00:00Four neat rows of red dots cover this remote, snow-covered area of Japan.
00:07Zoom in and you'll see they're actually chili peppers.
00:12This is snow bleaching.
00:14It's a major reason for Kanzuri chili paste's unique taste.
00:19After a six-year-long process, this small bottle costs nearly $20, much more than the
00:26$3 price of mass-produced chili pastes seven times the size.
00:32But there's a problem on the horizon.
00:34Warmer winters have made it difficult to find enough snow.
00:38And the only company making the paste says it can't and won't skip this step, threatening
00:44the future of Kanzuri.
00:56So, does bleaching these peppers in snow really change the flavor?
01:06And is the struggle to find snow why Kanzuri chili paste is so expensive?
01:26That taste is, in large part, thanks to snow bleaching, according to the producer.
01:41Atsushi buys Kanzuri made by the only company in the world that produces it, Kanzuri Company,
01:48in Myoko, in Japan's Niigata prefecture.
01:52That's where Kanzuri originated.
02:12Snow bleaching is imperative to the final taste and quality, so Akihito is willing to
02:17go to great lengths to make it happen.
02:22Upon arriving at the ski resort, the team gets to work immediately.
02:28This is the nearest place Akihito could find that had at least 50 centimeters of accumulated
02:34snow.
02:36They first have to step on the snow to compact it, but it can't get thinner than 20 centimeters.
02:44This thick snow is essential.
02:47If the weather gets warmer before the chili peppers are ready, the compacted snow will
02:51ensure the peppers don't get mixed in with the soil below.
02:55Otherwise, they will be contaminated and unusable.
03:17This net both reinforces the separation and guarantees no pepper is left behind when they're
03:23collected three or four days later.
03:26Today, the team is bleaching about 300 kilograms of chili peppers.
03:33They were pickled in salt from summer until the winter months.
03:59Akihito's snow bleached the peppers about 10 times a year and only in the winter months.
04:06This restricts production further and makes the final bottle of Kanzuri more expensive
04:11than mass-produced chili pastes.
04:17And producing the actual paste takes years.
04:22At Kanzuri's factory, Sato Kazushige is making a new batch from today's harvest.
04:30Kanzuri paste is made with four simple ingredients.
04:35Snow bleached chili peppers, yuzu, salt, and rice goji.
04:43To start, the bleached peppers are mixed with rice goji, rice inoculated with fungus that
04:49is usually fermented for about two days.
05:03The other important ingredient is freshly made yuzu paste.
05:20When all the ingredients are mixed in, Kazushige stores this fresh Kanzuri in the warehouse.
05:29There, 600 tubs, each filled with 350 kilograms of paste, are aging.
05:39It must be aged for at least three years and the most expensive Kanzuri for six.
05:46Many simpler chili pastes, on the other hand, are fermented for just one to two weeks.
05:52Locally, a small bottle of Kanzuri paste aged for three years costs $6.
05:59Six-year-aged paste costs $9.
06:03And exported, it's more than double the price.
06:07The aging process has a dramatic impact on the appearance and flavor.
06:22The first year's Kanzuri is not yet used to Kanzuri paste.
06:29The taste of Kanzuri and salt stands out.
06:35As time goes by, the saltiness of the Kanzuri is removed and the Kanzuri becomes pure and mild.
06:42The fermentation increases the umami.
06:46The more the Kanzuri is aged, the saltier the Kanzuri and the spicier the Kanzuri becomes.
06:57Kazushige has to check each container of Kanzuri at specific times.
07:04Exactly one year after the Kanzuri is made, it must be stirred to encourage the fermentation
07:10and to ensure it hasn't gone rancid.
07:14Otherwise, Kazushige has to discard the entire tub.
07:19Even the exact location where the Kanzuri is stored can impact the success of the fermentation.
07:37To balance all these variables and guarantee the quality of the final bottle,
07:42Kazushige checks the color against this chart.
07:46If the Kanzuri is within range of these six shades, it's ready to sell.
07:52Apart from some mechanization, this process is true to the original Kanzuri-making method.
07:59Before Akihito's grandfather, Tojo Kuniji, started Kanzuri Company,
08:03each household made Kanzuri its own way.
08:12The key to Kanzuri was to make it simpler and easier to get used to
08:19than to make it complicated by adding a lot of ingredients.
08:24To create a Kanzuri that is easy to get used to,
08:28we started with the Shokyo method.
08:31In the end, it became a Kanzuri with only four ingredients,
08:35chili pepper, Komekoji, Yuzu, and Shokuen.
08:42And the once-humble Myoko household condiment has reached international fame.
09:06However, when he uses it for meat dishes, it can reduce any unpleasant smells
09:11and an overly fatty taste.
09:30Only 200,000 tiny bottles of Kanzuri are made every year.
09:36But today's struggle to find a deep enough snowy plain
09:39will likely continue to impact the next generation of Kanzuri makers.
09:45In January and February 2024,
09:47Niigata Prefecture saw only 25 centimeters of snow,
09:52down from 93 centimeters in 2023.
09:56In 2020, hardly any snow fell,
09:59and snowfall over the last seven decades has generally been on the decline.
10:06This fluctuation means Akito can't rely on enough snow to bleach the peppers.
10:12Finding reliable land is a problem for producers
10:15of the most expensive foods all over the world.
10:20In Colombia, local producers of indigenous panela,
10:24a pricey unrefined sugar,
10:26have moved to higher and higher altitudes to make the product.
10:30And that means they have to walk further to sell it.
10:35Droughts in Kashmir have left fields yielding significantly less saffron,
10:39the most expensive spice on the market.
10:43Fewer viable fields mean some producers are forced to sell their land.
10:49In Spain, warmer waters are pushing baby eel fishers
10:53to change shores more frequently so they can catch enough to sell.
11:06So too in Niigata, where Akito will have to continue searching for the right location,
11:12making production, and in turn the bottle of kanzuri, more costly.
11:17However, he isn't giving up on snow bleaching,
11:20because it wouldn't be a traditional Niigata kanzuri without it,
11:25especially since demand for the paste has grown 20% in the last 20 years.
11:33Finding enough snow is the first problem.
11:36Another is having enough peppers.
11:39Kanzuri is made from the local togarashi pepper.
11:43There were once 30 farmers supplying the company with these peppers.
11:47Now, Akito says only 4-5 remain.
11:52He says the company may soon have to grow every pepper in-house.
11:57Importing them, although cheaper, is not an option for Akito,
12:01who says kanzuri wouldn't taste the same without togarashi peppers from this region.
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