"The benefits loom large: fermented foods are anti-diabetic, anti-hypertensive, and antioxidant...and are swarming with vitamins." --Discover magazine

This comprehensive do-it-yourself home fermentation guide centers on the amazing superfoods at the heart of the healthy Japanese diet. Author and fermentation expert Hiroko Shirasaki starts with easy preparations for shio koji, amazake, nukazuke and three types of miso. Then she shows you how to harness the probiotic power of these and other fermented ingredients in scores of delicious home-style recipes.

Some of these fermented foods you may already know: kimchi, gochujang, mirin. Others--like umeboshi, natto, sake lees, fermented ginger and kastsuobushi--offer new perspectives on the flavorful powers of fermentation.

The seasonal menus in this book contain 97 recipes catering to a broad range of tastes:

• "Easy Nukazuke Pickles" (vegetables cured in a bed of fermented rice bran) offers a completely new way to unleash the power of pickling!
• "Amazake Fruit Yogurt" makes the perfect probiotic breakfast or snack
• "Shio Koji (a fermented rice-based marinade) Mushroom Soup" creates a super-nutritious and delightfully delicious twist on a favorite dish
• "Sea Bream and Clams Steamed in White Miso and Wine" pairs the briny sea with the natural umami of a homemade miso made with soybeans and rice
• "Root Vegetable Soup with Brown Rice Miso" offers a healthful twist on a classic comfort food
• "Mixed Sushi with Fermented Ginger" ups the antioxidant ante in a familiar favorite
• "Amazake Gochujang Bibimbap" brings Korean flavors to a classic lunch box dish
• And many more!