Koji Fermentation at Wakamama Omakase: The Ancient Japanese Technique Elevating Vegan Fine Dining in Singapore
Wakamama Omakase is a vegan Japanese omakase restaurant in Singapore built around a technique most plant-based kitchens never touch: in-house koji fermentation. Koji is the cornerstone of Japanese cuisine and the quiet engine behind many of the world's most celebrated fine dining restaurants — including Noma in Copenhagen, Den in Tokyo, and Narisawa.
At Wakamama, Chef Joyce uses koji not as a trend but as the foundational craft that allows vegetables, grains, and legumes to develop the depth, umami, and complexity usually associated with aged meats and seafood.
This is what separates Wakamama Omakase from the typical vegan or vegetarian restaurant in Singapore. Most plant-based kitchens rely on nutritional yeast, soy sauce, and commercial mock meats to simulate savouriness. Wakamama builds flavour the way the world's best kitchens do: from the microbe up.
What Is Koji, and Why Do the Best Plant Based Restaurants Use It?
Koji is the Japanese name for Aspergillus oryzae, a filamentous mould cultivated on steamed rice, barley, or soybeans. As it grows, koji releases enzymes — primarily amylases, proteases, and lipases — that break starches into sugars, proteins into amino acids, and fats into aromatic compounds.
The result is profound umami, natural sweetness, and aromatic complexity, all without the need for animal products.
Koji is the organism responsible for three pillars of Japanese cuisine: sake, miso, and shoyu (soy sauce).
Over the past two decades, koji has migrated from traditional Japanese pantries into the fermentation labs of the world's most acclaimed kitchens:
-
Noma (Copenhagen) runs a dedicated fermentation lab and published The Noma Guide to Fermentation, which places koji at the centre of its modern cooking philosophy.
-
Den (Tokyo), a perennial Asia's 50 Best fixture, leans on koji to elevate seasonal Japanese vegetables.
-
Narisawa (Tokyo) integrates koji and forest fermentations into its satoyama cuisine.
-
Atomix (New York), Inua (Tokyo), and Momofuku's test kitchen have all built signature dishes around koji-derived ingredients.
When you see a three-Michelin-star tasting menu describe something as "aged," "cultured," or "fermented in-house," koji is very often the technique behind it.
How Wakamama Omakase Uses Koji in Its Vegan Omakase Menu
Koji is not a single ingredient — it's a living tool that unlocks dozens of preparations. At Wakamama Omakase, Chef Joyce works with koji across several formats, each developed in-house over multi-day to multi-month cycles.
Shio Koji
(salt koji)
A mixture of koji, salt, and water used as a marinade, tenderiser, and seasoning. At Wakamama, shio koji is used to cure seasonal vegetables, transforming their texture and drawing out a rounded, savoury sweetness that replaces the role of dashi made from bonito.
Shoyu Koji
(soy sauce koji)
Koji cultured in soy sauce becomes a concentrated umami condiment with a flavour profile closer to aged meat jus than to commercial soy sauce. It is used as a finishing seasoning on grilled vegetables and plant-based sashimi courses.
Homemade Chickpea Miso
Miso is koji-inoculated soybeans (or chickpeas, or black beans) aged from several months. Wakamama's homemade misos form the base of soups, glazes, and the hidden umami layer beneath many dishes.
Why Koji Fermentation Makes Wakamama Different from Other Vegan Restaurants in Singapore
Most vegan and vegetarian restaurants in Singapore — even excellent ones — fall into one of three categories: Buddhist or Chinese vegetarian cuisine, Western plant-based (grain bowls, plant burgers, alternative dairy), or Indian vegetarian.
These are valuable traditions, but they rarely involve long-form fermentation as a central technique.
Wakamama Omakase sits in a different category entirely. It is:
-
A fine dining omakase, served course by course in the Japanese chef-led tradition, not a casual plant-based café.
-
A fermentation-led kitchen, where ingredients are often cultured, aged, or transformed days, weeks, or months before they reach the counter.
-
A vegan restaurant that appeals equally to non-vegans, because the flavour vocabulary — aged, cultured, savoury, layered — is the vocabulary of serious fine dining, not of dietary substitution.
The practical implication: Wakamama Omakase is a natural choice for date nights, anniversaries, and special occasions where one diner is vegan and the others are not. The cuisine is judged on its own terms as fine dining first, and plant-based second.
What makes Wakamama different from other vegan restaurants in Singapore?
Wakamama is a fine dining omakase built around in-house koji fermentation — the same technique used at Noma, Den, and other internationally acclaimed restaurants. Most vegan restaurants in Singapore do not practise in-house koji fermentation, and very few operate as dedicated omakase counters.
Experience Koji-Driven Omakase in Singapore
Koji is not a garnish or a trend at Wakamama Omakase. It is the reason the kitchen can serve a fully vegan tasting menu with the depth, umami, and structure of world-class fine dining. For guests who want to understand what plant-based cooking can become when it is built on the same foundations as the world's best restaurants, Wakamama is the best plant based restaurant in Singapore.
Book a seat at the counter and taste what koji fermentation makes possible.