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Miso
Miso for sale in a
Tokyo food hall.
Miso is a traditional
Japanese food produced by fermenting rice, barley and/or soybeans,
with salt and the mold kōjikin (the most typical miso is made with
soy). The typical result is a thick paste used for sauces and spreads,
pickling vegetables or meats, and mixing with dashi soup stock to
serve as miso soup called Misoshiru (Misoshiru?), a Japanese culinary
staple. High in protein and rich in vitamins and minerals, miso played
an important nutritional role in feudal Japan. Miso is still very
widely used in Japan, both in traditional and modern cooking, and has
been gaining world-wide interest. Miso is typically salty, but its
flavor and aroma depend on various factors in the ingredients and
fermentation process. Different varieties of miso have been described
as salty, sweet, earthy, fruity, and savoury, and there is an
extremely wide variety of miso available.
History
During the
Edo period miso was also called hishio and kuki.
Until the Muromachi era, miso was made without grinding the soybeans,
somewhat like natto. In the Kamakura era, a common meal was made up of
a bowl of rice, some dried fish, a serving of miso, and a fresh
vegetable. In the Muromachi era, Buddhist monks realized that soybeans
could be ground into a paste, spawning new cooking methods where miso
was used to flavor other foods.
Variety
By flavor
The taste,
aroma, texture, and appearance of any specific miso vary by miso type
as well as the region and season for which the miso was made. The
ingredients used, temperature and duration of fermentation, salt
content, variety of kōji, and fermenting vessel all contribute. The
most common flavor categories of soy miso are:
Shiromiso, "white miso"
Akamiso, "red miso"
Kuromiso, "black miso"
Hatchomiso[1]
White and red (shiromiso and akamiso) are the basic types of miso
available in all of Japan as well as overseas. Different varieties are
preferred in particular regions. For example, in the eastern Kantō
region that includes Tokyo, the lighter shiromiso is popular, while in
the western Kansai region encompassing Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe, darker
brownish hatchomiso is preferred, and akamiso is favoured in the
Tohoku area.
By ingredient
The raw materials used to produce miso may include any mix of
soybeans, barley, rice, buckwheat, millet, rye, wheat, hemp seed, and
cycad, among others. Lately, producers in other countries have also
begun selling miso made from chick peas, corn, adzuki beans, amaranth,
and quinoa. Fermentation time ranges from as little as five days to
several years. The wide variety of Japanese miso is difficult to
classify, but is commonly done by grain type, color, taste, and
background.
mugi : barley
tsubu : whole wheat/barley
aka : red, medium flavor, most commonly used
hatchō : aged (or smoked), strongest flavor
shiro : rice, sweet white, fresh
shinshu: rice, brown color
genmai : brown rice
awase : layered, typically in supermarket
moromi : chunky, healthy (kōji is unblended)
nanban : chunky, sweet, for dipping sauce
inaka : farmstyle
taima : hemp seed
sobamugi : buckwheat
hadakamugi : rye
meri : made from cycad pulp, Buddhist temple diet
gokoku : "5 grain": soy, wheat, barley, proso millet, and foxtail
millet
Many regions have their own specific variation on the miso standard.
For example, the soybeans used in Sendai miso are much more coarsely
mashed than in normal soy miso.
Miso made with rice (including shinshu
and shiro miso) is called kome miso.
Using miso
Storage and preparation
Miso typically comes as a paste in a sealed container, and should be
refrigerated after opening. It can be eaten raw, and cooking changes
its flavor and nutritional value; when used in miso soup, most cooks
do not allow the miso to come to a full boil. Some people, especially
those outside of Japan, go so far as to only add miso to preparations
after they have cooled, to preserve the biological activity of the
kōjikin. Since miso and soy foods play a large role in the Japanese
diet, there are a variety of cooked miso dishes as well.
Miso soup
Miso soup
Miso is a part of many Japanese style meals. It most commonly appears
as the main ingredient of miso soup, which is eaten daily by much of
the Japanese population. The pairing of plain rice and miso soup is
considered a fundamental unit of Japanese cuisine. This pairing is the
basis of a traditional Japanese breakfast.
Miso is used in many other types of soup and soup-like dishes,
including some kinds of ramen, udon, nabe, and imoni. Generally, such
dishes have the title miso prepended to their name (for example,
miso-udon), and have a heavier, earthier flavor and aroma compared to
other Japanese soups that are not miso-based.
Many traditional confections use a sweet, thick miso glaze, such as
mochidango. Miso glazed treats are strongly associated with Japanese
festivals, although they are available year-round at supermarkets. The
consistency of miso glaze ranges from thick and taffy-like to thin and
drippy.
Soya miso is used to make a type of pickle called "misozuke".[2] These
pickles are typically made from cucumber, daikon, hakusai, or
eggplant, and are sweeter and less salty than the standard Japanese
salt pickle. Barley miso, or nukamiso, is used to make another type of
pickle:[3] nukamiso is a fermented product, and considered a type of
miso in Japanese culture and linguistics, but does not contain soya,
and so is functionally quite different. Like soya miso, nukamiso is
fermented using kōji mold.
Other foods with miso as an ingredient include:
dengaku (charcoal-grilled miso covered tofu)
yakimochi (charcoal-grilled miso covered mochi)
miso braised vegetables or mushrooms
marinades: fish or chicken can be marinated in miso and sake overnight
to be grilled.
corn on the cob in Japan is usually coated with shiro miso, wrapped in
foil and grilled.
sauces: sauces like misoyaki (a variant on teriyaki) are common.
The nutritional benefits of miso have been widely touted by commercial
enterprises and home cooks alike. However, claims that miso is high in
vitamin B12 have been contradicted in some studies [1]. Part of the
confusion may stem from the fact that some soy products are high in B
vitamins (though not necessarily B12), and some, such as soy milk, may
be fortified with vitamin B12. Some, especially proponents of healthy
eating, suggest that miso can help treat radiation sickness, citing
cases in Japan and Russia where people have been fed miso after the
Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. Notably, Japanese doctor Shinichiro Akizuki, director of
Saint Francis Hospital in Nagasaki during the World War II, theorized
that miso helps protect against radiation sickness [2]. Also some
experts suggest that miso is a source of Lactobacillus acidophilus
[3].
Miso soup (miso shiru) is a
traditional Japanese soup consisting of a stock called "dashi" into
which is mixed softened miso paste. Although the suspension of miso
paste into dashi is the only characteristic that actually defines miso
soup, many other ingredients are added depending on regional and
seasonal recipes as well as personal preference.
The choice of miso paste for the soup defines a great deal of its
character and flavor. Most miso pastes can be categorized into red (akamiso),
white (shiromiso), or black (kuromiso), with darker pastes having a
heartier, saltier flavor. There are many variations within these
themes, including regional variations, such as Sendai miso; pastes
designed to be used with specific misoshiru ingredients, such as
yasaimiso, a white miso for use with miso-vegetable soup; and seasonal
variations.
Stock
Dashi
The most common dashi soup stocks for miso soup are made of niboshi
(dried baby sardines), kombu (dried kelp), katsuobushi (thin shavings
of dried and smoked bonito, aka skipjack tuna), or hoshi-shiitake
(dried shiitake mushrooms). The konbu can also be used in combination
with katsuobushi or hoshi-shiitake. The kelp and/or shiitake dashi
serve as a vegetarian soup stock. Outside of Japan, American or
European style miso soup is sometimes made by dissolving miso in a
western vegetable stock. The stock might include ingredients such as
negi, carrot, potato and daikon radish. In some versions of the dish
chicken stock, Western-style fish stock, and other non-dashi bases can
even be used, but there is some debate over whether or not miso soups
made using these non-traditional bases count as true misoshiru.
Christian Japanese refugees who came to the Philippines during the Edo
period brought along miso soup, which has become a staple of
Philippine cuisine, but the Filipino recipe differs mainly by the
inclusion of tamarind, which gives it a more sour taste than the
original Japanese version.
Solid ingredients
According to Japanese custom, the solid ingredients are chosen to
reflect the seasons and to provide contrasts of color, texture, and
flavor. Thus negi and tofu, a strongly flavored ingredient mixed with
a delicately flavored ingredient, are considered a good combination.
Ingredients that float, like wakame seaweed, and ingredients that
sink, like potatoes, are also good combinations. No two solid
ingredients should have the same color, texture, or flavor. That way,
all the ingredients will contribute uniquely to the soup. Ingredients
range from mushrooms to potatoes, from seaweeds to onion, and from
shrimp or fish to grated or sliced daikon. Nearly any Japanese
ingredient can be and is added to some type of misoshiru. Typically,
however, misoshiru does not contain very many ingredients beyond the
stock and miso.
If pork is added to miso soup, it is called tonjiru, meaning "pork
soup".
Preparation and serving
Miso soup can be prepared in several ways, depending on the chef and
the style of soup. Japanese recipes usually call for most vegetables
to be cooked in the simmering dashi, particularly mushrooms, daikon,
carrots, potatoes, tofu, and fish. The miso is suspended separately in
some dashi stock removed from the simmering mix, kept relatively cool
(still hot, but below boiling) to keep the miso paste from cooking,
which alters the flavour (there is some belief that cooking the miso
"kills" it and reduces the health benefits of biologically active miso
paste). When the vegetables are cooked, the stock is removed from
heat, the miso suspension is added and mixed into the soup, any
uncooked ingredients are added, and the dish is served.
In Japan, miso soup and white rice make up the central dishes of the
traditional Japanese breakfast, and so most Japanese people eat miso
soup at least once a day. The soup has been a favorite of commoners
and royalty alike for many centuries.
The soup is usually served in lacquer bowls with lids and drunk
directly from the bowl, though the solid ingredients are eaten with
chopsticks.
Instant miso soup
Instant miso soup is available in single-serving packets, and
generally contains dried wakame and tofu that reconstitute rapidly on
the addition of hot water. These are popular in the Japanese
workplace, where miso soup can be made with lunch as easily as green
tea, and using the same water. Instant miso soup is also available in
many grocery stores outside of Japan. These have shelf life of between
3 and 12 months.
References
1. http://www.yamasa.org/japan/english/destinations/aichi/hatcho_miso.html
2. http://www.whats4eats.com/recipes/r_pi_misozuke.html
3. http://joi.ito.com/archives/1999/04/04/nukamiso_guide_version_14.html
4. Farnworth, Edward R. (2003). Handbook of Fermented Functional
Foods. CRC. ISBN 0-8493-1372-4.
5. Katz, Sandor Ellix (2003). Wild Fermentation: The Flavor,
Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods. Chelsea Green Publishing
Company. ISBN 1-931498-23-7. Retrieved on 2006-04-23.
Sourced from wikipedia.org |
