chaganju KOJI -Miso Blend- Japanese traditional all-purpose umami seasoning of rice paste for aging marinade, Naturally Brewed, No Additives 12.3oz

**UPDATE*** Since the Miso is being reviewed under the same item I need to add that the Miso flavored is quite AWESOME!! Highly recommend the Miso flavor. I guess I need to tray an order another plain to see if I just got a weird one shipped the first time. Non Miso review- I normally just buy Koji fermented with just salt. This one had sugar in it as well and I wanted to try it. Unfortunately it is like thick pates and does not come out or spread well in a baggie on the meat. I am new to the sugar added and tasted a bit strange to me like playdoh. Had my cousin taste it and he said it was "ok" but without the sugar brand was more Umami.*

I picked up this koji paste after watching a Guga video on youtube where they were saying that it gave you the experience of dry aged steak without the lengthy dry aging process. I smeared a thin layer on the steaks and let them marinate for 48 hours in the fridge. Watching other videos on this ,I matbe should have applied a thicker coating.I wiped off the steaks and seasoned with smoked salt, pepper and garlic and put them in vacuum bags with smoked wagyu tallow. I cooked them sous vide for 4 hours at 129.5f and finished them on a grill over lump charcoal.There was a subtle but distinct difference in how the steaks came out. They were firmer than usual but still super tender and that umami flavor came through, almost reminiscent of cured meats. I cant compare to a true dry aged steak but I liked it and will be adding it to my recipe for perfect steaks going forward.

This stuff is a novel experience. Very strange look and texture. I put it on a steak for 24 hours and then grilled it. The results were interesting. Not better or worse, just a little different. It is something I WILL do again.

I was looking for natural salt malt with no additives and found this!! I cooked chicken breast at low temperature with this salted malt.The meat was very tender and tasty!!!

Put it on some picanha for about 32 hours. Tasted great.

Just breaking into the world of miso and fermented foods. This was pretty delicious added to a ramen soup. I marinated chicken in but not much luck, however I think I actually failed in my preparation. Either way, when I run out of this product I would buy again!

I had no idea what this marinade paste would do to chicken or beef. Now I’m hooked. On chicken and with a few hours of marinade time, the result was super-juicy meat with a luscious umami flavor. On steaks and pork chops, you achieve a deep dark crust and , again, extra juiciness and flavor. I love it.

This item was just too salty. The Ribeye was totally wasted