Koji in the Kitchen: Neither Meat Nor Fish

Koji in the Kitchen takes the tools built in Volume 10 and brings them to the stove. Shio koji, amazake, koji water and koji paste stop being laboratory preparations and become what they really are: four different ways of giving flavour, tenderness and depth to a plant-based base.The book first explains which one to use and when, how to organise production and how to recognise a successful result. Then it gets to work with the non-meat bases, four in all: red, white, non-chicken and strips, each with its koji marinades, timings, aroma combinations and the signals that tell you the marinade has done its job.Seven non-meat recipes show the result: roast, tagliata, stew, cutlet, meatballs and burgers, escalopes with lemon, skewers.The second half does the same work for the sea. Three non-fish bases, white, pink and non-shellfish, with a chapter devoted to the synergy between koji and marine aromas, which is precisely where plant-based cooking usually fails. Seven recipes close the circle: non-swordfish alla livornese, pasta with non-salmon, non-cod fillet, no-fish and chips, sushi, sea skewers, sea patties.Eight tables gather everything worth having to hand: marinating times, storage before and after cooking, temperatures and methods, visual and olfactory signals, quantities by number of servings, pairings between type of koji and cooking method.The final chapter is the one you turn to when something is off: shio koji that will not turn creamy, amazake that will not sweeten, cloudy koji water, paste that is too thick. Every fault has a cause and a way out.