From January 30th to February 1st, 2025, Sushi Lab. staff participated in the "Kioke Summit 2025" held in Shodoshima, Kochi Prefecture, where we served seafood rice bowls during the event.
What is the Kioke Summit?
Most soy sauce produced in Japan is fermented in plastic or metal tanks. Among Japan's domestic production, 1% is occupied by soy sauce that is fermented and aged using wooden barrels ("kioke-jikomi"). This is an annual event where the makers of this 1% wooden barrel-fermented soy sauce, along with barrel craftsmen and fermented food professionals, gather to create new wooden barrels, spread awareness, and pass on this tradition to future generations.
Kioke Summit details page: https://www.s-shoyu.com/kioke-project/oke_2025
Various wooden barrel-brewed soy sauces were available at the Event!
Wooden barrel-brewed soy sauce was mainstream until the Edo period, but due to reasons such as cost-effectiveness, stainless steel tanks have become the standard today, and seasonings made in wooden barrels are declining.
How do you think soy sauce made in wooden barrels differs from other soy sauce? Though only 1% remains, wooden barrel-brewed soy sauce is packed with unique appeal.
First is the bacteria that are most crucial when fermenting and aging soy sauce. Inside wooden barrels, there are tiny holes visible under a microscope. Microorganisms settle in these holes, multiply with their companions, and create a unique ecosystem over years and decades.
Even when using the same ingredients, just having different resident microorganisms results in completely different umami and flavors! Compared to stainless steel tanks that can produce stable flavors in large quantities, wooden barrels may not produce consistent flavors, but they have the potential to make soy sauce 120% or even 200% more delicious.
This is the appeal of wooden barrels and the reason they continue to exist in Japan.
Sushi Lab. also participated!
On the second day of the event, Sushi Lab. staff served seafood rice bowls featuring three types of fish. Various soy sauces were available at the venue, and participants were invited to compare how the three types of fish tasted with different soy sauces.
There are five main types of soy sauce. Soy sauce is made by fermenting and aging a mixture of soybeans, wheat, and salt water, and it's classified based on the ratio of soybeans to wheat and the aging period.
"Tamari" is a soy sauce that uses a high proportion of soybeans. It has the longest aging period and is a soy sauce with concentrated umami. Next is "Saishikomi" soy sauce, which uses soy sauce instead of salt water in the brewing process. These two are perfect matches for red meat fish and fatty fish!
The type commonly seen in supermarkets and department stores is "Koikuchi," which uses soybeans and wheat in a 1:1 ratio. Many breweries tend to age it for a relatively long period. It pairs well with salmon and amberjack.
"Usukuchi" soy sauce uses slightly more wheat than soybeans, and "Shiro" soy sauce is made almost entirely with wheat and has a short aging period of 2-3 months. These two pair well with white fish and shellfish.
For this event, Sushi Lab. prepared salmon, sea bream, and yellowtail.
While most people enjoyed them with koikuchi or usukuchi soy sauce, some tried different combinations like using tamari, with everyone enjoying the dishes in their own way.
【Kioke Summit 2025】
Date: January 30 (Thu) - February 1 (Sat), 2025
Venue: Yamaroku Shoyu (Shodoshima - island)
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Wooden barrel-brewed soy sauce purchase site:
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