Koji

 I feel like this trip could have been called the koji trail in 9 easy days. Koji serves as the base for so many Japanese foods such as soy sauce and miso.  It’s made by inoculating soybeans or grains with a specific type of mold.  The mold can be found at a spore shop. Don’t think of a fancy store where they offer you spore samples while sipping warm tea.  Think of it more like a back alley drug deal with a walk up window where you need to know exactly what you’re asking for.  We visited probably the only one in Kyoto and bought little bags of something I’m sure what I will do with except maybe poison someone.

For lunch we went to a pickle shop.  In the US pickles are usually made using some sort of vinegar but that’s not how it’s done in Japan.  Here the pickles are fermented using salt and koji so it has live bacteria which has been found to be healthy for your gut.  While pickles was the focus for the lunch almost every meal we’ve had has included miso soup and rice including this one.

Our final visit for today started in the basement of a department store. We had seen this earlier in the trip where the basement has a cornucopia of food offerings from take away bakeries and prepared foods, to candy stores and even sit down offerings.  We really needed a map to navigate all the choices available.  I found a City Bakery and partook in a delicious cookie.  I cheated and was eating bits and pieces while wondering around.  This is very much frowned upon but I attempted to be discreet.  

We next walked outside to a very long food arcade.  This again and varied offerings from a high end knife store to a fresh cracker maker.  Since my luggage runneth over we moved pretty quickly through it and went back to our hotel.

While we were loving all the Japanese food we were having Italian sounded like a nice palate cleanser. We went with two of our fellow travelers to a pizza place near the hotel. I wanted to love it but the crust was a little thin and couldn’t hold up to the moist tomatoes on top.  We still had a great time sitting by the canal and having a good laugh.

Tomorrow: Sightseeing around Kyoto