Hackoh
JAEN

The Secrets of Fermentation

Episode 6

Why doesn’t it go bad?

Is it really all right left in the kitchen for half a year?

Mugi looks back and forth between a lidded miso container and half a year of calendar, worried about leaving it in the kitchen so long.
MugiDoes this stay in the kitchen for half a year?
Hakkoh-chanIt does. Lid on, and then you wait.
MugiIt won’t go bad?
Hakkoh-chanFour walls are layered over it.
Four layers — salt, acid, little air and time — wrap the miso container, while microbes you would rather not have stop at the outside.
MugiIs the first one salt?
Hakkoh-chanSalt takes away the water the microbes can use.
MugiDoes it kill them?
Hakkoh-chanIt doesn’t kill them. It makes it hard to multiply.
Hakkoh-chanThe second is the acid the lactic acid bacteria make.
Hakkoh-chanThe third is letting no air in.
Hakkoh-chanThe fourth is time, layering up.
MugiAre all four there from the start?
A freshly prepared miso has only the layer of salt; a miso further along also has the layers of acid, little air and time.
Hakkoh-chanThe wall of acid is built later.
MugiSo at the start the walls are thin.
Hakkoh-chanYes. That’s why the very beginning matters most.
MugiGet the amount of salt right, and the lid too.
Hakkoh-chanPrepare it properly, and after that you only wait.
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