• Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Snapchat
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

MsMarmiteLover

  • Food
    • Recipes
    • Vegetarian
    • Vegan
  • Travel
    • France
    • Italy
    • Spain
    • UK
  • Wine
  • Gardens
  • Supperclubs/Events
  • About
    • Published Articles
    • Books
  • Shop
    • Cart

DIY miso step by step

July 13, 2015 1 Comment Filed Under: Food, Recipes, Uncategorized

Miso Pic: Kerstin Rodgers/msmarmitelover.com
Miso Pic: Kerstin Rodgers/msmarmitelover.com
Miso Pic: Kerstin Rodgers/msmarmitelover.com

Miso is my new go-to ingredient. Whenever I want instant umami, an injection of flavour, I just slather some miso on an ingredient. It’s like Japanese Marmite. As I mention in my new book V is for Vegan, you can even have it on toast.

Miso comes in a range of strengths and colours, depending on the grain used and the length of fermentation. It is created using an ingredient called ‘koji’ which is a kind of fungus, a by-product from sake, the Japanese rice wine. The darker the miso, the longer it has been fermented.

Types of miso:

First you need to buy koji which is like a block of mouldy crispy rice. Sounds vile but this is healthy mould, the foundation for umami, natural MSG.  It’s difficult to find wheat koji in London or the UK. 

Rice miso tends to be from Northern Japanese whereas wheat miso comes from the middle of the chain of islands. You can buy rice koji in Japanese shops or on amazon here.

In Japan people go to their local sake factory to buy the koji. In general Japanese people eat around 7 kilos of miso a year on average. They will often make their years’ supply in January and February for the following year, rather like we make marmalade. 

From rice koji:
Shiro-Miso: the most common is sweet white miso. Good in salad dressings and condiments
Genmai Miso: light brown rice miso. Good in soups. If adding miso to soups, don’t boil it, mix it with a little of the stock then add it to the soup.

From barley/wheat koji:
Aka-miso and Mugi Miso: red miso
Awake miso and Koshu miso: medium brown miso. Good for soups and glazes.

From soy koji:
Hatcho-miso and Mame miso : very dark brown miso, a bit like Marmite

I went for a lesson in how to make my own miso, which is very simple, given by Japanese cookery writer Yuki Gomi at her beautiful kitchen in South London.

Homemade miso recipe

Makes 2kg

500g dried soybeans (after boiling it’s 1.15 kilos)
225g Sea Salt
500g Rice koji
1.5g salt for seasoning

Equipment
Masher or Food Processor
Big saucepan or pressure cooker
container
Large bowl
Large colander
Clingfilm

Make sure all the containers are very clean.
Wash the soybeans (they expand from a round beans into an oval shape) with tap water then soak in a couple of litres of water overnight.
Then cook them for around 5 hours (skimming off the scum) or for 20 minutes in a pressure cooker, until mushy.

koji for Miso Pic: Kerstin Rodgers/msmarmitelover.com

Place the koji and salt into a large bowl and rub the koji together with the salt in your hands until it is all separated.

making Miso Pic: Kerstin Rodgers/msmarmitelover.com

Drain the soybeans, reserving a large cup of the cooking water, and mash the soft beans in a food processor or with a potato masher.

 making Miso Pic: Kerstin Rodgers/msmarmitelover.com

Combine the koji, salt and cooked soybeans together, mixing well.

making Miso Pic: Kerstin Rodgers/msmarmitelover.com

Press the resulting paste into a glass container or ziplock bag in the following way. Make small walnut size balls from the paste then squash it into the container. Why? Because you don’t want any air pockets that could cause the miso to rot while it is fermenting. Using a small glass jar, I pushed the balls in tightly until the top of the jar.

Wipe any excess from the top and flatten the top. Add a sprinkle of salt on top to prevent contamination. Cover with clingfilm and place the lid on top tightly.

Keep the miso in a cool dark place for at least six months. Then start to taste it. Yuki suggests a one year fermentation period for the best flavour. Once opened keep it in the fridge where it will keep for years.

Yuki gives lessons in all aspects of Japanese food, go to her site for more details: YukisKitchen.com Yuki’s book on sushi making Sushi at Home has clear easy instructions and is nicely designed.

Recent posts

Discovering fairytale Saxony in Germany

January 25, 2023

Fake meat taste test for Veganuary

January 8, 2023

A round-up of my favourite travel destinations of 2022

January 1, 2023

Previous Post: « A Czech recipe: gnocchi with poppy seeds, salted butter and icing sugar
Next Post: My Celebrity Masterchef appearance as an afternoon tea party expert »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sally - My Custard Pie

    July 22, 2015 at 9:52 am

    This is fascinating. In one fell swoop you've demystified miso and a lot more besides. Brilliant post Kerstin.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

Subscribe to my mailing list

msmarmitelover

Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover
Naples at Christmas- discovering piennolo di vesuv Naples at Christmas- discovering piennolo di vesuvio,the Christmas 🍅, which lasts up to a year fresh. It’s given boxed as gifts around Christmas being the only local fresh tomato available. It dresses all the Christmas pizzas and pastas. It’s grown on volcanic Vesuvius soil and sparsely watered. As a result it has thick skins, and a sweet intense flavour. #tomatoes #italy #naples
Not cooking much at the moment due to a thick laye Not cooking much at the moment due to a thick layer of dust over my kitchen. This will be my dining room/photography studio. Done on a whim.#unplanneddemolition
Another picture of my granddaughter Ophelia in a n Another picture of my granddaughter Ophelia in a nest of apricot tulle (found at portobello market). Isn’t she lovely? #granfluencer
Broccoli Stilton soup. This freezing week is defin Broccoli Stilton soup. This freezing week is definitely a week for soups. My friend @jimfrommanc is staying & needs his hot lunch.
Cheese on toast with crushed chilli 🌶️ in Ven Cheese on toast with crushed chilli 🌶️ in Venice the fresh food market sells bouquets of colourful chillies. I’ve still got mine, drying in an enamel jug. #travelandfood
The Christmas tomato or piennolo di vesuvio. Read The Christmas tomato or piennolo di vesuvio. Read all about it: https://msmarmitelover.com/2022/12/christmas-in-naples.html  Got a couple of bunches hanging in my kitchen. #naples #campania #tomatoes🍅 #travelphotography
Opheliagram. This morning I photographed her in an Opheliagram. This morning I photographed her in an Italian outfit I bought in Naples on a William Morris playmat which looks great and is practical for tummy time. So many things are different about parenting now. Parents use apps to track feeding, pooing, weeing etc. You don’t bathe them anymore for the first few weeks because you want to leave the vernix ( the white waxy stuff they are covered in at birth) on their skin as long as possible. Nappies now have a line on them that turns blue if they’ve done a pee. White noise apps to help them sleep. New technology guides new parents. As well as ancient probably prehistoric customs being rediscovered. #granfluencer #grandaughter I’ve tagged in @siennamarla and @jamescalmus as the authors of this baby.
I made two dishes from one pack of white beans las I made two dishes from one pack of white beans last night. Soak, then cook with 2 stock cubes, water & a fan of bay leaves. When soft & cooked, scoop some into a soup bowl with plenty of stock, add white wine, fresh basil and or a scoop of pesto and a squeeze of lemon for soupe au pistou. Garnish with Parmesan. Today I cooked the pot until the liquid had almost disappeared and added a block of feta. I baked this in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, added @pomoragoodfood new olive oil, salt and pepper for a gigantes plaki (but with smaller beans). Eat more beans!
What to make when you have lots of leftover egg yo What to make when you have lots of leftover egg yolks after making a pavlova? Zabaglione, that classic Italian trattoria dessert made from egg yolks, sugar & tons of masala sweet wine. Whisk it up over a bain-marie or be a bit cheaty & add a teaspoon of cornflour. Strong wrists needed. #italianfood #christmasdesserts #leftovers #cooksmart
The unpackaged vegan meats. My panel of 4 ( from c The unpackaged vegan meats. My panel of 4 ( from carnivore, to recent vegetarian, to long-time vegetarian to never eaten meat (my daughter)) tasted 18. It was quite a bushtucker trial. Carnivores & vegetarians liked very different things. Full report in next weeks @hamandhigh #veganuary #vegan #vegetarian #tastetest #fakemeat #plantbasedmeat
Fake meatathon tasting taking place as my veganuar Fake meatathon tasting taking place as my veganuary column for @hamandhigh So many companies doing this now. As a longtime vegetarian I don’t want anything that tastes too much like meat. But new vegetarians and vegans may want something that tastes close as damnit to meat in order to stave off cravings? Which category are you in? Have you any favourites or dislikes? Is this just another example of ultra-processed food? Let me know in the comments #vegan #vegetarian #meatfree #veganuary
Pasta buselli al cedro. Cedro or citron is a fragr Pasta buselli al cedro. Cedro or citron is a fragrant citrus & one of the founding citrus (along with pomelo and mandarin) that created all the other citrus fruits you know about. Usually candied, it is also used in this unusual neopolitan recipe in which you soak the zest in the pasta water overnight before cooking. Post up on the blog later today. Board a Xmas present from @siennamarla #pasta #naples #cedro #citrus
My london garden ce matin My london garden ce matin
My Sacher Torte (1 word or 2?) with a difference- My Sacher Torte (1 word or 2?) with a difference- bergamot marmalade in the middle. In the @hamandhigh this week. It’s bloody delicious. #chocolatecake #feelaustria #untoldstories #vienna #sachertorte
These are Mela Annurca apples, ‘mel’anurca’ These are Mela Annurca apples, ‘mel’anurca’ in Neapolitan dialect. They are a Christmas apple, in season now. I bought this little model basket of apples in San Gregorio di Armenia street in Naples where every year neopolitans buy something to add to their ‘presepe’ or nativity scene. Often scenes from markets to add to the expensive, anything from 500 euros to 5000 euros nativity crèches. Around Christmas this street is packed (watch out for pickpockets) with locals and tourist picking out their addition to the scene. Melanurca apples are picked in September then laid on the ground to ripen, turning them every day by hand, to ensure all sides transform from a yellow green into a Wicked Witch red. They are very healthy, particularly for your hair, according to scientists at the university of Naples. #naples #neopolitanchristmas #melanurca  #food #travel #sangregorioarmeno #presepenapoletano #nativityscenes
The Christmas tomato 🍅 or piennolo di vesuvio, The Christmas tomato 🍅 or piennolo di vesuvio, a local tomato that is sold around Christmas in Naples. It is grown with very little irrigation and lasts fresh up to a year. Hence it is used for tomato based Christmas dishes. This tomato has a thick skin and is really intense in flavour. It hangs outside grocers, on balconies, in kitchens, having been braided by ladies into bunches of 1.5 kilos. Each costs 15 euros. I went to visit the farmers and the ladies skilfully tying the tomatoes into clusters, using the vines to fasten them, like cherries. Boxed, these are given as gifts. Reel on the way! #naples #christmas #tomatoes #travel #food
Travel: how I pack. I choose one colour as well as Travel: how I pack. I choose one colour as well as black and white and stick to that palette. For Sicily & Naples I’m doing red, white & black. I’ve bought @coti_vision red glasses chain, a red beret & a black one, a pair of red @snagtights & a black pair, a red hair clasp, a red & white pair of shoes (25 euros, leather from Naples), a red & white dress, a black & white striped dress, and so on. Do you roll? Do you flatten & spread? Do you fold? How do you pack? A few days before I leave I leave my suitcase open in my bedroom and every time I think of something I need to take I sling it in there. ( like adaptors) Last thing is wash bag ( I have a hanging one which is useful) and coat (red for this trip). Basically I colour code my life. When I did the Camino everything was blue & yellow, the colours of the Camino. When I went to Ireland I took all my green clothes ( I don’t have many). If I go on a boat trip I pack blue and white. #packing #colourcoding #travel #mysuitcase
Ruota di pesce spada. A glorious oven baked Sicili Ruota di pesce spada. A glorious oven baked Sicilian fish dish, baked on onions, studded with garlic cloves wrapped in mint leaves, then more onions, capers, olives, oregano & rosemary. Use a thick central slice of swordfish (where can I get that in london?). I’m tasting grillo & Nero d’avola wines @tenutorapitala about an hour inland from Palermo. The owner is the last count Bernard de La gatinais. He has 3 daughters. He’s French (Brittany) and Sicilian. He spoke about how difficult it has been for wine growers since lockdown- so many restaurants closed. Now they are grappling with high energy & fuel costs. ##winesofsicilia #siciliaDOC #wine #travel #sicily
I love Venice. I love Maneskin. I love Italy. I lo I love Venice. I love Maneskin. I love Italy. I love boats and water. #biennalearte2022
London cure smoked salmon from @formanandfield wit London cure smoked salmon from @formanandfield with mikawa citrus (cross between mandarin & pomelo) and home pickled green peppercorns on a plate I bought in minori Italy. #londonfood #citrus #sundaylunch
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Archives

Copyright © 2023 msmarmitelover