Microsoft Word - H.E.M.P Healthy Eating Made Possible - Paul Benhaim - Completed.docx

by  

  Paul  

  Benhaim

such as field beans (depending on variety of miso) and sea salt. It
is then packed into vats and a heavy weight is placed on top to
create an enzymatic fermentation for the breakdown of the beans
and grain.

The duration of the miso fermentation is determined by the
ratio of ingredients. High koji to bean and low salt makes an active
miso fermentation with a light colour and mellow savoury
sweetness like Source Foods Sweet or Mellow range of misos.
These misos compared with a low koji to bean and high salt ratio
will produce a slow miso fermentation with larger colonies of
yeasts, bacteria, a darker colour and stronger taste. Different
beans and grains add interesting tastes; field beans giving an
earthy sweetness, hemp imparts a delicate sweet taste and
bouquet, or good fiery ginger and Mexican spices make delicious
varieties of miso.

Beware of how much miso you eat as you can consume
high levels of sodium with them. There are varieties that are low in
salt (hemp miso contains less than 5%), but it is more important
that they contain low-sodium balanced sea salt. Choose organic,
unpasteurised, low salt miso or special low sodium chloride miso
such as Source Foods (see resource section).

Dark Miso: generally fermented for longer and has a
higher salt content with more soy bean

Soybean Miso: mostly very strong

Barley Miso: a great favourite with macrobiotic diets

Rice Miso: usually soft in texture and taste