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EXPERIMENT

Koji is used for sake and miso — what does it do to chicken if you age it for 48 hours? Testing texture and umami development.

RESULT

The results were genuinely strange and genuinely good. The texture changed — silkier, denser. The flavor deepened in a way that normal marinades don't achieve. It tasted older, in the best possible sense. Will never make chicken another way.

EXPERIMENT

Can you make a risotto that's genuinely rich without the Italian fats? Replacing stock with dashi and finishing with a little toasted nori butter.

RESULT

The dashi gives it a cleaner, more oceanic richness than chicken stock. The nori butter at the end was the key — it replaced parmesan's umami punch without any dairy weight. Slightly different beast, but completely its own thing.