Miso

[desayunoencama]

On Monday, I went to this Asian grocery store Sara and her mother had discovered, near Plaza España, and bought bok choy and all sorts of noodles and some sauces. I also stopped off at another one, which I'd already known, on Calle San Bernardo, where I bought two different misos: hatcho and genmai.

Normally, I use miso to make soup/broth, and it's wonderfully easy and quick: a scoop of miso, some salt, boiling water, and noodles and/oror tofu, maybe some spinach if I have it on hand.

I think I like the genmai miso more, but am not sure.

What other things can be done with miso, though? I've never really experimented with it beyond soup stock, although I think it can be used in stir frys and such.

Are there different uses for the different kinds?

Comments

[kchew.livejournal.com]

I mix "red" miso with honey, grated ginger, and soy sauce as a sauce for those long, thin, pale purple eggplant. Sautee the eggplant, and add the sauce right at the end. Salty and sweet together: lovely.

I don't use white miso much because I find it too sweet; I use red miso much more often, even in soups.

I second the use of miso as a veggie dip (with grated ginger, again, and maybe some sharp green herb if you can't find shiso, which is hard to find).

[desayunoencama.livejournal.com]

Thanks! That's exactly what I was wondering what to mix it with (and the honey, ginger, soy sauce sounds good).

I have to find a new soy sauce I can tolerate, I think the last one I had was chemically accelerated in its fermentation and didn't agree with me very well. (I think a lot of them also have wheat, and while I'm not a celiac or anything, I think I respond better to a wheat-free soy sauce.)

For the veggie dip, do you also add soy sauce or something else (in addition to the ginger and shiso) to make it more spreadable/dippable?

[kchew.livejournal.com]

Truthfully, my mother-in-law (born in Tokyo) makes the dip, and my husband does sometimes. A little soy sauce never hurts, but I really like the addition of a sharp green leafy herb. I don't know what might be available in your neck of the woods that would be good (a basil, maybe), since we only get shiso here because we grow it. So, I'd recommend a little soy sauce, a little herb, and maybe some ginger (again). It's hard to go wrong with grated ginger.

We've always used Kikkoman, which my allergy-prone inlaws can tolerate. Can you get it there, or do you find it difficult to tolerate?

[desayunoencama.livejournal.com]

I think Kikkoman does give me problems. will have to try it again. (Although perhaps can find friends with a bottle, so I don't have to buy a bottle which I'm them not able to use if it is indeed one of the brands that I react poorly to. Sigh.)

Not sure if we have shiso here or not, or what they might translate the name as in Spanish. Must consult my BEYOND BOK CHOY guide to Asian greens so I can see what it looks like and then perhaps recognize it at the Asian market. :-)