Freeze-Dried Miso Soup Mini Box from Shinshu Miso Brewery (8pcs)

Shinshu Miso Brewery's Original Miso Soup Mini Gift Box 

Savor the essence of Shinshu's 'Three-Year Miso' in an Instant Miso Soup

Most miso soup available in the market is filled with the strong taste of artificial seasonings and preservatives.
That's where this "Shinshu Miso Brewery's Original Miso Soup" comes in – it was developed to provide a convenient way to enjoy authentic Shinshu miso soup while preserving its nutritional value and flavor.
It uses naturally fermented miso including the three-year miso without any additives, and its true taste is brought to life through the freeze-drying technique.
With just hot water added, you can recreate the authentic taste of miso soup from a local brewery.

What makes them special?

Dedication to Ingredients and Water Quality

1. 100% Domestic Soybeans, Primarily from Shinshu

They exclusively use domestically sourced soybeans, primarily from Shinshu, as the key ingredient in their miso.
To preserve the traditional flavor of their Miso, they rely on the abundant dietary fiber found in domestically grown soybeans.

2. Utilizing Spring Water from the Japanese Alps

In the art of miso making, the importance of water cannot be overstated.
Matsumoto, Nagano prefecture, is recognized as one of Japan's "100 Best Waters of the Heisei Era" by the Ministry of the Environment.
The blessing of this pristine water from the Northern Alps is indispensable to the craft of their Miso.
This gift from the heavens is also our treasure.

How it's Crafted?

1. Steaming the Rice 

The natural miso-making season in Shinshu begins in spring, typically around the time when peach blossoms bloom.
They start by thoroughly washing and steaming carefully selected domestically grown rice, marking the first step in miso production.

2. Cultivating Koji Mold

After steaming, the rice is inoculated with koji mold spores and placed in a koji room. The quality of the rice and the temperature in the koji room are crucial factors in the koji-making process.

3. Maturation

The rice with koji mold is left to rest overnight, allowing the koji mold to propagate.
This step is another vital part of the process.

4. Koji Completion

After two days (48 hours) of meticulous care in the koji room, the koji is ready. Next, we move on to cooking the soybeans.

5. Boiling the Soybeans

They thoroughly wash domestically sourced soybeans and boil them in large pots until they become tender.
The softened soybeans are then measured and evenly distributed, left to cool overnight.

6. Lactic Acid Bacteria and Yeast

The cooled soybeans accumulate plenty of airborne lactic acid bacteria and yeast, contributing to the unique flavor of natural miso and promoting overall health benefits.

7. Filling the Cedar Barrels

Soybeans, koji, and salt are combined and packed into cedar barrels.
While modern miso breweries have increasingly turned to stainless steel containers for efficiency, their Miso continues to use cedar barrels for this step.

8. Turning the Barrels

Miso that has sufficiently fermented during the summer is transferred to different large barrels in early October, often coinciding with the dance of red dragonflies in Shinshu. In late January of the following year, as the cold sets in, the miso is moved to a cold storage area for another year of maturation.

9. Miso Completion

During the maturation process, amino acids from the soybeans and sugars from the rice koji react, resulting in the formation of melanoidins, a brown pigment.
This melanoidin is the hallmark of proper maturation.
Well-aged miso exhibits a rich color and a distinctive matured aroma.
"Three-Year Miso" is a genuine Shinshu miso that has undergone a slow and thorough maturation process.
It contains no additives, shortcuts, visual enhancements, or preservation methods.
It is never subjected to heat treatment, remaining entirely additive-free and retaining its enzyme activity.
Theirmiso is truly alive.

Story of Ishii Miso Brewery