What is Miso??

Question

Is it only soup? I've had this in my head for the last few days and I really want to know. I would also like to make it once I know what it is. Could someone tell me delicious ways to prepare it?

Answer 1

Miso is a paste made from fermented soy beans. It is used as a soup base. It is also used in marinades and salad dressings.

"Definition: [MEE-soh] Also called bean paste, this Japanese culinary mainstay has the consistency of peanut butter and comes in a wide variety of flavors and colors. This fermented soybean paste has three basic categories--barley miso, rice miso and soybean miso--all of which are developed by injecting cooked soybeans with a mold (koji) cultivated in either a barley, rice or soybean base. Additionally, the miso's color, flavor and texture are affected by the amounts of soybeans, koji and salt used. It's further influenced by the length of time it is aged, which can range from 6 months to 3 years. Miso is a basic flavoring in much of Japanese cooking. The lighter-colored versions are used in more delicate soups and sauces, and the darker colored in heavier dishes. There are also low-salt varieties available. Shinshu miso is a golden yellow, all-purpose variety with a mellow flavor and rather high salt content. There are regional favorites such as sendai miso, a fragrant, reddish-brown variety found in northern Japan, and the dark brown hatcho miso, popular in central Japan. Miso is used in sauces, soups, marinades, dips, main dishes, salad dressings and as a table condiment. It's easily digested and extremely nutritious, having rich amounts of B vitamins and protein. Miso can be found in Japanese markets and health-food stores. It should be refrigerated in an airtight container.

--Copyright (c) 1995 by Barron's Educational Series, from The New Food Lover's Companion, Second Edition, by Sharon Tyler Herbst " http://web.foodnetwork.com/food/web/encyclopedia/termdetail/0,,4052,00.html

Link to recipes using miso: http://web.foodnetwork.com/food/web/searchResults/0,7822,1,00.html?searchString=miso&sortField=score&sortOrder=desc&searchType=Site

Answer 2

Miso is used as a flavoring and is good as a soup or sauce base, or as a sandwich spread. Because it is very salty, you need to be careful about how much you use.

Vegetable Miso Soup:


4 cups water
1 chopped onion
1 chopped carrot
1 cup chopped cabbage
2 tablespoons sesame oil
4 teaspoons miso
1/2 cup cubed, extra-firm tofu
1 scallion sliced thin

Bring water to a boil. Heat sesame oil in a medium frying pan. Sauté onion, carrot and cabbage in hot oil until soft. Add to the boiling water and simmer for 15 minutes. Dilute the miso with a little of the vegetable broth. Add the diluted miso to the vegetable broth along with the tofu. Simmer for five minutes. Serve in cups and garnish with scallions.

FYI:
Miso is a pasty food that is used as seasoning. It originated in Japan and is made from soybeans, sea salt and sometimes another grain, such as barley. It is then fermented with a special mold. During the fermentation process, it develops a complex and distinct flavor. Depending on the grain or bean used, it will vary in flavor and hue (from a dark ocher to red to white). Its level of saltiness and sweetness will also vary. As you try different varieties, you will come to enjoy the distinct differences between them. Like yogurt, miso contains healthful micro-organisms. It is found in the refrigerator section of the grocery or health food store.

Japanese scientists have found that miso may prevent stomach cancer. Men and women who ate a bowl of miso soup a day cut their risk of stomach cancer by two-thirds. Soy bean protein -- whether in the form of tofu, miso or soy milk -- seems to have an anti-breast cancer effect as well. Miso has reduced the occurrence and growth of breast tumors in animals.

Answer 3

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 (味噌汁, Misoshiru?), a Japanese culinary staple

Answer 4

Mizo comes in a block there are different shades of it light to real dark Mizo soup sounds good . I've no real experience with it.

Answer 5

That's Japanese. Bean curd, maybe.