Kaokao Miso’s Kaori Takahashi making Japanese staple in Newlyn
Moving from Tokyo to Australia was a culture shock for Kaori Takahashi. So she decided to bring a taste of home to country Victoria.
MOVING from her home in Tokyo to a rural property near Daylesford was a culture shock for Kaori Takahashi.
“Everything was a shock for me. I couldn’t find what I wanted at the supermarket, the scenery was so green and lots of wild animals,” admits the 37-year-old.
Thousands of kilometres from her home country, Kaori devised her own solution — making fermented miso in her kitchen.
Three years ago — with the help of her husband, Ballarat chef Sean Marshall — she established Kaokao Miso, turning soybeans from a biodynamic NSW farm into the traditional Japanese paste, as well as making a range of condiments.
Visitors to the couple’s home in Newlyn North are immediately hit with the potent umami fragrance of fermenting soy.
“Even though I make it, I can smell it, especially first thing in the morning — it’s strong,” Kaori laughs.
It’s in the converted laundry room that the magic happens.
Once the miso is cooked, Kaori stores 20kg tubs of it in a cool, dark place to ferment for at least eight months. “The room has no more space. It has about 40 tubs, or 800kg, of miso in there. When people see it they all say ‘wow’,’’ Kaori says. “I need more room so we plan to expand.
“Like a lot of fermented products, miso improves with age and in Japan some people still eat the paste after it is 30 years old. By then it has a much deeper flavour.”
Twice a week Kaori brews batches, first washing, then soaking the beans overnight, the next day boiling them with salt and koji, a Japanese term for cultured grain made by inoculating steamed grain with the spores of Aspergillus.
While Japan has a variety of miso pastes, Kaori makes three: a basic paste, one that is sweeter, and another using pearl barley which is creamier. They all can be used in a number of ways, from soup to spreading on bread (“like Vegemite”).
It is, she says, both an art and a science.
“It’s a very simple process to make but the flavour is complex and each batch has a different personality. Homemade miso is tastier than commercial varieties because they use quick fermentation — up to three months,” she says.
Kaori’s Asian condiments include Korean barbecue sauce and a chilli miso paste ideal for marinades.
Given that when Kaori came to Australia she trained as a pastry chef, her choice of savoury accompaniments is a change.
Growing up on the outskirts of Tokyo in a traditional Japanese family, Kaori studied business administration and after graduating worked as a car salesperson.
“It was very hard at that time because there were not many female salespeople and most customers expected a male,’’ she says.
“It was not easy to work there. While working there I wanted to be a pastry chef but that’s not easy to do in my country because there’s a lot of focus on career.”
After a stint working in a travel agency, Kaori decided to take a risk and applied for a working holiday visa, arriving in Melbourne in 2010. She initially studied English and then completed a three-year TAFE pastry course.
“I love making bread and I love to eat sweets — Japan has a lot of sweet pastries but because I haven’t trained or worked there I’m not very good at making them,” she says.
Kaori worked in restaurants and bakeries around Melbourne, meeting Sean, marrying in 2017, and moving to Daylesford soon after when he was offered a job in the area.
She first dabbled in making miso while living in Melbourne, as a bonding activity with friends.
When the couple moved to Daylesford and Kaori helped cook alongside Sean at the restaurant, she discovered local residents enjoyed her miso creations.
With little knowledge of council regulations, Kaori says it was difficult starting the business, including understanding the requirement to pasteurise the soybeans, which she believes reduces some of the health benefits of fermentation.
Kaori misses Japan and her family — especially given the travel restrictions of coronavirus lockdown.
“But I prefer to live here. There’s more opportunities, especially for a miso business,” she says.
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