All about miso

August 3, 2021 by
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I did not discover miso until just last year, when the pandemic cooking doldrums spurred me to look beyond my usual repertoire. Several of my cookbooks had recipes that featured the fermented paste, so I ordered some online and started to use it. Miso is one of those ingredients where you wonder how you cooked without it before. If you are just dipping your toes into the waters of this ingredient, head over to Good Food (Aus) for a primer on all things miso.

First, the basics: miso is a foundation of Japanese cuisine and culture. Miso combines cooked soybeans with a grain – usually rice but sometimes barley, rye or buckwheat – and is then fermented with specific varieties of a fungus: usually Aspergillus oryzae (also used to make saké and shoyu) or Aspergillus sojae. There are three main types of miso, white, yellow and red. The white is milder while the red has a stronger flavor because it is fermented longer. White is the most common and can be found in most supermarkets, red is also abundant but less so than white, but for yellow miso you may need to head online or to a specialty shop. The flavor of miso is salty and sweet and somewhat nutty.

It might be easier to list foods where you wouldn’t want to use a little miso than to spell out everything where its flavor boost is welcome. You can use it on roasted vegetables, meat, or fish; in soups and stews; and even in desserts. Browse the 2,700+ miso recipes available online in the EYB Library, or try one of these Member favorite recipes that highlight the advantages of using miso:

Category: Antipasto

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5 Comments

  • hillsboroks  on  August 3, 2021

    Miso has been a standard ingredient in my refrigerator for years. We are lucky on the West Coast and in the Portland area to be able to buy it at most grocery stores as well as at Asian markets. Miso adds so much flavor to everything and I love it on fish in various marinades and sauces.

  • mjes  on  August 4, 2021

    As another West Coast member, I must admit that miso has been a standard pantry item for at least 30 + years judging from my son’s comments on his mother-in-law’s cooking. As in Portland, the greater Seattle area has miso in most large supermarkets. My own use leans towards vegetables and soups.
    I know that the miso portion is available as a standalone book but I must recommend https://www.eatyourbooks.com/library/51158/the-book-of-tofu-

  • Rinshin  on  August 5, 2021

    One of very popular miso in Japan is called Hatcho miso. It is a specialt of Nagoya area and is made from all soy beans and soy bean koji, so no grains added like other miso. It is very dark and sometimes used as a sauce for tonkatsu. My first foray into miso making was this by pure accident and not knowing much about miso making. The only difference was I used rice koji for fermentation. It came out wonderful.Takes at least 2 years for taste to develop fully. Each region of Japan have their own style of miso. What most Westerners are familiar with is white sweet miso more commonly used in Kyoto area. Tokyo uses both dark yellow and brown ie red(although it is really brownish color). These are not sweet. One of my favorite comes from mountainous Japan Alps region of Nagano called Shinshu miso. It is all-purpose miso.

  • FuzzyChef  on  August 6, 2021

    There are many, many more flavors of miso than red or white.

  • ccav  on  August 10, 2021

    The book Miso Tasty is a fun read. These recipes listed above have me wanting to cook with miso this week!

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