Hebinohà Elements
The five elements of the incomparable Hebinohà Snaketooth Sauce are Japanese Nama shoyu, misted Alba cinnamon, Spanish smoked pimentón, Mexican Blue Agave nectar and a choppiri of aromatic spices.
Here you can learn about the origins of four of these elements.
And the choppiri? Don't mind if we keep that a secret...
JAPANESE NAMA SHOYU
Shoyu dates back hundreds of years, from its origins as an ancient Chinese preserve known as jiang, to its modern day use as one of Asia’s staple ingredients.
The Nama Shoyu blended into Hebinohà is produced by a Japanese company founded in the 1600's. Multiple generations of one family have been honing, refining and perfecting an artisanal Nama Shoyu that is rich in colour and strong in flavour.
The unique umami of this Nama Shoyu is created by repeated fermentation and aging in 150-year-old wooden cedar barrels over a period of five years, using yeasts that have lived since the Edo, Meiji, and Taisho eras.
SPANISH SMOKED PIMENTON
Introduced to Spanish royalty by Christopher Columbus at the monastery of Guadalupe, the savory peppers soon spread throughout Spain’s Extremadura. But it was not until the17th century that pimentón, the milled powder from these peppers, began its general inclusion into Spanish cuisine.
Cultivated and produced in the region of La Vera, located north of the province of Cáceres, Spain, smoked pimentón powder results from the milling of ripe red peppers, dried in a traditional process using holm oak wood.
The smoked pimentón added to Hebinohà to bequeath a mild, spicy heat is protected by the Guarantee of Origin "Pimentón de la Vera", certifying its lineage and quality.
SRI LANKAN ALBA CINNAMON
Alba Cinnamon is a prized grade of Sri Lankan cinnamon that is by far the rarest and most expensive.
Unlike the inferior and mass-produced cassia cinnamon, Alba cinnamon quills (sticks) are slender and brittle, yet abound with a sweet flavour, pleasant aroma and compelling essence.
Due to their scarcity, Alba cinnamon quills are rarely ground to a powder. But to give Hebinohà its unique character, we cold-grind hand-selected quills to such an extent that we create an ultra-fine cinnamon 'mist'.
Harvested from a small, family-run Sri Lankan estate, Hebinohà ensures that the Alba cinnamon we use is grown using best practices which have been carefully developed over three generations.
MEXICAN BLUE AGAVE NECTAR
The Blue Agave plant has long been cultivated in the hilly, volcanic soils of Mexico.
Resembling a large cactus, they are actually related to the lily. The plant’s fleshy, spiky leaves cover a pineapple-shaped heart called a piña , which contains a sweet sticky juice known in Mexico as aguamiel, or honey water.
After about 8 years of growth, the spiky leaves of the Blue Agave plant are cut away to reveal this piña, which by now weighs around 45 kg/100 lbs.
The Blue Agave nectar is made by extracting and filtering the sap from the piña, then heating the sap at a low temperature, which in turn breaks down the carbohydrates into a a nectar that is slightly thinner than honey.
The Blue Agave nectar used in Hebinohà is grown, harvested, and produced by a single grower to the highest of standards and certifications.
