Agar / kanten
A gelling polysaccharide extracted from red seaweeds, sold as kanten strips or powder; it sets firm at a low concentration and stays solid until about 85 °C.
Cultures
White-koji starter for shōchū
A seed culture of a white-spored Aspergillus koji mould, used to make the koji that starts Japanese shōchū mash, and named in the literature as Aspergillus luchuensis mut. kawachii.
What the starter is
A white-koji starter is a seed culture of an Aspergillus mould that grows white spores. Shōchū makers grow it on rice or barley to make the koji that breaks starch into sugars during the mash. The culture is the seed; the koji made from it, the fermentation mash and the distilled spirit are separate things.
The species name in the literature is Aspergillus luchuensis mut. kawachii. Producers and older texts sometimes shorten it to A. kawachii. A taxonomic comparison found that the two names could not be separated at the species level, and that the name with the mutant form is the one used for the industrially important white form. A name on a supplier's label does not show that a given culture is the same strain.
Sources for this section
Where it is used
Shōchū is a Japanese distilled spirit, and white and black koji are both classed as shōchū koji in the 2023 study. White and black koji both contribute citric acid to the mash and carry starch-breaking enzymes. Its observations concern one white-koji seed and one preparation, not every strain or substrate.
The maker Akita Konno lists shiro-koji starter products for shōchū based on rice and barley. The company describes its starter's acid-generating capacity and states that it varies with raw material and koji-making method.
Origin and history
The 2023 study places its white-koji work in a Japanese shōchū context. Akita Konno states on its own site that it has established white mutant strains from black-koji mould for its shōchū products since 1952. That is a producer's history, and it does not establish the first discovery of the white form or the history of every white culture.
The sources reviewed do not document a calendar season for starter manufacture or for koji making.
Handling, storage and limits
The sources do not give a home storage method, an activation routine, a shelf life or a contamination response for a white-koji seed. The study's preparation was a controlled laboratory and commercial-scale process, and it does not establish household practice.
Keep any starter under its maker's instructions. Do not judge a koji by colour, smell or a single measurement, and do not treat a pale Aspergillus as suitable for shōchū koji on appearance alone. The safety of a home koji has not been established by these sources.
Sources for this section
Places
Japan
Documented use · Country evidenceCountry-level association with shōchū production. The sources do not establish one origin for the white form.
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Sources
PLOS ONE 8(5):e63769Identity · Taxonomy
Aspergillus luchuensis, an industrially important black Aspergillus in East AsiaA. kawachii and A. luchuensis are not distinguishable at the species level in this comparison; A. luchuensis mut. kawachii is the name used for the industrially important white form.
Cited in: What the starter is
Journal of Applied Glycoscience 70(4):109-117, J-STAGEMethod · Enzymes · Role in shōchū
Shochu Koji Microstructure and Starch Structure during PreparationClassifies white and black koji as shōchū koji and describes their enzyme activities and the role of citric acid in the mash.
The white-koji seed in the study was bought from a commercial supplier; the study does not identify a catalogue product code for this item.
Cited in: Where it is used; Origin and history; Handling, storage and limits
Akita Konno Co., Ltd.Maker product · History claim
Products for brewing shochuThe company states it has established white mutant strains from black-koji mould for shōchū products since 1952; this is the maker's own history statement.
Its shiro-koji starter products are maker-specific, and the company says their acid-generating capacity varies with raw material and koji-making method.
Cited in: Where it is used; Origin and history