Miso

Miso is a thick paste made by fermenting soybeans with salt and koji, a mold grown on rice or barley. The fermentation can last from a few weeks to several years. It tastes salty and deeply savory, and it is one of the main seasonings in Japanese cooking.

How to use it

• Miso soup. Heat dashi, add tofu, seaweed or vegetables, then take the pan off the heat. Put about 1 tablespoon of miso per 250 ml (1 cup) of stock in a ladle, lower it into the soup and whisk until smooth. Serve right away.
• Glazes. Mix white miso with mirin and a little sugar. Spread it on fish, eggplant (aubergine in the UK) or tofu and broil (grill in the UK) until it bubbles and browns.
• Dressings and sauces. Whisk it with rice vinegar, oil and sesame for salads.
• Western cooking. Stir a teaspoon into gravy, butter for corn or bread, caramel, or a long-cooked stew. It adds umami without tasting Japanese.

Substitutes

Use another kind of miso first. If you have none, soy sauce gives salt and savoriness, though it is thinner. Use about half as much. Tahini with a pinch of salt can copy the creaminess but not the depth.

How to store it

Keep miso in the fridge in a sealed tub. Its salt keeps it for many months to a year. Press plastic wrap onto the surface to stop it darkening. Darker color on top is not spoilage.

Common mistakes

• Boiling it. Hard boiling dulls the aroma and makes it taste flat. Add miso at the end and keep it below a simmer.
• Dropping it in as a lump. It will not dissolve. Mix it with a little hot liquid first.
• Using red miso where white is asked for. Red is saltier and stronger, so use less.

In recipes

White miso (shiro) is fermented briefly, so it is pale, mild and sweet. Red miso (aka) is fermented longer and is salty and strong. Mixed miso (awase) sits in between and is the easiest all-rounder. Barley miso contains gluten, and all miso contains soy, which matters for a soy allergy. Korean gochujang is related but adds chili.