Miso is a Japanese traditional cooking ingredient mainly made of soy and rice. Miso should not be a strange word for many of you since I bet most of you have had miso soup or even miso ramen before. The technique of making miso came from China hundreds of years ago and had evolved into one of the ingredients that symbolizes Japan’s culinary. Miso contains rich source of nutrition including protein, vitamins and minerals.
Miso is fermented with Koji―steamed grain with koji-mold(aspergillus). When you hear of “mold”, the word might not sounds as appetizing, but actually a lot of Japanese food are using this Koji to make food more delicious. Soy sauce, sake, and rice vinegar cannot be made without koji, and these seasonings have an important role in Japanese food. That means Japanese food cannot be completed without koji. Koji has various kind of enzymes and these enzymes create a complex taste for food. it also helps your digest system. Because of the westernization of food, consumption of miso got declined. But recently, the nutritious power is being recognized again and people who care about their health are starting to try to have traditional Japanese diet.
Nowadays, you can find and buy a lot of kind of miso at supermarkets and it is very convenient to find your favorite miso. But few decades ago, each family made miso by themselves at home. Making miso is surprisingly. It just takes time but what you have to do is simple. If you make your own miso, that means it doesn’t contains any artificial additive.
Here is the ingredients of simple miso.
Soybeans 500g
Rice Koji 500g
Salt 250g
With the above amount, you can make more than 1kg of miso. It is so simple, isn’t it?
You just can multiply or divide the quantity depends on how much miso you want to make as well.
Here is the recipe of miso that I did last time. My kitchen is so small and I do not have any miso bucket and other convenient tools like musher, so I used Ziploc bags. Just be creative!
1. Soak the soybeans in the water overnight.
2. Boil the soybeans for 3-4 hours until they are soft enough that you can mush them with your fingers.
3. Drain out all the water and put all cooked soybeans inside a Ziploc bag. Mash the soybeans inside the bag with your hands, or any tool.
4. Mix the pasted soybeans, koji and salt.
5. Make a ball of miso paste to let the air out.
6. Put the paste in Ziploc. Make sure there are no air inside.
Let it stay for 6-12 months.
That’s it. A very simple way to make your own miso. You should check how the fermentation goes from time to time. I am so excited how it comes out after months. Be sure to let us know your favourite food using miso as well!
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