Protected local food
Kishu Kinzanji Miso
紀州金山寺味噌
An 'eating miso' from Wakayama, fermented with chopped vegetables and koji. Mellow and chunky, it is eaten as a side dish rather than used for soup.
Key facts
- Registered as a protected name
- 10 August 2017
- Region
- Kansai
- Official name in Japanese
- 紀州金山寺味噌
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 和歌山県
A miso you eat, not cook with
Most miso goes into soup. Kinzanji miso is a namemiso, a miso meant to be eaten as it is. Makers ferment chopped vegetables together with koji, so the flavours of grain and vegetable blend into something mellow and slightly sweet. The grains stay visible but soft.
A recipe from a Chinese temple
The most widely held story is that the method came from Jingshan, a temple in China, brought back to Wakayama in the Kamakura era (1185 to 1333). Wakayama is known as the birthplace of kinzanji miso, and today's method was settled around 1948.
How to eat it
Spoon it onto hot rice or rice porridge, eat it with cucumber sticks, or serve it with sake. It is a little like a savoury chutney.
Good to know
- Look for jars in Wakayama's souvenir shops. Kinzanji miso is a classic gift from the Kii peninsula.
- For another kind of miso, try Hatcho Miso from Aichi, dark and strong.
Questions travellers ask
Can I make miso soup with it?
It is not meant for soup. It is eaten as a side dish, on rice or with vegetables.
What is in it?
Soybeans and grain fermented with koji, mixed with vegetables such as eggplant, melon and ginger. Recipes vary by maker.
Where it comes from
More protected foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Heritage stories from the same area
- Hirokawa: the tsunami levee built for a hundred generations
- Katsuragi Shugen: where mountain asceticism began
- Living with whales on the Kumano coast
- Nyonin Koya: the temples where women prayed instead of Mount Koya
- Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage: Japan's 1,300-year journey of the heart
- Wakanoura: a bay of views that inspired poets
- Yuasa: where Japanese soy sauce began
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.