Horikawaya Nomura was founded in 1688 and specialized in the transport of goods. Based in Gobo (Wakayama), her 12 ships transported mandarins and timber to Tokyo (for prestigious families, such as the Kishu Tokugawa family) or various other products to Hokkaido. In 1756, the fleet was destroyed during a terrible storm between Edo Tokyo and Etorofu Island (Hokkaido).
The company owes its survival to the development of its ancillary activity: the traditional making of kinzanji-miso (mix of rice koji, barley and soy beans, sliced vegetables such as aubergines, cucumbers, shiso, carrots, ginger ...) , soy sauce soy sauce. These products were made exclusively for the purpose of offering them to their loyal customers.
The production was exclusively artisanal, made entirely by hand, without using any machine. Horikawaya is said to be the oldest soy sauce soy factory in Wakayama Prefecture, which is said to have seen the birth of soy sauce.
Soy sauce is well known as a seasoning not only in Japan but also worldwide. There are many types of soy sauce such as sashimi and basic products sold on the market.
However, the true traditional soy sauce, respectful of the precise manufacturing steps and raw materials, is relatively rare.
It is said that Koukoku Temple, located in Yuracho (15 minutes north of Horikawaya Brewery), Wakayama Prefecture, is the cradle of soy sauce. Around 1200, a Japanese Buddhist priest from Koyasan went to China under the Song Dynasty to undergo training. Upon his return to Japan, he chose Koukoku Temple as a practice site and taught people everything he had learned in China. One of his acquired knowledge was the production of kinzanji-iso. The production of miso has become progressively popular in the region. It was also said that people had found a very tasty liquid supernatant on the miso during the production process. The soy sauce was born.
In ancient times, soy soy sauce was originally a product made from soy, wheat and salt. However, about 80% of the shoyu currently available on the market is made from defatted soybeans. Not even 20% of current products are true soy soy sauces.
Mitsuboshi Horikawaya Nomura Premium shoyu soy sauce :
Horikawaya processes its Mitsuboshi Premium soy sauce exclusively from non-defatted soybeans. These beans (Hokkaido provenance) are soaked for 5 hours and then steamed over a wood fire. Wheat (grown and harvested in Hokkaido) is grilled in a terracotta dish over a wood fire. Steamed soybeans and roasted wheat are manually seeded with koji yeast and placed in a culture chamber for 4 days. Then, the whole is placed in wooden cask, the "kioke" and mixed with water and salt. The resulting mixture is thus stirred continuously, for more than two summers, at room temperature. The fermented malt or moromi obtained, unrefined, is compressed to extract soy sauce soy sauce (extraction by gravity), the latter then being boiled for 4 to 5 hours in a pot in pottery over a wood fire.
To summarize, Mitsuboshi Premium soy sauce is made from very tasty and qualitative raw materials, produced according to the traditional manual process of Te-koji (the koji is made by hand) followed only by 1% of artisans. Cooking with wood fire soften the taste unlike cooking on gas.
A long fermentation in kioke wood casks from autumn to summer, in a natural environment and at a temperature then continued until at least a second summer contributes to make this soy sauce an exceptional seasoning. The respect of a manufacture, at least during four seasons, is essential in Japan.
Premium grade is awarded only to the best casks, those containing the most perfect sauces, with the most developed flavors. The fermentation is over two years. Quantities are very limited.
