Miso

[Jinmyo]

What's your favourite kind?

[tissue]

I prefer the white kind. Same way I prefer food in Osaka more than food fromTokyo...

[Akiko]

OOH, Tissue, elaborate. Are you a kansai girl? Do you have rice with all your meals? Even with a dish of noodles? (at least MY kansai friends all did this).

What do you find the difference to be?

[Jinmyo]

White is my all-purpose favourite.

I made a hatcho miso shiru with some miso sent from a friend in Kyoto. This was great stuff. Three years old, dark, great texture. Perfect and subtle.

Usually I find hatcho too macho.

[tissue]

OOH, Tissue, elaborate.  Are you a kansai girl?  Do you have rice with all your meals?  Even with a dish of noodles?  (at least MY kansai friends all did this).

What do you find the difference to be?

No I'm not from kansai... I didn't grow up in Japan but my grandmother has a place in Osaka for vacations. They usually go visit every spring to look at the cherry blossoms.

I just noticed that cuisine from Tokyo uses a lot more soy sauce, and also the red miso more than the white. Just overall a heavier hand with the seasonings. I think this is very apparent in the styles of ramen. The ramen soup from Tokyo uses soy sauce as a base. There is nothing wrong with it, of course, but it's just a matter of personal preference.

No I don't eat rice at every meal (I didn't grow up in Japan if that has any correlation) although I've noticed the people in Osaka eat a lot of rice.

[margaret]

I mostly use shinshu miso for everyday miso shiru, although I like shiro (white) as well, especially in the winter.

For cooking, I like to use mugi miso (miso made with barley) - the flavor is more mild and subtle, and the strong taste that some miso varities have is not so pronounced.

My Osaka-bred SO prefers aka dashi, but I don't particularly enjoy it. (oh, and he eats rice with everything too - okonomiyaki, yakisoba, ramen, everything - I don't know how he does it!)

[torakris]

I am a miso hound, I usually have about 4 kinds, shiro (white), mugi (barley), aka (red), and hatcho (really red! )

I rarely make miso soup because my (Japanese born and bred) husband doesn't like it.

So I usually use it in cooking, dressings, sauces, etc. I prefer the stronger tasting ones because as I mentioned on the soy sauce thread, I prefer "koi" strong flavors, probably even more than my Tokyo born husband!

I choose my miso depending on what I am cooking and how I feel that day!

[margaret]

Last night a friend made dinner for me, and served cucumber slices with prepared garlic miso. I'd never had it before, and it was really nice - big chunks of garlic, but not too overpowering. Really nice complement to the cucumber.

I googled for more info today, and found that the same company makes a variety of misos - scallion, shiso, yuzu, and even one with pork. This is their website: http://www.aizu-tenpo.co.jp/prdct_bin.html

It's all in Japanese, but from top to bottom, the products are:

a mix of bonito, cucumber and konbu that's recommended for okayu, or rice gruel

konbu, daikon and squid

scallion miso

meat miso (pork)

shiso miso

garlic miso

yuzu miso

extra spicy kochujang

[torakris]

I had some homemade niniku (garlic) miso last summer at a friend's house, it tasted great but I was scared to open my mouth for the rest of the week!

I often make my own niku (meat) miso, it is great to spoon on tofu, simmered daikon, satoimo, konnyaku, etc.

The yuzu miso is a wonderful topping for hiyayakko (cold tofu) as well as seafood.

[torakris]

Another great use for miso is to smear it on the outside or an onigiri (rice ball) and then grill it.

We did this at our BBQ last weekend and it was great on the grill! though it also works in a frypan.

[torakris]

wonderful article on miso:

http://www.bento.com/taste/tc-miso.html

[inventolux]

I like this kind.

[Nick]

Barley miso. Haven't been using miso much lately - like ten years. Back when I was into it I liked the corn miso made by South River. Got some Erewhon miso (barley) in the cupboard that's going on thirty years old. Just dug it out and had a taste - it's getting pretty dried out. Taste is now more salt than flavor. Guess I blew it.

[bbq4meanytime]

Does somebody know the difference between the types of miso pastes and their uses? Also, any good recipes for miso soup?

Edited January 19, 2004 by bbq4meanytime (log)

[Carolyn Tillie]

According to Mollie Katzen Online:

It ranges in color from creamy ivory and pale yellow to soft ochre, burnt siena, and earth-black. Often compared to peanut butter in texture, miso can be dry and pasty, moist and smooth as apple butter, crumbly as potting soil, or nubbly with bits of bean and grain. In flavor, miso ranges from decidedly sweet to meatlike with coffee or cocoa notes. The layers of flavor, the result of fermentation, are what make miso an ideal enrichment in meatless dishes, where it instantly adds the kind of depth a good stew develops only after it has simmered for hours.

The basic recipe that is found in most restaurants is dashi (broth) with a teaspoon of miso, a few cubes of tofu, and a few slices of scallions or seaweed.

[torakris]

here is a little I wrote about miso on the daily nihongo thread a little while ago:

word for 6/26:

味噌　　みそ

miso (mee-soe)

fermented bean paste

There are probably as many different misos in Japan as there are cities, towns and villages.

There are generally three categories with many subdivisions and local varieties/

白味噌 shiro miso, this is the white miso and is the sweetest

信州味噌 shinshuu miso, this is the yellow/golden/light brown miso that is probably the most popular, it is named for the shinshuu region (which covers Nagano and surrounding areas).

赤味噌　akamiso, this is the red or dark brown miso, it usually has the strongest flavor. Two of the most famous types are Sendai (a city in the northern part of Japan) miso and Hatchou miso, which is the reddest of the reds.

misos can be smooth or chunky with the addition of additional ingredients, such as barley.

Some miso talk:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST...t=11690&hl=miso

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST...t=18840&hl=miso

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST&f=19&t=17794&

[torakris]

If you are trying o decide what kind of miso to buy, it may be best to buy a couple small packs of different ones to see what kind you prefer.

They can all be used in miso soup but a soup made with a white miso will taste completely different than that made with a red one. White miso is also usually used in dressings/sauces and for the miso grilled fish.

The yellow/golden miso is sort of the all-purpose and is used most commonly in the everyday miso soup, it is also sometimes blended (at home) with a white to give it a little more kick or with a red to tone it down. The reds are used for some sauces as well, especially dengaku where it is spread on vegetables, tofu, etc and then quickly grilled, it is also common to add it to stirfry like dishes.

For soups I don't really measure but for 4 people I would use about 4 cups of dashi and 1/4 cup miso, this is really personal prefernce and I may increase or lower the amount depending on the type of miso I am using. Just make a pot of dashi and add the miso tasting as you go along until you hit what tastes good to you.

[hillvalley]

If you have a local Japanese or Asian market, ask someone there for guidance for the miso you are looking for and instant dashi. I imagine that instant dashi is as good as bullion cubes, but you have to start somewhere. If you are in the DC area I can give you a few recommendations.

Kris, I have never seen a miso sampler that is like the one you are describing. I frequent at least 3 Asian/japanese markets and have never seen them It's a good excuse to come visit though!

(Heard over my classroom speaker:"Ms. Hillvalley will not be in school today. She had to fly to Japan to buy some miso. Hopefully she will be back tomorrow." )

[Nick]

South River Miso makes very nice miso. It's a "chunky" miso, rather than being a smooth paste. My favorite is the three year old barley. They take their miso making seriously and the results show that. If you go to their site there are lots of places to poke around and learn more about miso and their shop.

Edit: They also have recipes at their site.

Edited January 20, 2004 by Nick (log)

[Nick]

Well, I just ordered a "sampler" from South River.

1 x Hearty Brown Rice Miso 1 lb. Glass Jar (RHBR) = $8.25

1 x Chickpea Barley Miso 1 lb. Glass Jar (RCPBAR) = $8.25

1 x Three-Year Barley Miso 4 lb. (RBAR) = $30.15

1 x Dandelion Leek Miso 1 lb. Glass Jar (RDL) = $12.00

3 x Miso Tamari One Pint (T0) = $24.00

1 x Azuki Bean Miso 1 lb. Glass Jar (RAZ) = $8.00

1 x Garlic Red Pepper Miso 1 lb. Glass Jar (RGAR) = $10.00

------------------------------------------------------

Sub-Total: $100.65

Discount: $15.11

Table Rate (Ground): $9.50

Total: $95.05

I got the 4# of three year barley because I know it's good. I got the 3 pints of miso tamari because if it's as good as what they were making 20 years ago, it's some kick ass tamari. I've never had better.

[bbq4meanytime]

Thanks for the responses. I sought the advice of the clerk at naniwa, a japanese food store in Mclean, VA. She steered me towards a nut brown miso paste. Sure glad I asked because nothing is in English at this store (even the "English" add-on labels were either too generic or ambiguous). She also pointed me to instant dashi power and bonito flakes (since I wanted to at least try to make dashi from "scratch".

[helenjp]

This is certainly the right season to experiment with making miso soup!

I see that South River also stock "The Book of Miso" by Shurtleff and Aoyagi. It contains information which is hard to find even from Japanese sources, as well as quick and practical recipes for cuppa-soup style miso soups and more elaborate dishes. There is also a list of seasonal choices of things to put in the soup.

Any favorites? I like asparagus and fried tofu. Potato and wakame or scallions. Green beans and chunks of omelet...

Using shellfish usually means that you don't need to use dashi, just water, as the shellfish have so much flavor of their own.

[cherrypi]

I love clams in miso soup! The mix of miso-ness and brininess makes me swoon.

This may be low-brow, but I also enjoy tempura bits in my miso soup...

[torakris]

my new thing with miso soup is satsumaimo (Japanese sweet potatoes), sometimes adding a little pork or some onion but always topping the soup with a little yuzukoshou (a paste of green chiles and yuzu).

I made this so much last month that my husband actually asked me to stop.

[sequim]

I picked up a carton of the yellow miso (can't recall the brand, it's soft and buttery) and made the salad dressing on the label along with a couple ingredients of my own. It's so wonderful!