MISO
Miso is a Japanese form of fermented bean paste. It is made by mashing well-cooked beans with koji (grain grown with the mold Aspergillus oryzae), salt and often mature miso (also known as seed miso). Miso is one of the few fermentation processes that is purely a fungus. |
| White Miso made with soy beans & both Barley & Rice Koji |
The benefits of eating Miso are plenty so I will only list a few!
- Inexpensive source of protein, probiotics, and minerals
- Longevity: a bowl a day keeps the doctor away
- Amino acid profile similar to meat
- Contains vitamin B12
- Alkalineforming
- (makes the body more alkaline)
- Prevents radiation sickness
- Helps detox heavy metals
- Cancer protective
- Neutralizes environmental toxins
- High in enzymes
- Low in phytates
- Improved digestibility
KOJI
Koji is the inoculant that is used to start the process of fermentation derived from the Chinese word meaning “moldy grain.” Koji is rice infused with the mold (all molds except slime and water molds are a type of fungus), Aspergillus oryzae . It provides all the enzymes necessary to break down substrates into metabolizable products.
If you want to make your own koji, you can learn this in the Art of Fermentation authored by Sandor Katz.
I purchased my Koji through Cultures for Health, www.culturesforhealth.com : Search for either Organic Brown Rice Koji (gluten free) or Traditional Barley Koji (depending on your preference). I purchased both as I wanted to experiment with the taste of each.
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| Organic Rice Koji & Traditional Barley Koji |
THE MISO SONG
You cannot make Miso at home without listen to The Miso Song!
"Sing and dance along to making miso at home! The hand drawn animation is a play along song video with a charming melody and cute characters. you can enjoy your very own “musical workshop for homemade miso”. Experience the “homemade miso” culture that is traditionally inherited throughout the regions of Japan. Taste the deep, rich culture of fermentation and discover the joy of making your own homemade."
STEP BY STEP
Although Soy is the traditional bean, some people don’t want to eat or cannot eat soybeans. Using the red miso recipe, you can replace the soybeans with any other kind of bean. Black beans, mung, adzuki, pinto, you name it. You can use this same general procedure with a different bean to
make any kind of miso you desire.
WHITE MISO
(to make 1.75 Cups)1/2 Cup dry soybeans
1 Cup dried koji (notice that you have more koji in white miso)
3.33 Tablespoon sea or kosher salt (noniodized)
1 Cup mixing liquid (see instructions below)
Fermenting vessel or ceramic, glass, wooden, or food grade stainless steel crock
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| Spouted Soy Beans |
- Soak beans overnight. Beans are best soaked because they contain enzyme inhibitors that can strain the digestive tract when consumed in excess. Soaking makes them easier to digest and their nutrients more readily available. To soak beans leave them overnight in salt water. Salt activates enzymes that neutralize enzyme inhibitors. Discard this liquid and rinse the beans before starting the next step. This is not a traditional method but I let mine sprout!
- Cook using a pressure cooker (~20 minutes) or in a pot until soft.
- Drain the beans, but save the liquid.
- Make a brine using 1/2 Cup of this liquid, dissolve half the salt into it.
- While waiting for the liquid to cool, mash the beans into a smooth paste.
- When brine is below 105 degrees, mix into the koji. You don’t have to take the temperature because 105 degrees feels hot to the touch. If it is warm to the touch it is below 105 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Add the mashed beans and stir well. Create a consistency of a paste by adding as much mixing liquid as needed.
- “Grease” the sides of the miso crock with a tablespoon of sea salt.
- Sprinkle about 1/2 Tablespoon sea salt onto the bottom of the crock and around the sides. Add the miso to the crock taking care to smash it in fully to the crock so that no air bubbles remain.
- Sprinkle remaining salt on top of the miso and cover with seaweed, wax paper, etc.
- Place a plate on top of the miso itself and put a weight on top of that.
- Cover the miso with a cloth bag to keep the flies out. It will be sitting for 68 weeks optimally if you live in a cooler climate (most recipes suggest 46 weeks.
Experimenting with both Rice & Barley Koji - Remember to label your miso with the date as you WILL forget!
- When ready to harvest, scrape off the top yucky layer and behold the glorious deliciousness!
- Blend it in a food processor with a little water because the koji grains will still be hard from having fermented for a short period of time. This creates a smooth paste that is easy for mixing into soup.
- Store it in the fridge in a glass container with a cork or plastic lid. You may also use plastic containers with a plastic lid. This is how most miso is sold in the store, but is my least preferred way of storing it because of the possible leaching of chemicals from the plastic. Make sure to place a piece of wax paper directly on top of the miso then put the lid on. Try to keep the top as level as possible. This will make your product last longer. For storage, don’t use metal lids.
RED MISO
(to make 2.25 Cups)
1 Cup dry black beans
1 Cup dried koji
4 Tablespoon salt
1 Cup mixing liquid
1 Tablespoon (15 grams) seed miso (live unpasteurized miso starter)
Fermenting vessel or ceramic, glass, wooden or food grade stainless steel crock
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| Mashed Black Beans |
- Soak soybeans overnight. Beans are best soaked because they contain enzyme inhibitors that can strain the digestive tract when consumed in excess. Soaking makes them easier to digest and their nutrients more readily available. To soak beans leave them overnight in salt water. Salt activates enzymes that neutralize enzyme inhibitors. Discard this liquid and rinse the beans before starting the next step.
- Cook using a pressure cooker (~20 minutes) or in a pot until soft.
- Drain the beans, but save the liquid.
- Make a brine using 1/2 Cup of this liquid, dissolve half the salt into it.
- While waiting for the liquid to cool, mash the beans into a smooth paste.
Boiling Liquid mixed with koji - When brine is below 105 degrees, mix in seed miso. Then mix into the koji (I used barley koji only for this experiment). You don’t have to take the temperature because 105 degrees feels hot to the touch. If it is warm to the touch it is below 105 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Add the mashed beans and stir well. Create a consistency of regular miso by adding as much mixing liquid as needed. “Grease” the sides of the miso crock with a bit of sea salt.
- Sprinkle about 1/2 Tablespoon sea salt onto the bottom and sides of the crock. Add the miso to the crock taking care to smash it in fully to the crock so that no air bubbles remain.
- Sprinkle salt on top of the miso and cover with seaweed, wax paper, etc. Place a plate on top of the miso itself and put a weight on top of that.
All Ingredients Combined - Cover the miso with a cloth bag to keep the flies out. It will be sitting for months (or years if you want.) It is traditionally made in the spring and harvested in the fall.
- Label and date or you will forget what it is!!! Write on the label when it will be ready (6 months after you make it.) Put harvest date in your calendar if you want. When ready to harvest, scrape off the top yucky layer and behold the glorious deliciousness below!
- The very bottom layer may be very salty. Remember all that salt you coated the bottom with? This can be mixed into the miso when it’s done or discard. It’s up to you.
- Store it in the fridge in a glass container with a cork or plastic lid.
I used a pickle pebble in this vessel
You may also use plastic containers with a plastic lid. This is how most miso is sold in the store, but is my least preferred way of storing it because of the possible leaching of chemicals from the plastic. Make sure to place a piece of wax paper directly on top of the miso then put the lid on. Try to keep the top as level as possible. This will make your product last longer. For storage, don’t use metal lids.
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| Red Miso ready to start the fermenting process! |
Interesting Facts:
- The saltiness mellows out over time. By using more koji and less salt, the resulting miso is sweeter from all the carbohydrates in the rice being digested into simple sugars by the yeasts and bacteria. Miso fermentation is best in a place where it doesn’t get too hot or too cold like a root cellar or house with a stable temperature.
- The rice Koji is added as an activator to the soybeans. Sometimes lactic acid bacteria such as bifidobacteria and lactobacilli are added as well. These come from the 'seed miso,' which is a spoonful of miso that has already matured and aged for a minimum of 6 months. Probiotics are only found in miso that has been fermented for 6 months or longer. This means that red and brown miso is more likely to contain probiotics, but sweet white miso has little to none.
Progress:
White Miso ~ I used organic soy beans however I used barley koji in two jars and brown rice koji in two jars and will harvest each at 1.5 & 3 months to taste the difference!
- 16.06.2016: Start date
- 12.09.2016: Harvested sample #1 (barley vs. brown rice koji) at just under 3 months. I found that the brown rice miso smelled appealing and the barley miso smelled like beer. I made my first miso soup!
Miso Soup - 16.12.2016: 6 month anticipated harvest date for Sample #2 (barley vs. brown rice koji)
Red Miso ~ I used organic black beans for the entire batch and barley koji only. It made 5 jars so I am experimenting with consistency vs flavours over time in this experiment.
- 05.07.2016: Start date
- 01.01.2017: 6 month anticipated harvest date
- 01.07.2018: 1 year anticipated harvest date
- 01.07.2019: 2 year anticipated harvest date
- 01.07.2020: 3 year anticipated harvest date
- 01.07.2021: 4 year anticipated harvest date
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