We try out this revolutionary condiment that could change the way everyone eats sushi, sashimi, or anything really.
A dilemma that always falls on sushi diners is striking that perfect balance between the bold flavor of the soy sauce and the more subtle tones of the topping. This is made more complicated by the liquid nature of the former, which can be unwieldy at times.
While that’s usually just chalked up as an inevitable part of the sushi and sashimi experience, our ever-hungry reporter Mr. Sato went in search of a better way. What he found was “Ryotei No Kona Shoyu” which means powder soy sauce of ryotei (very high-class traditional Japanese restaurants).
This product was developed by Shimogamosaryo, a Kyoto-based restaurant established in 1856. Since then they have striven to preserve the traditional culture of Kyoto all while providing a service and product that suits the tastes of modern times. It’s that same philosophy which has led to the creation of Powder Soy Sauce in 2013.
The product can be bought from the Shimogamosaryo website in single eight-gram (0.3-ounce) packets for 302 yen (US$2.58) or higher priced gift sets such as the one Mr. Sato purchased for 1,620 yen ($13.85), which contains three packs and a fancy dispenser.
Before you go saying “big deal, I’ve seen dried soy sauce before,” this is not just dried soy sauce. Powder Soy Sauce was created keeping the flavor of liquid soy sauce in mind and creating an even more elegant aroma with the addition of yuzu (citrus fruit) and ichimi (ground chili peppers). Just by taking a brief sniff, the refreshing scent of yuzu can be impressively felt.
The simple name of “Powder Soy Sauce” can really mislead about the quality of this product. Although a causal glance would reveal the expected brown of soy sauce, looking more closely at the grains, Mr. Sato could see the yellow specks of yuzu and red ichimi scattered throughout.
Our reporter decided to give this high-quality product a trial by fire adding it to some convenience store sushi he had purchased.
Here are his thoughts upon eating:
“Oh! This…is soy sauce. Compared with liquid soy sauce this has a soft but very present taste. The taste of the yuzu is wonderful and very clean. It really brought the level of my convenience store sushi up a notch. But I think this can really be used on anything like fried foods or even plain white rice.”
In conclusion Ryotei No Kona Shoyu should not be considered a substitute for soy but rather an all-purpose seasoning in its own right. We know that this will be the go-to condiment in the RocketNews24 office for whatever odd concoctions we come up with. It’s also not a matter of “if” powder soy sauce like this will be big in Japan, but “when” it will.
Source: Shimogamosaryo (Japanese with some English)
Original article by Mr. Sato
Photos © RocketNews24
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