00:00 (water splashing)
00:02 This brown paste is the base
00:06 for the world's most expensive soy sauce,
00:09 and it won't be ready to sell for another 20 years.
00:13 While some popular soy sauce brands
00:16 cost less than bottled water,
00:19 Gamay Dishi's 20-year-aged soy sauce
00:22 can reach 99 pounds for only 55 milliliters.
00:27 It's because of this thick soybean mash called koji.
00:31 It's the key to this soy sauce's flavor.
00:34 Here in the city of Higashikagawa, Japan,
00:37 Gamay Dishi dries and ages koji
00:40 with a recipe that's more than two centuries old.
00:57 So what makes this method worth preserving?
01:00 And why is Gamay Dishi's soy sauce so expensive?
01:05 (water splashing)
01:08 The complexity of this soy sauce
01:29 is achieved by fermenting it for days
01:32 and aging it for years.
01:35 This traditional recipe allows the company
01:39 to create flavors that aren't possible
01:41 in mass-produced soy sauces.
01:43 (speaking in foreign language)
01:47 High-quality soy sauce starts
02:12 with its most basic ingredient, soybeans.
02:16 This never-ending cloud streams from the machine,
02:21 steaming soybeans inside.
02:23 (speaking in foreign language)
02:31 (speaking in foreign language)
02:35 It's a seemingly simple first step
02:45 that can make or break the entire product.
02:48 (speaking in foreign language)
02:53 (speaking in foreign language)
02:57 After 18 hours soaking and steaming,
03:04 the beans should be soft and ready.
03:07 (speaking in foreign language)
03:21 To turn steamed soybeans into the one-of-a-kind goji,
03:24 the beans have to be combined with barley and mold spores.
03:29 First, Teppei prepares the barley in a dry room,
03:33 dusted with finely ground wheat.
03:36 (speaking in foreign language)
03:40 Unlike other soy sauce breweries,
03:45 Gamay Dishi grinds it down to fine powder.
03:49 (speaking in foreign language)
03:53 Teppei mixes goji mold spores into the ground barley.
04:03 Then, the steamed soybeans are hand-tossed
04:09 with the barley and goji powder.
04:12 The mold produces enzymes that break down the proteins
04:15 and starches in the beans and barley
04:17 into amino acids and sugars.
04:20 It's this natural fermentation process
04:23 that gives artisanal Japanese soy sauce
04:26 its dark color and distinct flavor.
04:29 (speaking in foreign language)
04:35 Kaori Okada is the current owner of Gamay Dishi.
04:44 She's the 18th generation of her family
04:47 to run this business.
04:48 Gamay Dishi is one of the few breweries in the world
04:52 that still uses the traditional mushiro goji method.
04:56 (speaking in foreign language)
05:00 Workers monitor the temperature of the goji
05:06 every hour during that time.
05:09 (speaking in foreign language)
05:12 (gentle music)
05:15 On the first day, Teppei heats the room
05:28 to raise the goji's temperature.
05:30 (speaking in foreign language)
05:35 (gentle music)
05:38 The goal in this step is to heat the goji
05:45 to stimulate fermentation.
05:48 By day two, the fermentation should be so active
05:52 that the goji generates its own heat.
05:55 (speaking in foreign language)
05:59 As it grows, the goji gets so big,
06:05 it needs to be shaken off the mats,
06:07 dumped to the floor, and remixed
06:10 to make sure the beans don't stick to each other.
06:13 (speaking in foreign language)
06:17 The goji ages in these barrels
06:27 where it will transform completely.
06:29 (speaking in foreign language)
06:34 Muromi is the name of the paste-like mixture
06:37 that will age into the finished soy sauce.
06:40 It's a mixture of goji, salt, and water.
06:45 Adding salt isn't just for flavor.
06:47 Salt protects the goji from microorganisms and bacteria
06:52 while it ages in cedarwood barrels.
06:55 (speaking in foreign language)
07:00 (gentle music)
07:03 But as it ages, they leave it alone,
07:11 except for occasional stirring during the hotter months.
07:16 (speaking in foreign language)
07:19 (gentle music)
07:22 (speaking in foreign language)
07:26 (gentle music)
07:29 (speaking in foreign language)
07:41 (gentle music)
07:44 (speaking in foreign language)
08:11 (speaking in foreign language)
08:15 Kamebishi ages all of its soy sauces.
08:30 The longer they age, the more complex the flavors
08:34 and the more expensive the final product.
08:37 (speaking in foreign language)
08:41 Kamebishi even has plans for a 50-year-aged soy sauce,
08:49 which won't be ready until around 2032.
08:52 (speaking in foreign language)
08:58 (speaking in foreign language)
09:02 But before the sauce can be bottled and sold,
09:17 it first must be pressed.
09:19 Mature moromi, aged under 10 years,
09:25 is spread out on cloth and stacked into layers.
09:29 (speaking in foreign language)
09:33 Then a machine squeezes the soy sauce into a bucket below.
09:40 (speaking in foreign language)
09:46 But anything aged over 10 years
09:51 is too dry to press this way.
09:54 (speaking in foreign language)
09:58 (gentle music)
10:01 (speaking in foreign language)
10:06 (gentle music)
10:08 The finished sauce is then heated up
10:31 to stop the fermentation and to pasteurize it for bottling.
10:35 (gentle music)
10:38 (speaking in foreign language)
10:42 So when she took over from her sister in 2001,
10:49 Gaori started innovating to bolster the historic company.
10:53 (speaking in foreign language)
10:57 They even make pizza.
11:03 (speaking in foreign language)
11:07 The company's roots are baked into its name.
11:15 (speaking in foreign language)
11:20 (gentle music)
11:22 (speaking in foreign language)
11:26 (gentle music)
11:29 (speaking in foreign language)
11:33 (speaking in foreign language)
11:37 (gentle music)
12:04 She felt similarly about her own foray into the business.
12:08 (speaking in foreign language)
12:12 (gentle music)
12:14 (speaking in foreign language)
12:18 (gentle music)
12:36 (gentle music)
12:39 (gentle music)
12:42 (gentle music)
12:44 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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