6/19/2023 0 Comments Miso paste ingredients![]() ![]() In either case, its primary selling point is that it dissolves easily and is simple to work with. Smooth miso can be a cheaper quick-miso variety (see above) or a traditionally made variety that has been blended. Chunky miso is sometimes sold under the name tsubu miso. The simplest solution is to press chunky miso through a small sieve or strainer. Chunky miso tends to have excellent flavour, but it can be trickier to use when a smooth end product (e.g. The visible pieces are bits of soybean, rice (or other grain), salt, and/or koji. This categorization can apply to virtually any miso and has much more to do with use than anything.Ĭhunky miso, as mentioned above, has to be made by traditional means. Smooth Miso - Another fairly easy category to understand, miso can be understood to be chunky, with pieces of the ingredients visible, or smooth. Some very flavourful red misos are so dark that they have had the name 'black miso' applied, though this is somewhat uncommon.Ĭhunky vs. So-called "yellow miso," is a label that tends to be applied to an excellent yellow variety called shinshu-miso, but, given the fact that many misos are actually somewhat yellow, the name can be applied fairly randomly. ![]() Because of this, other colours are sometimes added to the confusion. The problem with the red/white system is that there are many completely different types of miso within each color group, and (as usual) there are areas of confusion and overlap. If a recipe calls specifically for red or white miso, it is probably referring to those varieties in the stricter sense. Likewise, in the strictest sense, white miso (shiro-miso) refers to Kyoto style sweet miso. In the narrowest sense however, red miso (aka-miso) refers only to salty, aged rice-based miso. In the broadest possible sense, all miso can be categorized as red (actually anything from a deep amber to a chestnut color to a deep, blackish burgundy) or white (actually anything from a pale yellow to a darker beige). Don't let the name fool you - sweet miso is sweet er, but it is still salty, and certainly not a dessert.Ĭolored (Red, White, Yellow, Black) Miso - This categorization system is commonly encountered in the West, but it's also full of overlap and easy to misunderstand. Sweet miso also has a shorter shelf-life, because it tends to continue fermenting to become salty/savoury miso. Sweet miso should not rely on added sugar for flavour - instead, it derives its sweetness from a shorter fermentation time, which allows more of the natural carbohydrates to unused by the koji bacteria. The differentiation is not always indicated in English packaging. In general, miso is considered salty/savour unless indicated otherwise. This categorization tends to separate miso by usage sweet varieties are more popular for making sauces, spreads, and toppings, while salty/savoury varieties tend to show up in marinades, soups, grilled foods, pickled vegetables, and seafood. Miso can generally be characterized as sweet, which means lower in salt (~7% or less) and higher in carbohydrates, or salty/savoury, which means higher in salt (~10-14%) and lower in carbohydrates. Sweet Miso - This one is relatively straightforward to understand. If your miso is a smooth paste, it may be a quick miso, or it may be a blended regular miso - you'll have to check the ingredients. One important factor to look for when differentiating the two is texture: regular, traditionally-made miso will generally have small chunks of soybean, koji, and salt. There is a degree of 'grey area' in this category, as some regular miso varieties are pasteurized or have had a few additives included. Regular miso is usually made with whole soybeans, while quick miso may be made with whole beans or a soy derivative. Quick miso will not develop the same flavour as regular miso, and so it is usually heavily supplemented with flavouring agents. Quick Miso - though you won't find these titles used (in English or Japanese), these names denote miso made in either the traditional, long-fermented method, or miso made using a quick fermentation. In addition, note that there is overlap between these groups, and that any one variety of miso may actually fall into several (or all) of these categories. Note that these are categories, and each category may have several different varieties. Rather than list all the varieties, this section aims to explain the categories.Īt the broadest level, miso can be grouped in the following ways. There are simply too many individual miso types to list them all here, but a fairly comprehensive explanation is provided in the tabs below. To make matters somewhat more confusing, some of the names (especially in English) are used interchangeably. Needless to say, this makes it difficult to accurately categorize the diversity of options. Miso can be categorized by ingredient, thickness, sweetness, preparation, color, and more. ![]()
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