For those who don’t know (including myself, 10 minutes ago), kōji is a starter culture from the fungus Aspergillus oryzae, which is also used in the making of soy sauce, sake, shōchū, and rice vinegars. Miso is a traditional Japanese ingredient, made by fermenting soybeans or other grains with kōji, salt, and sometimes seaweed. A tub of miso paste is a flavour essential, always stashed in my fridge, ready to be dug into with a spoon to elevate a sauce, broth or marinade. Oh, miso paste! Salty, sweet, mellow, earthy, fruity, deeply umami and wonderfully aromatic. Miso is added into things such as brownies, ice cream and cheesecake, providing a sweet and salty bite.There’s remarkable variety and depth to be found in a spoonful of fermented bean paste. Miso is not just reserved for savoury dishes there are several Japanese desserts that use miso to add some incredible flavour to the sweet treat. To create a marinade using miso, a miso paste will be combined with sake and mirin (or sugar), making a flavorful sauce for your dish. Similar to pairing wines with food, matching a miso type to a dish is often down to the colour, with white miso primarily used for fish and seafood, while red miso is for meat, such as beef. Miso is a great choice for marinades, sauces and glazes, as it adds a great deal of flavour to each dish. One of the easiest ways to pickle things is with a miso paste, as the high salt content helps to act as a preservative, as well as to add some extra flavour to the ingredients. Pickling ingredients is very common in Japan, and pickled vegetables, such as radish, are often enjoyed as a condiment or side to main meals. The same is true for other stew-like dishes in Japan. Udon noodles are also typically served in a broth made from a red miso paste. Miso is typically used as a base flavour for noodle dishes such as ramen, which involves a broth. Miso can also be used as a base for other soup types. Miso paste, typically red and white mixed (awase), is added to a dashi broth, with spring onion and tofu cubes. A staple dish, miso soup is served alongside most meals in Japan, enjoyed as a snack, and is even eaten as breakfast by many. Here are just a few of the most popular ways in which miso is used in Japanese cuisine.īy far the most popular use for miso in Japan is as a key ingredient in the famous miso soup. Miso is an incredibly versatile ingredient and can be used in a very wide range of dishes. Typically, it will be a combination of white and red miso, which makes it suitable for all styles of cooking. At least two or more miso pastes are blended together and used in a variety of dishes. This type of miso is a mixture of different kinds of miso. This is best used in meatier and stronger dishes, as it has a pretty strong umami flavour and is packed with salty notes. It is also fermented for far longer than shiro miso is, resulting in a darker colour paste. While known as white miso, it is more of a yellow colour.Ī miso with a red-brown colour, aka miso tends to use more soybeans, and may also involve barley as a starter grain rather than rice. It has a mild taste, with a hint of sweetness, that makes it perfect for light soups, sauces and salad dressings. Made from soybeans and a rice grain starter, shiro miso is fermented for a shorter amount of time than other miso types, leaving it with a lighter colour than some varieties. Image Credit: wilbanks Varieties of Miso Paste Shiro Miso (White Miso) There are also regional differences in miso pastes, with colour and flavour varying between areas of Japan, depending on the production practices preferred by each region. Examples of this include mugi-miso, which is a miso made using barley as a starter, while mame-miso uses already fermenting soybeans as the fermentation activator, creating a far more intense flavour. Different types can then be produced by using a different fermentation starter. The most popular type of miso in Japan is kome-miso, which uses a rice grain as the starter. The flavour of the resultant miso is dependant on the grain type used as the koji. This mixture of ingredients is left to age and ferment for between six months and three years. Miso paste is made from mashed soybeans, salt and koji – a grain mash used to promote the fermentation process. We take a look at what miso paste is and how it is used in Japanese cooking. There are a number of different types of miso paste, with their flavours depending on the specific fermentation processes used to create it. The paste is also packed with nutrients and is high in protein, making it increasingly popular around the world as people search for healthier ingredients.

Made from fermented soybeans, miso paste offers a strong umami and salty taste that adds some intense flavours to a variety of meals. Miso paste is an essential ingredient in the Japanese diet, acting as a fundamental component in many popular dishes.

Miso paste ingredients