eating, the fact that \"the depth of flavor is completely different with soybeans than without.\"<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\"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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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