Koji Alchemy

Featured in The Independent’s 7 best fermentation books 2020

This book is remarkable. David Zilber, co-author of The Noma Guide to Fermentation

Koji: the next fermentation game changer

Koji Alchemy is the first book devoted to processes, concepts, and recipes for fermenting foods with koji, the microbe behind the delicious umami flavors of soy sauce, miso, mirin, and so many of the ingredients that underpin Japanese cuisine.

Chefs Jeremy Umansky and Rich Shih leaders on the culinary power of this unique ingredient deliver a comprehensive look at modern koji use around the world. Using it to rapidly age charcuterie, cheese, and other ferments, they take the magic of koji to the next level, revolutionising the creation of fermented foods and flavour profiles for both professional and home cooks.

Koji Alchemy includes:

A foreword by best-selling author Sandor Katz (The Art of Fermentation)
Cutting-edge techniques on koji growing and curing
Extensive information on equipment and setting up your kitchen
More than 35 recipes for sauces, pastes, ferments, and alcohol

Author Biography

Jeremy Umansky is a chef/owner of Larder: A Curated Delicatessen & Bakery in Cleveland, Ohio, nominated by the James Beard Foundation as the Best New Restaurant in America in 2019. He has been featured in numerous publications like Bon Appetit and Saveur and was named “The Deli Prophet” by Food & Wine in the March 2019 Makers Issue.

Rich Shih is one of the leading culinary explorers of koji and miso in the United States and an in-demand food preservation consultant. He is also the Exhibit Engineer for the Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD) based in New York City. Find out more on his blog at OurCookQuest.com. Sandor Ellix Katz is a fermentation revivalist. A self-taught experimentalist who lives in rural Tennessee, his explorations in fermentation developed out of his overlapping interests in cooking, nutrition, and gardening. He is the author of four previous books: Wild Fermentation, The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved, The Art of Fermentation-which won a James Beard Foundation Award in 2013-and Fermentation as Metaphor. The hundreds of fermentation workshops he has taught around the world have helped catalyze a broad revival of the fermentation arts. The New York Times calls Sandor “one of the unlikely rock stars of the American food scene.” For more information, check out his website: www.wildfermentation.com.