Bottom of the barrel sauce (Torii sauce)

For those who find regular sauce unsatisfying, try the rich sauce from the bottom of the bucket.

When Worcestershire sauce is aged in a wooden barrel for over a month, the solids from the vegetables and spices slowly settle to the bottom of the barrel. The resulting sauce is full of flavor and is rich and spicy. It has a unique flavor. Sauce lovers should definitely give it a try.

Capacity: 200ml

Ingredients: sugar (domestically produced), vegetables (onion, tomato, carrot, garlic, celery), brewed vinegar, salt, spices, lemon juice, kelp, bonito flakes

Shokunin Shoyu No. 3096

A sauce shop in Kakegawa, Shizuoka that has been in business for 100 years

"It has to be this sauce" - you can almost hear this sentiment expressed by a local who continues to love the sauce. Torii Sauce, located in Kakegawa City, Shizuoka Prefecture, is a long-established sauce manufacturer founded in 1924.

The main ingredients of a dish are vegetables, meat, and fish, and condiments are considered to be supporting ingredients that enhance the flavor of the main ingredients.Their aim is to create sauces that are not just "delicious" on their own, but that are delicious when combined with the food.

The ingredients of the sauce are surprisingly unknown. President Torii Daisuke explains, "Soy sauce adds saltiness and umami, while sauce adds sourness and umami." The source of sourness is vinegar, and the source of umami is vegetables. Adding spices to these makes the sauce.

Torii Sauce's sauces are made by slowly simmering 100% domestically produced vegetables and fruits, and are characterized by their deep richness and gentle sweetness. They continue to adhere to a manufacturing method that does not use food additives and values ​​the natural flavor of the ingredients.

Torii Sauce's Commitment

1. Whole raw vegetables

The first time I tried Torii Sauce, I thought, "Hmm, it's kind of mild..." And it turns out it's because they simmer whole, skin-on, domestically grown vegetables, including carrots, onions, tomatoes, and even celery. And they use real vegetables, not powders or concentrates. Perhaps that's why it has a smooth texture and a refreshing aftertaste.

When you think of sauce, you might imagine something "strongly seasoned," but Torii sauce doesn't get in the way of the food, but rather enhances it. It has a gentleness that makes you think, "This is the first time I've ever tried a sauce like this." I think this is what makes Torii so great.

2. In-house brewed vinegar

Vinegar is a great supporting actor that brings out the flavor of the sauce.

Torii Sauce even makes their own vinegar in-house. They use domestically produced rice and sake lees, which are left to ferment slowly and carefully using the traditional static fermentation method. Fermentation and aging takes time, but this results in a smooth, rounded, and acidic taste.

Many people probably don't pay much attention to the vinegar in sauces, but I really love the sourness of this sauce. It's not too sharp, but it brings the flavors together nicely, making it a great supporting actor.

3. Original spices

Speaking of sauces, spices are essential. It is common to grind spices into powder and add them to the sauce, so that the aroma of the spices can be efficiently absorbed into the sauce.

However, at Torii Sauce, the spices are placed in a strainer bag in their original form (or coarsely ground) and then soaked in the sauce. This is to ensure that only the aroma is dissolved into the sauce, and that the bitterness does not interfere with the flavor. What's even more amazing is that the soaking temperature is divided into two stages. There are spices that can withstand heat and spices that can't, and this is apparently to ensure that only the desired aroma is thoroughly dissolved.

The idea is to put spices in a bag and steep them, but Torii explained, "It might be easier to understand if you imagine tea brewed in a teapot and powdered tea. Tea brewed in a teapot has less impact, but it goes down smoothly. Powdered tea has a straightforward taste, but still retains a bitter aftertaste."

It's amazing how much care and attention they put into it! I think that effort really shows in the flavor. The aroma of the spices is strong, but not at all cloying, and it has depth without any unpleasant aftertaste, yet is gentle.

4. Maturing in wooden barrels

Torii Sauce simmers Worcestershire sauce and ages it in wooden barrels. Isn't it a bit shocking to know that a sauce factory has wooden barrels?

The sauce is aged in wooden barrels to even out the flavor and concentrate the umami flavors passed down through generations. While aging can make the flavor more rounded, if the saltiness is too even, the flavor becomes dull. Torii Sauce has used its many years of experience to find the perfect balance between aging for about a month.

Many of Shokunin Soy Sauce's customers are very impressed with the wooden barrels. Sauces brewed in wooden barrels are extremely valuable!!

What is bottom of barrel sauce?

Have you ever heard of bottom-of-oak sauce? At first, I was like, "What's that?" In fact, bottom-of-oak sauce is an extremely rare sauce that is created when Torii Sauce matures Worcestershire sauce in wooden barrels for over a month.

During the aging process, the solids of the vegetables and spices slowly sink to the bottom of the wooden barrel due to gravity, and the sauce that accumulates at the bottom is called the bottom sauce. In the Kansai region, it is also called "mud sauce" and is known as a rare delicacy among sauce lovers.

This is a luxury item that can only be made by aging in wooden barrels, and cannot be achieved with mass-produced sauces in ordinary factories. The flavors of the vegetables and spices are tightly concentrated, and it is truly a testament to the quality of the aging process. Torii Sauce has revived this sauce for the first time in half a century, so you can see how rare it is. It is a special sauce that will have you hooked once you try it.

Compared to Worcestershire sauce

The difference between Worcestershire sauce and bottom-of-the-barrel sauce is obvious when you compare the two. First of all, the appearance is different. Regular Worcestershire sauce is a thin liquid, but bottom-of-the-barrel sauce contains the solids of vegetables and spices, so it has a thick texture. It also has a gritty feel.

The difference in taste is even more obvious. While regular Worcestershire sauce has a "balance of sourness and sweetness," the bottom-of-the-barrel sauce has a "complex spicy flavor." It's not just spicy, but also has a multi-layered flavor of various spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.

Techniques that can be used by both beginners and advanced users

This is a truly versatile way to use the sauce from the bottom of the barrel. If you're an advanced sauce lover, we recommend pouring it directly onto okonomiyaki or yakisoba. Its rich, spicy flavor instantly elevates ordinary dishes.

But don't worry if you're worried about whether you can use such a unique sauce. Just using a small amount as a secret ingredient can add a surprising amount of depth to your dishes. Adding just one teaspoon to curry will transform a store-bought curry roux into an authentic flavor. Adding a little to a stir-fry at the end will give it a restaurant-quality taste.

My favorite way to eat it is to mix it into hamburger steak sauce. Adding a little of the sauce from the bottom of the barrel to the demi-glace sauce adds a complex flavor of spices, making it taste like something you'd get at a long-established Western restaurant.

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Text: Miho Matano (Shokunin Soy Sauce)