Toyama Prefecture is known for seafood, but also for seafood products such as Kamaboko (processed fish paste) and Kobu-maki (sea tangle roll). From the end of the Edo period to the Meiji period, cargo ships called Kitamae-bune brought seaweed and herring from Hokkaido. In the Hokuriku region, there are many herring recipes, including this preserved food “pickled herring in malted rice”.

The establishment of Kibaya can be traced back to a fishmonger that existed around 100 years ago. The ingredients for the pickled herring in malted rice are herring, malted rice, rice bran, salt, and chilli. Marinate all the ingredients with a stone on top of the cover, and leave until they are fermented and matured. The malted rice has been sourced from a soy sauce maker that is run by relatives of Kibaya’s owner. Preparation takes place from April through to October. The malted rice is fermented nicely during the rainy season and becomes tasty. They also make malted rice pickles with mackerel, Fugu (blowfish), and sardines.

The taste of Kibaya’s malted rice is just right – slightly sweet, not too salty, and we can enjoy the mellow malted rice itself. You can have it raw by slicing thinly, or grilled a little until a toasty aroma arises. It goes well with freshly steamed rice. It is the best companion of Japanese Sake too.

“I trust that Koji-zuke has all the essence of fermented food and is one of the essentials in Japanese food culture. I can’t bear to allow this special taste to disappear, which our ancestors have protected for a long time,” says Yoshinori Kibatani. He once quit his salaryman life and decided to take over the family business. “My great-grandfather established a fishmonger. My grandfather, who was raised in a brewery making Miso (fermented soybean paste) and soy sauce, was adopted by my great-grandparents and started to make Koji-zuke. I still stock our malted rice from my grandfather’s home. My father’s attempts improved the taste which became popular and which we still maintain.”
“I know it is not an easy pathway, but I am indeed very happy for my son to inherit the business,” smiles his mother Tomiko.

I remember that my mother, who came to Kanazawa in Ishikawa Prefecture from Takaoka in Toyama Prefecture for marriage, often bought Kibaya’s Koji-zuke malted rice pickles. She used to claim that everyone knows this delicacy in her hometown. She passed away four years ago, and the taste of this malted rice became even more special to me. I believe that people’s memories can be remembered by tongues too.