This season marked a resurgence of interest in the fungus of the species “Aspergillus oryzae”, aka “koji”, and this interest shown by chefs and scientists. The first experiment with the “Japanese mold” when cooking different dishes, one trying to understand how it works. The koji fungi known for centuries, but the principle of their action is still a big mystery.
Koji spores love humid and warm environment, so the mold actively propagated on boiled rice or the beans, fermenting them to create new products – sauces. During this process of proactive enzymes break down proteins and digest the starch, so if you put them on мясt, it will not turn into a liquid, but will lose the rigid structure of the fibers. Simply put, will be soft and will acquire a new taste, and the process takes two days instead of the traditional beef steak of the 45-day exposure.
Today koji sold from packages, complete with fungi of other species, but with similar effect. It is necessary to sprinkle the meat with this mixture, as of flour, not sparing the mold. And leave for 48 hours in a cool place, but not longer than 72 hours, otherwise the meat will become very dry.
After a time a layer of koji scraped and washed the meat in cold water – it should be dark red. Such a prepared product does not need any spices, except salt and pepper, but the meat is fried after koji very quickly, no more than 3 minutes on each side. This is due to the acceleration of the reaction of caramelization, so cook the steak must be very careful.
Source PopSci