Akazu (red sake-lees vinegar)
Japanese reddish-brown vinegar from sake lees matured about three years, turned to vinegar by acetic bacteria; the vinegar of Handa and Edomae sushi rice.
Tamari shoyu
溜醤油 (たまりじょうゆ) · Tamari · Tamari soy sauce · 溜まり醤油 · Thick soy sauce
Tamari is the soybean-dominant Japanese soy sauce of the Tokai region, made with little wheat and little brine, and aged longer than koikuchi.
What tamari is
Tamari is the soy sauce that is closest to the old soy-based seasonings of Japan. MAFF describes it as soybean-dominant: it uses only a small quantity of wheat, forms the koji into balls rather than spreading it on trays, and ferments with very little brine. The sauce is thick, dark and rich, and it is made in the Tokai region of Aichi, Gifu and Mie, which is where MAFF places it.
The name is often read as meaning pooled liquid, from the way the sauce collects from a dense mash. The dossier for this item treats that reading as a description of the product rather than as a documented etymology, and the page does the same.
Sources for this section
Why it differs from koikuchi
MAFF gives three differences from koikuchi: the wheat is a small share of the grain, the brine is small, and the sauce ages for longer. Less wheat means less of the sugar and the browning that wheat supplies, and a dense mash with little liquid changes how the enzymes and the koji mould act on the soybean protein. Longer ageing gives the sauce its depth and dark colour.
The difference is one of geometry as much as of recipe. Drawing sauce from a dense koji-ball mash is a different extraction problem from diluting a loose moromi with brine and pressing it, and the sources do not describe the tamari equipment in enough detail to settle how that problem is handled.
Sources for this section
A gluten caution
Tamari's small wheat share means that it is not a wheat-free product by the sources. The sources do not establish that commercial tamari is wheat-free or suitable for a gluten-free claim. The name describes a style, and a cook who needs to avoid wheat has to read the ingredient label of the product actually bought.
Sources for this section
What is not yet established
No source read for this page gives the koji-ball dimensions, the mash loading, the brine proportion as a number, or the pressing method for tamari. MAFF gives no measured home-vessel size and no pressing load. The dossier names a producer-specific process as the missing source; until one is read, the page gives no method and no shelf life.
The page is held as a working account. It is not a method for making tamari at home, and it should not be read as one.
Sources for this section
History
MAFF places tamari within the five soy sauce categories and names the Tokai region. No source read gives a date for its origin.
Ingredients
Scaling: source batch only
SoybeansThe main raw material. Crushed and made into miso-koji balls.
Amount not stated
No amount given in the source.WheatA small amount is used with the soybeans.
Amount not stated
Tamari uses much less wheat than koikuchi. No amount is given.Salt waterA small amount is added to the balls to ferment them.
Amount not stated
No salt concentration is given.Method
- Crush the soybeans and make them into miso-koji balls.
- Ferment the balls with a small amount of salt water. The source gives no duration.
- Age the mash for longer than koikuchi. The source gives no duration for the ageing of tamari.
Places
Tokai region (Aichi, Gifu, Mie)
Traditional preparation · Region evidenceThe region is named by MAFF as the home of tamari; no dated origin is given.
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Sources
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), JapanDefinition · Classification · Method
Soy sauce, miso, other seasoningsTamari is soybean-dominant, with a small quantity of wheat and little brine, and ages longer than koikuchi.
Tamari is made in Aichi, Gifu and Mie in the Tokai region.
Koji is formed into balls for tamari.
Cited in: What tamari is; Why it differs from koikuchi; A gluten caution; What is not yet established