Part 5: Food Photographer Tange Megumi Loves Onion Koji — Its Mild Delicious Taste Makes It a Winner

In this series, we ask food professionals for their current top recommended fermented food. Our guest for Part 5 is Tange Megumi, who, as a food photographer, takes photos for food companies and cafes, and, as a businesswoman, is involved in running the online school Harmo, which offers hands-on food-related experiences. As someone who is qualified as a registered dietitian and has a strong interest in health and food, she recommends onion koji [rice malt], which is flexible enough to be used in all kinds of cooking. She shares with us a recipe to make onion koji and a recipe that uses it as well.

Fermented seasonings to always have in the fridge

“I got this onion koji from an acquaintance who runs a fermentation class in Nagoya. It can be used in the same way as salted koji and it makes simple dishes taste amazing.”

Blend one onion (300 grams) into a paste with a food processor, add a koji mixture of 35 grams of salt and 100 grams of koji, mix everything together well, and then leave it to ferment in a clean jar at room temperature for a week

Tange Megumi explains this to us as she takes out a preserving jar from her fridge. Her main occupation is a food photographer. She travels around the country on assignments and photographs scenes of local food cultures and the people involved in food.

“Besides onion koji, I have soy sauce koji, black koji amazake [a sweet drink made from koji], and fruit koji ready to go in my fridge. All of these were made by a koji master named Ichiko in Nagoya. I met her through work and have become absolutely enthralled by the fermented seasonings she makes. I regularly order fermented seasonings from her.”

Fruit koji (left) and black koji amazake. Fruit koji is made by fermenting fruit with koji using leftover fruit after making fruit enzyme preserves.

“I’ve always loved fermented foods, and I naturally incorporate them in my normal diet. I’m from Aichi, so I think that growing up in a miso culture may have something to do with it. In Aichi, soybean miso, especially hatcho miso [a dark variety of miso], is quite common. When I moved to Tokyo, the differences in miso had me a little confused. And it was a shock to me to learn that people in Tokyo don’t put miso in their oden stews. (laughs)”

Mixed rice with onion koji thoroughly convinces with its robust flavor and rich umami taste

A simple mixed rice dish is accentuated by the umami of onion koji

Onion koji can be used like salted koji or soy sauce koji in preparing meat or fish, but it can also be used in place of consommé.

“If you marinate meat in onion koji, it will make the meat juicy and tender as well as give it the sweetness and umami of onion. Just stir fry it quickly with vegetables and you have a completely satisfying dish. Something I’ve gotten into recently is onion koji rice, where I cook the onion koji in with the rice. When it’s ready, I mix in lots of seasonal spices.”

The simplicity of just adding water is a joy

You can enjoy the rice with other spices you like, such as shiso leaves or sesame, in addition to myoga and whitebait

The rich umami produced by the combination of onions and fermentation certainly makes you think of onion consommé soup. It’s also excellent with other dishes like Japanese chicken rice.

I want to convey the wonder and the importance of food

Tange is now an established food photographer, but she didn’t originally have any aspirations to become a photographer.

“I started out in photography after my aunt gave me a camera as a present when I was in third year in university. I found it fun to take pictures of the meals I had cooked, and I noticed I could express my feelings much better this way than with words. When I considered what I wanted to do for work, I thought that maybe photography was a suitable means to get across what I wanted to say.”

With camera in hand, she set out on a journey of discovery and found a world of food that she had never been taught about at school. These discoveries only fueled her desire to communicate.

“Each part of Japan has its own food culture that comes from the land. Some of these are on the verge of disappearing today. I want to tell as many people as possible about these precious cultures, and above all, it excites me to learn about things I didn’t know before. I believe that learning about new things expands your options regarding what you choose to eat and what type of diet you practice.”

Producing food experiences that liberate all our senses

Tange’s desire took shape in another form than photography: an online food experience school called Harmo.

“When my photography work came to a halt because of the COVID-19 restrictions on going out, I figured now was the time to start the community I had long dreamt of, in which people could learn about food and food-related careers from a variety of perspectives. When I launched, the focus on was online classes, but now I’m offering programs where the emphasis is on experiences.”

Harmo has a wide variety of programs, such as rice planting experiences and one-day café events, as well as tours to experience the bountiful nature and food of local regions of Japan.

“In this day and age, when we are deluged with information just by opening our smartphones or computers, we tend to rely on the information we see on screens too much and over intellectualize. That’s why I think it’s so important for our lives to liberate all our senses and experience things holistically. When participants connect with local areas and local people through food, and I see their eyes light up as they say, ‘I want my loved ones to have that experience too’, it warms my heart because that kind of pure feeling is so lovely to me. I’m sure they take something back to their everyday lives.”

Our next installment features Sukenari Futaba, who has been introducing food cultures from around the world with easy-to-make recipes. Keep an eye out for it!