kōji; malted rice; mold culture
Refers to grain (typically rice, barley, or soybeans) inoculated with Aspergillus oryzae mold, used as a starter for fermented foods like sake, miso, and soy sauce. Often translated as 'malted rice', but the process uses mold, not malting.
This miso is made using rice kōji as the starter.
To make miso, first prepare the kōji.
This sake is made using only rice kōji.
You coat steamed rice with kōji and let it ferment.
If you let the kōji ferment for about three days, a sweet aroma develops.
Standard kanji for kōji mold and the resulting culture. High-frequency in news and food contexts.
Alternate kanji, literally 'rice flower', emphasizing the appearance of mold growth on rice. Less common than 麹.
Kana spelling is common in everyday writing, especially when the kanji is not needed.
The reading こうじ is of uncertain origin. The kanji 麹 is a Chinese character for yeast or leaven, adopted for the mold-cultured grain. The alternate form 糀 is a Japanese kokuji combining 米 (rice) and 花 (flower), describing the fluffy white mold growth.
kōji pickle; food pickled in kōji and salt