Miso, the ubiquitous Japanese condiment & soup base is made using a combination of legumes, salt & koji. Koji (aspergillus oryzae) is an organism from the fungus kingdom. Besides being an integral component in miso, it is used to make many other popular east-Asian delicacies, such as sake, soy sauce & mirin. It is grown on various substrates consisting of cooked grains & legumes (traditionally barley, rice or soy) each lending their own unique flavor to the finished product. There are some tricks to keeping it’s temperature & humidity in the correct range during it’s 48 hour incubation, but nothing that can’t be readily accomplished in a modern home kitchen.

People's Farmers' Market regulars & hot food vendor, Obon (Fumiko Hozumi & Jason Duffany) will give a hands-on demo & talk illustrating how to build home-incubation chambers for growing your own koji, as well as helping participants use it to make miso. They will provide all the ingredients for attendees to make their own small batch of miso: 1 lb of cooked chickpeas, 1 lb of sprouted brown rice koji & salt. In order to take your finished product home, BYOC (bring your own container); any 1/2 gallon-size, non-metal container will be perfect.

Registration required. $40/ticket includes materials.

We are committed to making our classes accessible to folks of all income levels and financial situations while ensuring that our instructors are compensated fairly for their time, effort, expertise, and materials. If this class is interesting or useful to you but you can't swing the fee, please be in touch with us and we'll work something out. You can email communityroom@peoples.coop for scholarship inquiries.

The Community Room is located on the 2nd floor up a flight of stairs. It is also accessible by elevator lift--just let a cashier know you need to use it and they will help you!