Soy sauce isn't usually something you sip and discuss. But at Kioke Dojo, a two-night dinner series from SpicedLore by Tropical Trading Co., it takes centre stage — treated with the same seriousness you'd give a single malt or a natural wine.
The events run on August 22 at Wabi Sabi in Bengaluru and August 24 at Fenix, The Oberoi, in Mumbai, and pair aged Japanese soy sauces with a multi-course meal. At the helm is Chef Yoshifumi Tashima of Tokyo restaurant Namida, working with Yamaroku Shoyu, a family-run brewery on Shodo Island that has been in business for 150 years. Fifth-generation brewer Yasuo Yamamoto leads production there. Chefs Randy Cultivo (Wabi Sabi, Bengaluru) and Richard Malone (Fenix, Mumbai) round out the kitchen team.
What makes Yamaroku's shoyu worth a dinner in its honour is the kioke: traditional cedar-and-bamboo barrels, often built with wood from Nara, in which the sauce ferments and ages. Over decades of use, each barrel develops its own colony of microorganisms, shaping aromas and flavours unique to that brewery. Some barrels stay in service for well over a century. Yamamoto argues that the resulting depth can't be measured or copied — it's wood, microbes, ingredients, craft and time, plus Shodo's mild, Mediterranean-like climate.
As for the pairing concept: drinking soy sauce neat isn't a Japanese custom, Tashima explains — it's a study method. At first you get salt, but underneath sit aroma, umami, acidity, sweetness and a finish. Different styles — white, light, dark, double-brewed, tamari — each have their own character, and the menu is built around how they interact with ingredients rather than any fixed rule. Dishes on the collaboration menu include mizu no hana made with Hiramasa fish, chutoro tuna with Tsurubishio rice, and Isobe Yaki grilled rice cakes.
Tickets cost ₹6,000 for the vegetarian menu and ₹6,500 for non-vegetarian; bookings are via 080 25585858.
Why it matters: this is a rare chance to taste kioke shoyu outside Japan without flying to Shodo Island, and to understand why soy sauce can carry terroir at all. For anyone planning a trip to Japan's Seto Inland Sea, Yamaroku and the island's breweries are an easy detour from the standard Golden Route — and SpicedLore has hinted at future experiential trips to rural Japan, so this dinner may be a preview of more to come.
