Miso
From Free net encyclopedia
Miso (Japanese: 味噌) is a thick paste, similar to the Korean doenjang, made by fermenting soybeans with sea salt and kōji, itself the product of fermenting rice, barley or soybeans with a mold culture, kōji-kin (Aspergillus oryzae (麹, Aspergillus oryzae).[1] Often, grains such as barley or rice, and sometimes other ingredients, are added. Miso tastes salty and, depending on the grains used and fermentation time, may also be sweet.
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Main types of miso
The grains used include any mix of barley, millet, rice, rye, and wheat among others. Lately, producers in other countries have also started selling miso made from amaranth, hemp seed, and quinoa. Fermentation time ranges from as little as five days to several years. The wide variety of Japanese miso is difficult to classify, but is commonly done by grain type, color, taste, and region.
- mugi (麦) - barley
- tsubu (粒) - whole wheat/barley
- aka (赤) - red, medium flavor, most commonly used
- hatchō (八丁) - aged (or smoked), strongest flavor
- shiro (白) - rice, sweet white, fresh
- shinshu - rice, brown colour
- genmai (玄米) - brown rice
- awase (合わせ) - layered, typically in supermarket
- moromi (醪) - chunky, healthy (kōji is unblended)
- nanban (南蛮) - chunky, sweet, for dipping sauce
- inaka (田舎) - farmstyle
- taima (大麻) - hemp seed
- sobamugi (蕎麦) - buckwheat
- hadakamugi (裸麦) - rye
- meri (蘇鉄) - made from cycad pulp, Buddhist temple diet
- gokoku (五穀) - "5 grain": soy, wheat, barley, proso millet, and foxtail millet
Miso made with rice (including shinshu and shiro miso) is called kome miso.
Miso nutrition
The nutritional benefits of miso have been widely touted, by commercial enterprises and home cooks alike. However, claims that miso is high in vitamin B12 have been contradicted in some studies [2]. Part of the confusion may stem from the fact that some soy products are high in B vitamins (though not necessarily B12), and some, such as soy milk, may be fortified with vitamin B12. Some, especially proponents of healthy eating, suggest that miso can help treat radiation sickness, citing cases in Japan and Russia where people have been fed miso after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Notably, Japanese doctor Shinichiro Akizuki, director of Saint Francis Hospital in Nagasaki during the WWII, theorized that miso helps protect against radiation sickness [3].
History of miso
One legend describes the origin of miso as a product of war:
- In the days of the shogun, sieges of village keeps frequently dragged on for months or years. This was a technique to starve the samurai and peasants, to force their surrender. In one particularly long siege, someone noticed a horse eating fermented beans out of a barrel. The person thought, if it could sustain a horse, it could certainly do the same for a human. The people survived the siege and miso was born.
A researcher from the Edo period claimed that Miso originally came from ancient China. At the time, miso was also called hishio and kuki.
Until the Muromachi era, miso was made without grinding the soybeans, somewhat like natto. In the Kamakura era, a common meal was made up of a bowl of rice, dried fish, a serving of miso, and a fresh vegetable. In the Muromachi era, Buddhist monks realized that soybeans could be ground into a paste, spawning new cooking methods where miso was used to flavour other foods.
Miso uses
In Japan, miso is used in miso shiru (味噌汁 - miso soup), which is eaten daily by much of the population.
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