Meet Koji, Your New Favorite Fungus
b'It\\u2019s impossible to imagine Japanese meals\\xa0without soy sauce, or the\\xa0umami-rich fermented bean paste called miso, or the rice-based spirit known as sake. Which means that Japanese cuisine depends on the one fungus that enables the fermentation of all these delicious foods: koji. Today, American chefs are discovering what Asian cooks have known for centuries, that koji is a microbial powerhouse with seemingly magical abilities to\\xa0completely transform food. But how does a mold from a family of microbes known for their toxicity turn salty, mashed beans into sticky, succulent miso? How did koji make its way from Japan to the U.S.? And how\\xa0might the weird and wonderful ways chefs in the U.S. are now using\\xa0koji transform the American dinner table, too?\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices'