Koji-Fermented Beans Brings Coffee Aroma To The Next Level
Koji-fermented beans have a lighter color, and less oil on the surface compared to regular beans.Akiko Katayama
If you are coffee connoisseur, you may have heard of “kopi luwak“ or “cat poop coffee,” which is a coffee fruit eaten, partially digested and defecated by the local wild cat called a Civet in Southeast Asia.
It sounds highly unappetizing, but the digestive process is said to create a special taste. You could pay around $150 to get a pound of the beans. Despite the mystical supreme flavor, you may be reluctant to try it from a hygiene point of view.
But now there is a cleaner alternative: koji-fermented coffee. Koji (aspergillus oryzae) is an ancient mold that has been used to make almost all traditional fermented foods in Japan, including soy sauce, miso and sake. Chefs around the world have already started to notice the potential of koji, such as Ferran Adria of Spain.
The creator of the koji-fermented coffee is Koichi Higuchi, the seventh generation of the Higuchi Matsunosuke Shoten, who studied bioscience at the University of Minnesota.
“Despite the critical importance of koji, there are only 6 companies that sell koji spores in the entire nation of Japan, because it is hard to add value to koji. So the growth of the industry has been flat. At our lab, we are trying to invent new products at our science lab, such as koji syrup to feature the natural sweetness of koji, made with rice and koji spores,” says Higuchi.
“The idea of koji-fermented coffee came out of a conversation with my friend who is a coffee aficionado. We heard about the cat poop coffee, which is half-digested by cats’ enzymes.” Koji contains over 30 enzymes that can break down protein, starch and fat, and Higuchi decided to grow koji on green coffee beans to achieve the same effects as wild cats’ digestive system, except that the process is strictly sanitary and meticulously controlled in his lab.
Koji spores were sprinkled over green beans and fermented for a few days. Higuchi found that the amino acid in the beans increased by three times after fermentation, which means protein was effectively broken down. Also, the beans presented far less grease on the surface of the beans compared to regular beans, another indication that koji transformed the original composition of the beans.
He roasted the koji-fermented beans and made light and dark roasts. “Compared to regular beans, the dark roast gave milder taste, whereas the light roast had cleaner acidity. Also, I did not get the subtle burning sensation that I suffer from by drinking regular coffee.”
In order to prove the effects of koji on coffee beans that Higuchi claims, I asked Amaris Gutierrez-Ray, roasting operations manager at Joe Coffee Company and Christopher Malarick, director of training & public education, to taste the beans.
Amaris Gutierrez-Ray, roasting operations manager at Joe Coffee Company, examines koji-fermented coffee.Akiko Katayama
The beans are from India and Mexico, and were intentionally selected by Higuchi not to have any premium characteristics so that the effects of koji would stand out. Gutierrez-Ray and Malarick tasted and compared koji-fermented and unfermented versions of the 
same beans.
same beans.
“The differences are beyond my expectation,” says Gutierrez-Ray. “The regular India’s unpleasant aluminum taste turned to a flavor that reminds me of sesame or BBQ flavor. The regular Mexico’s harshness became rounded and creamy, almost like Swiss Miss.”
She adds comments beyond the taste.“Mexican and Indian beans are regarded as lower quality in the market right now. By using koji, you could add value to the beans and might be able to help local farmers to be financially better rewarded.”
Malarick is also impressed. “The Koji seemed to impart a sweetness and softness to the coffees that are not found in the unfermented samples. I am curious to have a sample of Joe coffee inoculated with Koji and try out different roasting levels.”
Higuchi is hoping to commercialize the koji-fermented beans and export raw beans to a local roaster to offer the best aroma.
Salmon with Spinach & White Beans
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It turns out you are what you eat ... so which diet is the healthiest? It's the Mediterranean Diet! Cleveland Clinic Dietitian, Lindsay Malone, whips up a healthy salmon recipe.
Salmon with Spinach & White Beans
Ingredients
1 fillet with 1/2 cup spinach mixture : 317 calories, 17g fat (3g saturated fat), 57mg cholesterol, 577mg sodium, 16g carbohydrate (0 sugars, 5g fiber), 24g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 3 lean meat, 2 vegetable, 1 fat, 1/2 starch.
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/mediterranean-diet-still-best-for-heart-cardiovascular-benefits/
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/mediterranean-diet-still-best-for-heart-cardiovascular-benefits/
Step aside, cauliflower rice: new low-carb options derived from beans and legumes hit the market
For several years now, cauliflower rice has been the go-to alternative for folks looking for a lower-carb alternative to the starchy side dish.
Now, it looks like beans and legumes are getting into the alt-rice game. Bean and legume-based noodles have been a popular substitute for pasta lovers, so making the shift to rice makes perfect sense in our increasingly low-carb/paleo/keto-obsessed world.
Last week, San Francisco company Betterer Foods launched its own “plant-based rice” (ignoring the fact that rice also comes from a plant), made from lentil, chickpea, pea and rice flours, called RightRice. Available in several flavors ($3.99/7-ounce package) — lemon-pepper, garlic-herb, original and Spanish — the product will be available via Whole Foods and Amazon.
The brainchild of Popchips founder and former CEO Keith Belling, RightRice is gluten-free, vegan and low on the glycemic index. According to the company, each serving has 10 grams ofprotein, 5 grams of fiber and almost 40 percent fewer carbs than traditional white rice.
Betterer Foods wasn’t alone. On Tuesday, New York chickpea pasta maker Banza also debuted a chickpea rice in Whole Foods markets. Available for $3.99/8-ounce box, the rice will come in a plain chickpea version and a tricolor blend made with chickpeas, red lentils and green peas. Per serving, the Banza rice has 11 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber and 25 grams net carbs.
Beyond being a more vegetable-heavy alternative to rice, the real question is, how does the stuff taste?
We tested out the locally made RightRice to see if it was any good.
RightRice cooks up similar to packaged couscous — bring water to a boil, add the rice, and cover and steam for about 10 minutes. Texture-wise, the rice was surprisingly toothsome and reminded us of orzo pasta.
The plain flavor had a faint bean-y quality that was a little strange on its own, but I imagine it would be perfectly pleasant tossed with a bit of butter, salt and pepper or served alongside a stir-fry or saucier dish.
As for the flavored rices, they all had that familiar artificial quality of other shelf-stable instant rices. Not that this is a bad thing — the savory quality of RightRice’s Spanish flavor made me want to scarf it down by the spoonful straight from the pan. (If you’ve ever enjoyed a box of Rice-a-Roni, you’ll know what I’m talking about.)
Overall, if you’re looking to find a grain alternative, these are certainly worth a try.
Sarah Fritsche is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sfritsche@sfchronicle.com. Twitter/Instagram: @foodcentric
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