45. Heizaemon 100ml

A storehouse with over 110 60 koku barrels, the kind of structure that can only be found in certain parts of the Kanto region

Sosa City is located south of Choshi City, Chiba Prefecture. There are over 110 huge wooden barrels neatly lined up in Taihei's storehouse. Each barrel is 3m in diameter and 3m in height, and holds 60 koku (approximately 11,000 liters), making it no exaggeration to say it is the largest in Japan. Generally, barrels seen throughout Japan are often 20 to 30 koku in size, but 60 koku barrels are a rare size that can only be found in the Kanto region, especially Chiba Prefecture.

I also feel that Taihei's 30-year history with the consumer co-op (Seikatsu Club) puts it in a unique position. The first thing a consumer co-op wants is "safety and security." They also need to mass-produce while maintaining high quality. They have a history of trial and error in trying to achieve these contradictory elements.

A special seasonal brand that is pressed only once a year

There is one special barrel in the dimly lit and silent brewery. This special barrel was started in the year of the 125th anniversary of the company's founding. It is pressed only once a year in November and is called "Heizaemon."

"We want to distinguish ourselves from mass-produced soy sauce, which tends to emphasize a fragrant aroma," and so we are particular about both the ingredients and the manufacturing process, using soybeans from Yamagata Prefecture, wheat from Hokkaido, and sea salt from Nagasaki Prefecture, which are fermented and aged slowly over a period of one year. When squeezing the moromi, we use only the "natural dripping" that flows naturally without applying any extra pressure, and we also heat the soy sauce at the lowest possible temperature.

The balance of the clear reddish brown color, clear aroma, and refreshing flavor is excellent. Since it is a limited edition product, it sells out every year in the spring.

First, try it with sauce or sauce.

At Shokunin Shoyu, we recommend soy sauces that go well with fish, such as light soy sauce for white fish and tamari or saishikomi for red fish. For seafood bowls, where you can enjoy a variety of fish at once, we recommend Heizaemon. Even among dark soy sauces, this soy sauce has a fairly light reddish brown color and a clean taste that brings out the flavor of the fish while still allowing you to feel the umami and aroma of the soy sauce. This soy sauce takes the best of all the traditional dark soy sauces, so it can be used on anything, such as tofu or grated daikon radish. This is a brand that we recommend using as a dipping sauce or a pouring sauce.

For a higher-grade dish

When I serve customers, many of them say, "It's a waste to use delicious soy sauce in cooking," but I recommend using it not only as a delicious soy sauce to pour over your food, but also as a cooking sauce. Heizaemon brings out the flavor of the ingredients while still allowing you to enjoy the soy sauce's refreshing taste, so it can be used on meat, fish, vegetables, rice, and any other ingredients. By simply changing the soy sauce, you can create dishes that are so delicious you'll wonder if you really made them yourself.