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A. Luchuensis Spores

(1 customer review)

9,50€ incl. VAT (8,64€ excl. VAT)

A. Luchuensis, like Black Koji, is a special type of Koji which is traditionally used for making Shochu, a distilled drink.

This kind of Koji has gotten a lot of attention since it has been praised so much in the Noma Guide to Fermentation. To quote from the book: “[…] its flavor is remarkable, reminiscent of green apple and lemons. We were thrilled at Noma when we came across this special mold, because the citric acid it produces brings a sharp layer of contrast to the umami-rich flavor of koji.”

When you grow this Koji, please be aware that it can be overpowered by its more famous cousin, A. Oryzae. For this reason I recommend that you use trays/cloths that you have not used with A. Oryzae before (or clean/sterilize your equipment well) in order to avoid cross-contamination.

1.75 g of spores per bag. This is for 5 kg of substrate. It grows best on barley. Be aware that it prefers slightly lower temperatures than normal Koji. That is: 28°C instead of 30°C.

Weight 1.75 g

1 review for A. Luchuensis Spores

  1. Matt (verified owner) –

    I used about 1/4 of the spore packet to innoculate about 1kg of steamed pearled barley. Not much activity at 24 hrs but after a stir and 12 more hours (36 total) there was a nice even layer of white fluffy mold. Based on the directions from the noma guide I harvested and chilled the batch at that point. I agree with the tasting notes of green apple and lemon, fairly tart. Aroma was not as strong or tropical as previous batches with a light aspergillus oryzae strain.

    I used the Koji to make some amazake with some wheat berries. Equal portions wheat and Koji. The aroma from that was really interesting, like a baked apple and honey. The flavor was more simple, fairly tart with apple and lemon. Really interesting to experiment if you want some acidity in your ferment.

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