About Koji Market

Hi! I’m Shirley, founder of Koji Market. During the pandemic, I did the Covid thing during lockdown, and made sourdough starter. It was fun and I began searching for other gut-healthy methods of creating fermented foods and stumbled upon nukadoko. It fascinated me, creating a “pickling bed” that seemingly magically turned a plain vegetable into a probiotic (and tasty) pickled vegetable in just a few hours.

The problem was, it was hard to source the ingredients to make DIY nukadoko. My research led me to one of the top artisans of fermented and probiotic foods and beverages in Japan. I felt if I was in search of these ingredients, perhaps others would be too and so I created Koji Market.

During my research, I learned of another foundational Japanese ingredient for fermentation: koji. I started using it in my daily cooking for added umami and loved it as well. Koji is a fermentation starter and is a key ingredient for much of Japanese fermentation culture and plays a key role in making miso, soy sauce, mirin, sake, amazake and shio koji.

I have deep respect for Japanese fermentation traditions and hope to honor it further by sharing Koji Market. Thanks so much for visiting and don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions.