miso

A Japanese miso primer

maki — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 05:58:53 +0200

This is a post that has been a long time coming. I kept on holding it off until I had a good variety of miso on hand to show photos of. I can’t say I have a comprehensive selection to show you, but I hope you will find this article useful anyway.

Miso　（味噌、みそ), as you probably know already, is a naturally fermented paste made by combining cooked soy beans, salt, and often some other ingredient such as white or brown rice, barley, and so on. The texture can range from smooth to chunky, and the color from a light yellow-brown to reddish brown to dark chocolate brown, and the flavor ranges from mildly salty and sweet to strong and very salty. It is packed with umami and protein, not to mention all sorts of nutrients.

Miso-like fermented bean products and pastes exist all over Asia, but here I will mainly limit myself to the most commonly used Japanese misos.

Some general rules of miso

The color can be a fairly good indicator of the strength of flavor and saltiness of the miso. Generally speaking, the lighter in color, the sweeter it is. There are exceptions to this rule, but if you are confronted with a selection and don’t know which way to go, it’s useful to remember.

The longer a miso is aged, the deeper in flavor it gets, though it can get a bit manky if aged too long. Commercially available miso is usually aged from 6 months to 2 years.

You can keep unopened miso at room temperature indefinitely. Once opened, store well covered in the refrigerator - though it won’t go ‘off’ that fast really. Ideally you want to consume it within a year of purchase. (I’ve kept miso for 3 years in the fridge without any ill effects, but I don’t really recommend you do that!)

Major types of miso　by color

Shiromiso (白みそ）or ‘white’ miso is the generic term for golden-yellow to medium brown miso. It is milder than other kinds of miso, with a slight sweetness. It’s the most versatile one for cooking purposes - you can use it for miso soups, miso marinades, and so on. If you can only afford one kind of miso budget-wise or space-wise, get a good shiromiso that is labelled ‘medium sweet’.
Akamiso （赤みそ）or ‘red’ miso is the generic term for miso that is a dark reddish-brown in color. It is usually (but not always!) more salty and assertive in taste than shiromiso. If you see a red-brown miso that is labelled a inakamiso (田舎味噌）or ‘country’ miso, you can be pretty sure that it will be strong in flavor and fairly salty.
Awasemiso (合わせ味噌）or ‘blended’ miso is just that, miso that combines two or more different types of miso together. This is also a good general choice if you don’t want to assemble a miso collection.

With or without dashi?

Since miso is so often used in conjunction with dashi stock, some misos already have dashi added to them. These are usually labeled dashi iri （だし入り）. If you want to add your own homemade dashi, or you are a vegan and want to avoid any fish products in your miso (see vegan dashi), look for additive-free or mutenka (無添加）miso. If you can’t tell from the label whether it has dashi or not, look at the ingredient list - an additive free miso should only have soy beans, salt, rice or barley if they are used, and perhaps some fermentation ingredients (usually listed as koji (麹)).

Organic/not-GM?

If you want to be sure to get miso that is made from soy beans that are organically grown and not genetically modified, look for ones that say yuuki (有機）. Most if not all miso that say mutenka (無添加）or additive-free are also non-GM . You may also encounter miso that says it’s made from kokusan (国産）or domestic (Japanese) soy beans; this usually (thought not always - so check!) means it’s made from non-GM, happy soy beans.

Gluten free?

Unless the miso contains barley (麦、mugi) it is gluten-free, unless it has some not-traditional additives.

Some misos to look for by name

You may see a number of ‘brand’ names for miso, such as Shinshuu, Yamato, etc. Most of these names don’t really mean much except to indicate where the miso comes from - the differences are too subtle except for a diehard miso connoisseur. There are a couple that stand out though.

Hatcho-miso （八丁味噌）is a type of miso made in the Tokai region (now the 3 prefectures of Aichi, Mie and Gifu). It was traditionally said to have been served to the emperor and is held in high regard. It’s an all-soybean miso, which is about medium on the sweet/strength/saltiness scale, and is a good general purpose miso.
Saikyo miso (西京味噌) is a golden yellow miso that was traditionally made in the Kyoto/Kansai region. It is naturally sweet - the sweetness comes from the sugar produced as a byproduct of the fermentation process, similar to amazake (甘酒). Makes a good dipping sauce or condiment, and is used as a sweet flavor in baked goods and so on by some Japanese vegan cooks. Does not keep as well as other miso types since it’s lower in salt, so you must refrigerate it. It’s very expensive! (I noticed that the Nobu restaurant group has a recipe online for ‘saikyo’ miso, but it uses white sugar! That’s just sweet miso sauce, not Saikyo miso.)
Moromi miso (もろみ味噌）is a mildly salty, chunky miso, usually with added grains of rice or barley that is meant to be eaten as a condiment rather than in cooking. It’s used rather like a dip on raw vegetables and things like that. (One of my teachers used to insist that moromi miso on raw cucumbers would make us smarter.)

How to get a good miso?

As with many things in life, generally speaking the more expensive a miso is, the better it’s going to taste. Do be sure you are comparing like-to-like when looking at prices though. Generally, special misos like Saikyo miso, or ones with special additives like brown rice miso, tend to be more expensive than general white, red or blended miso. Also, organic/additive-free misos tend to be a bit more expensive.

The only way to really know if a miso is good or not is to taste it. So, if you are trying out a new to you miso, try to get the smallest package possible and try it out.

You may think me prejudiced, and I probably am, but I do think that miso made in Japan generally tastes better than miso made elsewhere. Not to name names, but I’ve tried some non-Japanese brands, and they are lacking in depth of flavor, even if they are sometimes more expensive!

Making miso at home

I have not tried this myself yet, so I have nothing to show you, but you can make miso at home. All you need is soy beans, salt, some ko-ji (麹）(a sort of fermented rice starter), a big bucket, space, and patience - since you need to age the miso for 6 months to a year. You can find instructions on the interweb. (Maybe one day I will try making my own…)

What I have in my kitchen now

The top row shows the three misos I use the most: two types of shiromiso, and an awasemiso. One shiromiso is a big chunkier in texture and has brown rice in it; the other shiromiso and the awasemiso are both all-soy bean types. I use any of the three for most if not all the recipes here on Just Hungry or over on Just Bento. There’s no good reason for me to have two shiromisos and an awasemiso - I just like trying out stuff.

The second row shows misos I use a lot less. On the left is a Saikyo miso, and in the middle is some quite salty-strong akamiso. I use Saikyo miso in some baking experiments and as a sauce to go with stewed daikon radish and such. The red miso is used for some marinades and some miso soups. Lastly, since I had a square to fill and I only have 5 kinds of miso on hand at the moment, I’ve included some Korean kochujang - which as you can see much redder than the ‘red’ akamiso - since I use it almost as much as miso. (Kochujang is also a fermented soy bean paste with added wheat, spices and so on.)

The basics of Japanee cooking and all that

What actually prompted me to finally post this was an article I saw elsewhere that was titled What Is Miso Paste? It stated that miso and rice for Japanese people are like ‘meat and potatoes for Americans’. Heh?

Sure, miso is part of Japanese cuisine. But you do not always eat miso, or always have miso soup, with a meal, if that was the analogy they were trying to use. Sure, soup is often served with a meal in Japan, but it can just as well be a clear soup as a miso soup. The real basis of Japanese cooking is rice, dashi and sa shi su se so. If you whittle it down to the bare essentials, a bowl of plain, white rice and something salty to go with it makes me feel Japanese through and through.

But enough of my whinging. If you have any questions about miso that I haven’t answered here, ask away!

New potatoes with sweet-spicy miso

maki — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 13:29:14 +0200

Here is another great way to enjoy new potatoes. It’s almost as simple to make as new potatoes with soy sauce and butter, though it uses a few more ingredients. Boiled whole new potatoes are panfried in a little sesame oil, then coated in a sticky sweet-salty-spicy miso sauce. The strong flavors of the miso sauce really go well with the blandness of the potatoes.

Recipe: New potatoes with sweet-spicy miso

About 500g / 1 lb tiny organic new potatoes, washed and unpeeled
1 Tbs. sesame oil
2 Tbs. miso, preferably red miso, but any miso will do (not sure? See A Japanese Miso Primer)
1 Tbs. kochujang (Spicy Korean bean paste, available at Korean or Japanese markets)
3 Tbs. raw cane sugar or light brown sugar (or if you have neither, regular white sugar will do)
1 large garlic clove, grated
1 piece (about twice the size of the garlic clove) fresh ginger, grated
Chopped green onions for garnish

Boil the potatoes in their skins until they are tender (if you poke one with a knife point or skewer, it goes through easily).

Heat up a large frying pan. Heat up the sesame oil. Add the potatoes, and pan-fry them until they turn brown and crispy.

In the meantime, combine the miso, kochujang, sugar, grated garlic and ginger in a bowl with enough water to make it into a smooth, loose paste, about the consistency of ketchup. (I use a microplane to grate the garlic and ginger.)

Add the paste to the hot pan and toss the potatoes around rapidly to coat them well. The water will evaporate and the sauce will turn very sticky. Take off the the heat before the miso burns.

Serve sprinkled with lots of chopped green onions.

This is a very rich and strongly flavored dish, almost a meal unto itself. In Japan it would be a side dish, eaten with rice and soup and a couple more dishes such as grilled fish or meat plus pickles or salad, etc. You could serve these as a side dish as part of a Western style meal. It’s a great vegan dish - you could add some pan-fried tofu or seitan or something to go with it.

It’s also very nice in bento, but I do prefer it when it’s still hot from the pan.

For a non-spicy version, omit the kochujang and increase the miso to 3 tablespoons. This non-spicy version would be more traditionally Japanese, but I like a bit of heat to cut through the sweetness.

Miso soup wrapup, and choosing and caring for lacquered soup bowls

maki — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 15:35:35 +0200

The top black bowl is resin; the bottom two are real lacquered bowls.

Food Destinations took up all of my weekend time, and the past two days, blogging wise, but I wanted to wrap up the week of miso soup, and also talk about the black-and-red lacquerware - and lacquerware-like - bowls that the soup is traditionally served in.

Miso soup redux

There are of course many, many more variations of miso soup; the basic thing to remember are the following:

For any ingredients that need to be cooked, make sure to cook them first - either separately (e.g. grilling or parboiling) or in the dashi stock, before adding the miso.
Never let miso soup come to a rolling boil after you add the miso. You will lose much of the aroma and flavor. (Unless of course, you don't actually like miso and are only having the soup for health reasons...)
Add instantly cooked or delicate items at the last minute.
Remember that regular miso is quite salty. If you are having miso soup with rice, the Japanese way, then your soup can be a bit heavier on the miso. If you are having miso soup on its own, go easier on the miso.

I'll have more miso soup recipes in the future I'm sure, but I hope that the 5 recipes got you thinking about your own variations.

Lacquered (and "lacquered") bowls for miso soup

Miso soup bowls are traditionally made of turned or carved wood, that is lacquered with natural lacquer and decorated.

However, most of the bowls you see at restaurants outside of Japan are made of resin or plastic. You can easily tell a plastic/resin bowl, since it is of a uniform thickness all around, and also gets hot outside very quickly. They are also a little flexible. (If you get a bowl of miso or clear soup at a restaurant with a lid on, and the lid refuses to come off, gently squeeze the sides of the bowl and twist-pull the lid.)

The bottom of areal lacquered bowl will be a bit thicker than the sides, and feel substantial in your hand. The bowl will also be expensive. At Jlist.com for example, they sell the plastic-resin type of bowls for under $3, but the real lacquered wooden bowls are $14 (pretty reasonable prices even if you figure in the cost of shipping from Japan).

If you just want the look of the bowls, the plastic-resin bowls are quite nice enough. Some of them almost look like the real thing, with convincing wood grain and such. I have four real lacquered bowls, and 12 black plastic ones with lids. Besides using them for soup, they also make different serving bowls for other things like salads or appetizers - the black or red interior surface makes a dramatic color statement. I've served pale-colored ice cream and sorbet in mine quite often. They are also easy to care for, and usually can go into the top rack of a dishwasher (though I prefer to hand wash mine). Always check the maker's recommendations though. The cheaper, flimsy ones may not stand up well in the heat of a dishwasher.

Real lacquer bowls need some tender loving care to prevent the lacquer from chipping or flaking off the wood base. This is a problem in overheated, very dry houses and apartments. Japan is quite a humid country, and lacquer bowls love humidity and hate dry conditions. If you live in a desert climate, you may want to consider sticking to the plastic-resin bowls unless you can provide extra humidity in the room where your bowls are stored.

The house I live in now is not that overheated, but it can get rather dry in the winter. So I keep my real lacquered bowls wrapped in soft cloth in a closed cabinet, and run a humidifier. (Some people like to put cups of water in the cabinet.) Don't ever put real lacquer ware in the dishwasher - hand wash only! If you have hard water, wipe the bowls after washing or they will get an unslightly white scale on them, which is very visible against the dark colors. Keep it out of sunlight also, since it dislikes ultraviolet rays. This applies to lacquered boxes too, though in my experience bowls seem to be more susceptible to flaking and chipping, perhaps because of their shape.

Why bother with real lacquer bowls at all? you might wonder. On a practical level they do hold in heat a lot better than the plastic-resin type. However, the reason for me to bother with the maintenance issues is they just feel wonderful - warm, substantial, and alive, in a way that plastic or resin can never emulate.

A week of miso soup, day 5: Ground shrimp, ginger and miso

maki — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 00:17:10 +0200

This is a miso soup made of fresh shrimp ground to a paste, mixed with flavoring ingredients, then whisked into hot dashi stock until just cooked. It's called ebi no nagashi jiru (ebi is shrimp). It's a quite traditional soup that used to be laborious to make, before the advent of the food processor. It's not one that is served that often in homes, perhaps because it used to be a bother to make, or perhaps because miso soup is rarely the star of a meal. It's really delicious in any case, and shows yet another way of making a miso based soup.

Nagashi jiru is traditionally made with fresh bonito (katsuo), but bonito is probably not that easy to get a hold of, so I have made it with shrimp here. It can also be made with fresh tuna or a white fish like red snapper.

Fresh ginger and sake are used a lot in Japanese cooking with fish or meat. These ingredients, plus onion, help to lessen any gamyness (kusami). This technique is also used in Chinese cooking. Here ginger juice and sake are used to make the shrimp taste brighter.

The soup has a coral color from the shrimp, and an intriguing texture.

Ground shrimp and ginger miso soup (ebi no nagashi jiru)

4 cups of dashi stock
200g / about 7 oz. fresh peeled shrimp
1 Tbs. miso, red miso preferred, but you can use white or blended
1 Tbs. fresh ginger juice (grate some fresh ginger, and squeeze out the juice)
1 Tbs. sake or dry sherry
1 Tbs. soy sauce
pinch of salt
a little finely chopped green onion

Equipment needed: a food processor

Make the dashi stock following the directions on day 1.

Chop the shrimp up roughly and put in the bowl of the food processor. Process until finely chopped. Add the miso, ginger juice and sake, and about 4 to 5 tablespoons of the dashi stock until it is a very smooth paste.

Add the shrimp paste to the rest of the dashi stock, and simmer very gently while stirring until it turns a pinkish-coral color. Add the soy sauce, and if necessary a little salt (taste!)

Serve with a sprinkle of green onion.

Variation: add some cubed tofu.

A week of miso soup, day 4: Hokkaido-style corn, chicken and cabbage soup with miso

maki — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 19:38:21 +0200

Today's miso soup may not look like miso soup, but it does have miso in it. It shows how to use miso as a background flavoring, instead of the predominant one. Since it has milk and a little butter in it, I've called it Hokkaido style after the northenmost main island in the archipelago that makes up Japan.

Hokkaido is quite different from the rest of the country, since it has large stretches of flat, farmable land (unlike the rest of Japan which is very mountainous) that is ideal for farming. The climate is that of Northern Europe or Canada, and much of it is used for dairy production and crops such as wheat and corn. Sapporo is the largest city in Hokkaido, so whenever you see Sapporo on Japanese food (such as Sapporo ramen), it usually means it has some milk, cream or butter in it.

This soup also shows a way of clearing the refrigerator. I had half a cabbage and some spring onions in the fridge, plus a frozen half of a chicken breast, and I always have canned corn around. So it all came together for this soup. It makes a great one-bowl kind of meal, with some rustic bread. You can put in leftover rice or potatoes in the soup too. The miso adds an intriguing sort of meaty flavor to the milky soup. I've given vegetarian alternatives in the recipe.

I have used a vegetable stock cube that has salt in it instead of dashi for this, so go a little easy on the miso. Taste and adjust!

The Official Testers liked this so much that they ate 5 big bowls of it between the two of them for lunch.

Hokkaido style corn, chicken, milk and miso soup

Note that this makes 6 cups of liquid + the ingredients, so there is more miso than for the previous recipes.

4 cups of water
1 vegetable stock cube
2 cups milk or soy milk
1 cup white cabbage, finely shredded
The white part of 1 green onion, finely sliced
1 cup of fresh, canned or frozen corn
1 Tbs. butter or sesame oil
6 oz. / about 200g chicken breast or leftover cold chicken, cut into pieces (vegetarians use firm tofu, TVP or quorn)
1/2 cup of white miso (or more or less to taste)
chopped parsley for garnish
A sprinkle of white or black pepper

Heat up the water in a pot and dissolve the vegetable stock cube. Slice up the vegetables in the meantime.

Sauté the cabbage and onion in a frying pan with the butter or oil until it's just turning limp. Put in the soup stock and simmer until just tender.

Briefly sauté the corn in the frying pan (you don't need more butter, but you can add more if you like). Add to the soup. Add the milk, and bring up to a simmer. Add the cut up chicken - if you add raw it will cook almost immediately

Add the miso to the soup following the directions for day 1. Taste and add more miso if needed. Garnish with the fresh parsley and the pepper, and serve.

Note: if you go for the vegetarian option and use sesame oil and tofu (the preferred replacement for the chicken), it will be much tastier if you briefly sauté the well drained tofu in the sesame oil before adding to the soup.

A week of miso soup, day 3: Grilled eggplant (aubergine) and mushroom

maki — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 21:23:29 +0200

One of my least favorite restaurant miso soup variations is when they just throw a few raw mushrooms slices into the bowl before serving. Raw button mushrooms have no flavor at all, and a rather unpleasant spongy texture. Grilling them beforehand, on the other hand, reduces their moisture content, concentrates the flavor so you can actually taste it, and adds that nice grilled-roasted flavor. Eggplants (aubergines) are also a lot tastier after grilling.

In Japanese cooking, grilling is usually performed without the addition of oil as a lubricant, so the pure flavor of the ingredient is preserved. I've grilled slices of eggplant and mushroom on a preheated cast iron grill pan (which is much better for grilling on a ceramic-top or electric range than a traditional Japanese mesh grill) until brown on the outside before putting them into the dashi stock to finish cooking. As always, the miso is added at the end.

I've used the small, slim Asian style eggplant for this, not the big fat Mediterranean kind. If that is the only kind you can find, slice it rather thinly before grilling, and cut into quarters before adding to the soup. I used regular white mushrooms but you can use any mushrooms that you like.

I also added a little chopped up ginger shoot as a garnish. You can find green ginger shoots at a Thai or general Asian grocery store - or you may find that your ginger root has sprouted a shoot on its own. Finely julienned ginger root can be used instead if you dont' have any shoots.

The Official Taste Tester gives this one the best marks of the miso soups so far this week, pronouncing it "earthy and tasty".

Grilled eggplant and mushroom miso soup

4 cups of dashi stock
1 slim Chinese or Japanese style eggplant
4 to 5 medium sized mushrooms, or 2 large ones
1 or 2 ginger shoots
1/4 to 1/3 cup white miso

Prepare the dashi stock following the instructions for Day 1. Keep warm.

Preheat your grill pan until it's very hot.

Slice the eggplant into round slices. Slice the mushrooms to about the same thickness as the eggplant.

Line the grill pan with the mushrooms. (There's no need to oil the pan, the mushrooms will not stick.) Grill on both sides until they are marked with grill lines and have shrunken a bit. Toss them into the dashi soup stock and simmer.

Grill the eggplant slices in the same way, and put into the dashi soup. Continue simmering until the eggplant is tender, about 10 minutes. (You add the mushrooms first because they take longer than the eggplant to cook.

Chop the green part o the ginger shoots very finely.

Add the miso to the soup. Serve immediately, garnished with the chopped ginger shoots.

A week of miso soup, day 1: Zucchini miso soup

maki — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 20:39:42 +0200

Continuing my series on Japanese home cooking, this week I would like to introduce different kinds of miso soup. Miso soup (miroshiru) is one of the key parts of a Japanese meal. Another kind of soup that is served often is a clear soup called osumashi, but the miso soup base is more adaptable to all kinds of variations.

The components of a miso soup are quite simple. It's based on a soup stock called dashi, with various ingredients cooked to different degrees in it. The miso is added at the very end of the cooking process.

I have gone over the making of dashi stock before (as well as the basics of miso soup), but it's always worthwhile going over it again - this time with pictures! I've given some vegetarian options for dashi also.

Today's miso soup is not quite traditional, but it's very easy to make with an ingredient that's easy to get practically anywhere. Besides, zucchini are very much in season right now, as anyone with a zucchini plant in their garden knows.

(If you haven't already, you may want to take a look at the essentials of a Japanese pantry, which has an explantion of the ingredients used.)

Traditional dashi stock

This is a basic and very delicious dashi stock, made with just two ingredients, pictured here.

The dark things are dried sheets of konbu seaweed that I have cut up with scissors for ease of use, and the stuff that looks like wood shavings is shaved dried bonito flakes. I store both double-bagged in plastic bags in the freezer.

Konbu is a large, thick leathery seaweed that is bursting with minerals. What makes it so ideal for making stock from is that it's packed with umami. Dried konbu will have a fine white powdery substance on the surface. Don't wash that off - that is full of umami! Some instructions may tell you to wipe off dirt from the konbu, but to be honest I haven't seen konbu with dirt on it for years, especially not on the dried, pre-packaged kind you are likely to find. If you taste it you will see that it is sort of like a much subtler version of MSG (monosodium glutamate) - not surprising, since MSG is actually chemically isolated umami.

Bonito is a kind of fish (called katsuo in Japanese); it's a popular sashimi item. A whole bonito fish side is slowly dried until it becomes a hard, woodlike block called katsuobushi. This is then shaved thinly. In my grandmother's time every household had a katsuobushi shaver, that sort of looked like a wood planer fixed on top of a box. My mother still prefers to shave her own, but I just use the pre-shaved kind that you see in the photo.

To make about 4 cups of dashi stock, you will need:

4 cups of cold water
A 4 inch / 10 cm square piece (or small pieces adding up to that amount) of dried konbu
About 1 cup (a handful) of bonito flakes

Keep in mind these are not exact amounts. Adding more konbu or more bonito flakes will just give it more flavor. Fans of the original Iron Chef TV series may recall Iron Chef Japanese Rokusaburo Michiba (the one who preceeded Iron Chef Morimoto in that role) adding huge handfuls of bonito flakes to his dashi pots.

First, put your dried konbu and cold water into your pan, and leave it to soak for at least 20 minutes, preferably overnight. Don't wash off that white powder!

After the soaking time, bring the water up to a boil, throw in the bonito flakes, and turn off the heat. Leave to steep for a few minutes, then strain through a sieve.

Your dashi will be a pale golden yellow in color, and ready to use.

Note: if you are frugal, you can keep the used konbu and bonito flakes to make nibandashi from them - a thinner dashi that is fine for use in stewed dishes like nikujaga (Japanese meat and potatoes). Put in a plastic bag or container, and refrigerate for up to 3 days (or freeze) until ready to use.

Alternative ways of making non-vegetarian dashi

The easiest way is to just use dashi stock granules. I always have a box of this around since it's so handy. The amount to use depends on the brand, but generally it's about 1 teaspoon to 4 cups of water. Two brands that are widely available are Ajinomoto Hondashi and Shimaya Dashinomoto; to me they are virtually indistinguishable, though the Hondashi may have slightly more bonito aroma. Do keep in mind that dashi made from granules is saltier than dashi made from natural ingredients, so you will need to adjust the amount of miso soup you put in later. (See also health considerations - most dashi stock granule brands contain MSG.)

In some Japanese households, small dried fish called niboshi are used in stock instead of bonito flakes. You simply throw a few of them into the pot with the konbu, and let it simmer a bit. I have a bag of powdered niboshi, which can be used just like dashi granules. Some people object to dashi made from niboshi, considering it to be too fishy tasting. I don't mind it myself but I do prefer bonito flakes.

Vegetarian dashi

Use my basic vegetarian (vegan) dashi stock recipe. Alternatively, you can use vegetable stock cubes - the flavor won't be totally authentic, but will still add plenty of flavor.

What kind of miso to use

There are basically 2 kinds of miso widely available outside of Japan: white or yellow-brown, and red. For miso soup, I mostly use white miso (shiromiso) or awasemiso (blended miso). See the Japanese pantry list for more about miso.

Making miso soup

The key thing to remember when making miso soup is that the miso is always added last. Miso is quite heat-sensitive, and boiling it vigorously will really affect the flavor and texture adversely. Over-boiled miso soup takes on a rather grainy quality. The only things you can add after adding the miso are things that cook instantly, such as baby spinach leaves.

So, let's make a very simple miso soup.

Zucchini miso soup

4 cups of dashi stock, prepared as above using your preferred method
1 cup zucchini, cut into thin strips (about 1 small zucchini)
1/4 to 1/3 cup white or blended miso (see notes)

Bring the dashi stock to a boil, and add the zucchini. Simmer until the zucchini is tender, about 5 minutes.

Put the miso into a small cup. Add a little of the hot dashi stock, and mix around with chopsticks or a fork until the miso is dissolved into a smooth paste. (The picture on top shows the miso before it's dissolved, and the one below shows it after.) Add to the soup. Taste the soup, and add a little more miso if it seems too weak for you. (I actually do this mixing with dashi part in the soup ladle, but a cup may be easier to handle if you aren't used to it.)

Bring the soup back up to heat, then switch off. Serve immediately.

Notes:

If you are serving miso soup as part of a Japanese meal centered on white rice, make it a bit stronger in taste; if you are serving it as a separate course, hold back a bit on the amount of miso used. Always taste to make sure you have added the amount that's right for you.
Miso has a natural tendency to separate from the water/dashi, especially as it cools. If this happens to you, don't worry, just mix up the soup a bit.

Japanese basics: miso and miso soup

maki — Sun, 07 Dec 2003 12:02:11 +0100

[Update:] See an updated miso soup how-to with step by step photos.

The health benefits of miso, or fermented soybean paste, have been studied and touted a lot in the last few years. Soy bean products like tofu, natto (fermented soy beans) and miso are all supposed to help to prevent breast cancer. The reason I like miso soup though is simply because it's good. Like rice, miso soup is an integral part of Japanese food culture.

Miso paste can be used for many other things besides soup. Thin it out a bit with some sake, soy sauce and a bit of sugar to make a great marinade or brush-on sauce for meat, fish and even vegetables. You can also completely encase vegetables such as cucumber and eggplant (aubergine) - the small Japanese or Chinese kind, not the big Italian kind - in miso for a day or so in the refrigerator, to make delicious miso zuke - a sort of miso marinade. You can treat meat, such as pork filet, or fish in this manner too, but I like it best with vegetables.

There are two major types of miso: red and white. Red is a dark reddish brown, and white is actually a sort of yellow-brown. Red is supposed to be saltier and stronger in flavor, though not all red miso is. White is more popular, and more versatile. There are as many kinds of miso in Japan as there are cheeses in Switzerland, though outside of Japan we only tend to see the major brands.

Miso soup, or misoshiru, is very easy to make once you have basic dashi stock. The key to good miso soup is to add the miso at the end, and not let it come to a rolling boil after that. If you need to re-heat it, do so gently.

Basic Miso Soup

For about 4 servings, you need:

4 cups of basic dashi stock
1/3 - 1/2 cup of miso
gu or extra ingredients (see note below)

Heat up the dashi if it's cooled. Simmer any hard ingredients, such as potatoes or daikon radish until tender.

Add any ingredients that don't need any cooking, such as wakame seaweed or tofu.

Take the miso in a ladle, and add a little bit of the hot stock, Mix the miso and stock together in the ladle with a chopstick until the miso is dissolved. This step ensures that there will be no lumps. (Go easy on the miso amount at first, and taste. If you need to add more you can.)

Dissolve the miso mixture in the soup. Don't let it boil or the flavor will dissipate. Serve immediately.

Here are some easy ingredients combinations, or gu, that you can put in the miso soup:

Cubed tofu and presoaked wakame seaweed cut into small pieces. (A very easy to handle brand of wakame is "Fueru Wakame-chan", available in Japanese or Asian food stores. It comes in precut form in little pouches. Wakame can also be used in seaweed salad. Soak it briefly before using - oversoaking makes it slimy.
Hint: to cube tofu so that it doesn't fall apart, cut it up on a wet chopping board and slide it in the pan slowly, or else cut it up on the palm of your hand.
Cubed potatoes (simmered in the soup until tender) and wakame. This is one of my favorites in the cold months.
Julienned daikon radish, simmered until tender.
Julienned cabbage, simmered until tender.
Sliced button or shiitake mushrooms, or canned nameko mushrooms., with tofu and some chopped green onion added just before serving.

There are many, many other combinations. Try out your own and see what happens.