Kamebishi's 20-year-aged soy sauce is the most expensive soy sauce in the world, sometimes selling for $125 for less than 4 tablespoons. The soy sauce has been made using the same family recipe since 1753 and follows the traditional mushiro koji method, in which each step takes years to complete. For comparison, most popular soy sauces can cost less than a bottle of water, and other aged artisanal soy sauces generally cost around $40. In 2001, Kaori Okada, the 18th-generation owner of Kamebishi, left her career in the travel industry to save her family's struggling company using a combination of traditional methods and new innovations. Here's why Kamebishi's 20-year-aged soy sauce is so expensive.
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00:00 (water splashing)
00:02 This brown paste is the base
00:06 for the world's most expensive soy sauce,
00:09 and it won't be ready to sell for another 20 years.
00:13 While some popular soy sauce brands
00:16 cost less than bottled water,
00:19 Gamay Dishi's 20-year-aged soy sauce
00:22 can reach 99 pounds for only 55 milliliters.
00:27 It's because of this thick soybean mash called koji.
00:31 It's the key to this soy sauce's flavor.
00:34 Here in the city of Higashikagawa, Japan,
00:37 Gamay Dishi dries and ages koji
00:40 with a recipe that's more than two centuries old.
00:57 So what makes this method worth preserving?
01:00 And why is Gamay Dishi's soy sauce so expensive?
01:05 (water splashing)
01:08 The complexity of this soy sauce
01:29 is achieved by fermenting it for days
01:32 and aging it for years.
01:35 This traditional recipe allows the company
01:39 to create flavors that aren't possible
01:41 in mass-produced soy sauces.
01:43 (speaking in foreign language)
01:47 High-quality soy sauce starts
02:12 with its most basic ingredient, soybeans.
02:16 This never-ending cloud streams from the machine,
02:21 steaming soybeans inside.
02:23 (speaking in foreign language)
02:31 (speaking in foreign language)
02:35 It's a seemingly simple first step
02:45 that can make or break the entire product.
02:48 (speaking in foreign language)
02:53 (speaking in foreign language)
02:57 After 18 hours soaking and steaming,
03:04 the beans should be soft and ready.
03:07 (speaking in foreign language)
03:21 To turn steamed soybeans into the one-of-a-kind goji,
03:24 the beans have to be combined with barley and mold spores.
03:29 First, Teppei prepares the barley in a dry room,
03:33 dusted with finely ground wheat.
03:36 (speaking in foreign language)
03:40 Unlike other soy sauce breweries,
03:45 Gamay Dishi grinds it down to fine powder.
03:49 (speaking in foreign language)
03:53 Teppei mixes goji mold spores into the ground barley.
04:03 Then, the steamed soybeans are hand-tossed
04:09 with the barley and goji powder.
04:12 The mold produces enzymes that break down the proteins
04:15 and starches in the beans and barley
04:17 into amino acids and sugars.
04:20 It's this natural fermentation process
04:23 that gives artisanal Japanese soy sauce
04:26 its dark color and distinct flavor.
04:29 (speaking in foreign language)
04:35 Kaori Okada is the current owner of Gamay Dishi.
04:44 She's the 18th generation of her family
04:47 to run this business.
04:48 Gamay Dishi is one of the few breweries in the world
04:52 that still uses the traditional mushiro goji method.
04:56 (speaking in foreign language)
05:00 Workers monitor the temperature of the goji
05:06 every hour during that time.
05:09 (speaking in foreign language)
05:12 (gentle music)
05:15 On the first day, Teppei heats the room
05:28 to raise the goji's temperature.
05:30 (speaking in foreign language)
05:35 (gentle music)
05:38 The goal in this step is to heat the goji
05:45 to stimulate fermentation.
05:48 By day two, the fermentation should be so active
05:52 that the goji generates its own heat.
05:55 (speaking in foreign language)
05:59 As it grows, the goji gets so big,
06:05 it needs to be shaken off the mats,
06:07 dumped to the floor, and remixed
06:10 to make sure the beans don't stick to each other.
06:13 (speaking in foreign language)
06:17 The goji ages in these barrels
06:27 where it will transform completely.
06:29 (speaking in foreign language)
06:34 Muromi is the name of the paste-like mixture
06:37 that will age into the finished soy sauce.
06:40 It's a mixture of goji, salt, and water.
06:45 Adding salt isn't just for flavor.
06:47 Salt protects the goji from microorganisms and bacteria
06:52 while it ages in cedarwood barrels.
06:55 (speaking in foreign language)
07:00 (gentle music)
07:03 But as it ages, they leave it alone,
07:11 except for occasional stirring during the hotter months.
07:16 (speaking in foreign language)
07:19 (gentle music)
07:22 (speaking in foreign language)
07:26 (gentle music)
07:29 (speaking in foreign language)
07:41 (gentle music)
07:44 (speaking in foreign language)
08:11 (speaking in foreign language)
08:15 Kamebishi ages all of its soy sauces.
08:30 The longer they age, the more complex the flavors
08:34 and the more expensive the final product.
08:37 (speaking in foreign language)
08:41 Kamebishi even has plans for a 50-year-aged soy sauce,
08:49 which won't be ready until around 2032.
08:52 (speaking in foreign language)
08:58 (speaking in foreign language)
09:02 But before the sauce can be bottled and sold,
09:17 it first must be pressed.
09:19 Mature moromi, aged under 10 years,
09:25 is spread out on cloth and stacked into layers.
09:29 (speaking in foreign language)
09:33 Then a machine squeezes the soy sauce into a bucket below.
09:40 (speaking in foreign language)
09:46 But anything aged over 10 years
09:51 is too dry to press this way.
09:54 (speaking in foreign language)
09:58 (gentle music)
10:01 (speaking in foreign language)
10:06 (gentle music)
10:08 The finished sauce is then heated up
10:31 to stop the fermentation and to pasteurize it for bottling.
10:35 (gentle music)
10:38 (speaking in foreign language)
10:42 So when she took over from her sister in 2001,
10:49 Gaori started innovating to bolster the historic company.
10:53 (speaking in foreign language)
10:57 They even make pizza.
11:03 (speaking in foreign language)
11:07 The company's roots are baked into its name.
11:15 (speaking in foreign language)
11:20 (gentle music)
11:22 (speaking in foreign language)
11:26 (gentle music)
11:29 (speaking in foreign language)
11:33 (speaking in foreign language)
11:37 (gentle music)
12:04 She felt similarly about her own foray into the business.
12:08 (speaking in foreign language)
12:12 (gentle music)
12:14 (speaking in foreign language)
12:18 (gentle music)
12:36 (gentle music)
12:39 (gentle music)
12:42 (gentle music)
12:44 [BLANK_AUDIO]