by
Paul
Benhaimsalad dressings and most light cooking. Salty miso is a darker,
brownish colour. Best for basic winter cooking, a little of this miso
goes a long way. It combines well with beans, gravies, baked
dishes, vegetable soups and stews. For those moving towards a
healthier lifestyle advocated in this book, the meat-like qualities of
dark miso and dairy-like qualities of sweet miso can help ease the
transition. The key to miso cookery is not to overpower dishes with
strong miso taste, but rather to integrate the more subtle aspects
of miso's colour and flavour in a gentle balance with other
ingredients.
Any discussion of miso is incomplete without expanding on
its use in miso soup. Miso soup and rice are the foundation of
traditional Japanese cooking. In Japan, the dynamic flow of
ingredients, textures and colour of miso soup reflects seasonal
change and geographic location. In the south, sweet barley miso,
which gives miso soup a beautiful yellow to beige colour is
preferred while in the north, hearty rice miso is favoured, often in
combination with carrots, burdock root and wakame, giving the
soup a very earthy colour and texture. Be aware that boiling miso
not only kills useful bacteria and enzymes that aid digestion, but
also the subtle flavours of miso. Add only after the soup/dish is
prepared in order to prevent killing the food.
How
Organic
Miso
Is
Made - the Basic Principle
Most quality miso is made by steaming organic brown rice (white
rice if not stated), barley or soybeans for soy only miso. A micro
culture -aspergillus oryzae - is then introduced and the inoculated
grain is kept warm and humid for about 40 hours in traditional
cedar wood trays (modern manufacturers use other materials like
stainless steel) until bound in enzyme rich white threads. Now
called 'koji' it is mixed with cooked organic soy or other beans