Fearless with Flavour #2 – white (shiro) miso
Bringing you the sweet and the salty this week.
Kia ora friends,
It doesn’t seem that long ago I was harping on about all things Gochujang in the first instalment of my ‘Fearless with Flavour’ series, and this week I’m bringing you round two with none other than the #trending Japanese powerhouse condiment MISO.
Miso is a paste made from soybeans that have been fermented by a mould called koji (usually cultivated from rice), which over time results in the soybeans developing a signature sweet, savoury, salty flavour. It’s a long time since miso was confined to simple miso soups – these days it’s about as ubiquitous in restaurants as my dog’s hair on the carpet I’m lying on as I write this. For those who are interested, let’s take a brief look at the history of this magic paste (and be sure to keep scrolling as the recipe for the next-level plant-based cookie bars pictured above is coming).
Miso is originally from CHINA?! When I first read this online, I was miso-gob-smacked! But after cross-checking a number of resources this theory seems legit. Miso has been around for more than a thousand years, and food historians reckon its origins are in China, and it was brought to Japan around the 6th/7thcentury. It is now synonymous with Japanese food culture. Apparently in the Japanese Heian period, miso was a luxury food item, such that it was sometimes used as a form of salary. It was usually eaten straight, none of this dissolving into broth nonsense. Miso soup as we know it was thought to have come with the introduction of the mortar and pestle to Japan by Buddhist monks, which meant that miso could be ground into a paste and dissolved in water. It gradually disseminated to being used by Samurai warriors on the battlefields (around the 15th/16th century), and at this time was entering more households to be used in cooking. Between then and now, the miso culture of Japan has steadily blossomed, with large scale manufacturing of the fermented soybean paste now the norm. Remarkably, it’s only been in the last 15-or-so years that miso paste has crossed the divide to become a mainstream ingredient in Western food culture, now commonly used in restaurant fusion recipes (think miso caramel which is now everywhere!).
I recently read an article where the types of miso were compared to beer – the author suggested that white miso could be considered the ‘lager’ of miso – lighter in colour and body, accessible, versatile, very drinkable (or eatable in this case). Whereas at the other end of the spectrum, red miso is like a ‘stout’ – deeper, bolder, stronger in flavour, more polarising (which comes from a longer fermentation time). So with this in mind, I’ve decided to binge in this week’s newsletter with recipes that include a hefty dose of the white stuff, as it’s the go-to in my kitchen, and hopefully soon will be in yours too (if it’s not already! I’m probably preaching to the choir here lol).
Hit me with those miso recipes.
If you check out my website, you’ll find that white miso is one of my favourite ingredients to use – there are a ton of recipes on there that utilise this epic ingredient. Some of my favourite ways to use white miso are:
- As a base for salad dressings – whisk it with vinegar/citrus juice, oil (olive/toasted sesame), some sweetness (maple syrup/honey/mirin), spices, herbs or chilli for a delicious mix to toss through your favourite salad
- In marinades – great for marinating meats, fish, mushrooms, tofu etc. – just whisk with some liquid (a good example is these Miso-marinated mushrooms) and let the flavour reign
- Tossing through fruit (stone fruit, figs, apples, strawberries etc.) and roasting
- In sauces with pasta or noodles to bring some savoury wow factor
I’m a sucker for a self-saucing pudding – it’s one of those ultimate comfort foods – and with the colder months approaching in Aotearoa I wanted to share with you my recipe for Choc-miso self-saucing figgy pudding which uses white miso in the pudding batter and a delicious miso-chocolate-caramel sauce that gives this plant-based dessert a serious depth of flavour.
On the subject of warming comfort foods, who doesn’t love a potato gratin?! It hits in all the right places, and often this is due to the use of cream and lots and lots and LOTS of cheese. Recently I set to work on trying to create a plant-based gratin recipe that still delivers on that comforting taste and texture without the dairy hit. I promise that you’ll be blown away by how good this recipe for Miso + mustard potato gratin with TLC oil is. White miso can be an excellent substitute for cheese, as it brings that moreish savoury umami flavour that cheese usually delivers, and when it combines with mustard it almost creates that cheesy tang our tastebuds crave. Be sure to add it to this week’s meal list – it goes great as a side with anything hearty.
Scroll for this week’s exclusive MOOD BOOSTER recipe and the usual stuff (some interesting links, kitchen tunes etc.). If you’ve got any questions on ways to use miso or any types of recipes you’d like to see featured in future newsletters, be sure to comment at the bottom of the newsletter on Substack, or flick me a message through Instagram or the website contact form. I would love to chat food with you.
Much love,
Alby xx
This week’s MOOD BOOSTER
Banana + miso chocolate chip cookie bars
I’ve decided it seems only right to show some love to my amazing newsletter subscribers by sharing an exclusive recipe each fortnight – deliciousness that’s not yet on the website, so you’re the first to taste it. Like you’re part of a secret recipe club, or something sexy like that.
This week I thought I’d start with a recipe that’s rather special. I spent a fair amount of time (and way too many blocks of chocolate) to perfect this bad boy, and this recipe is undeniably outrageously good. You’ll all notice that I lean quite heavily into plant-based eating (in fact all the recipes in this week’s newsletter are plant-based), and vegan baking can be notoriously difficult. Too often it ends up inferior to its buttery, egg-based equivalent. These cookie bars break this theory apart, and are arguably one of the best things I’ve ever baked. They’ve got that signature chewy cookie texture and bring knockout flavour with the combo of banana, tahini, chocolate and white miso (of course). And they honestly only take 5 minutes of prep to throw in the oven. What more could you possibly wish for – make it now!
Ingredients:
150ml canola oil
150g soft brown sugar
100g caster sugar
100g mashed banana (from 1 medium ripe banana)
50g white (shiro) miso paste
40g tahini
1 tsp vanilla extract
300g plain flour
¾ tsp baking soda
200g dark chocolate, roughly chopped into 1-2cm chunks
sea salt flakes, for sprinkling
Method:
Preheat the oven to 160°C fan-forced (or 180°C conventional). Grease and line a large rectangular baking tin (33cm x 23cm) with baking paper so that the baking paper hangs over the edges (you will use this to lift it from the tin).
In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, sugars, mashed banana, miso, tahini and vanilla until well combined, being sure to smooth out any clumps of sugar. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and baking soda. Using a wooden spoon, fold the dry ingredients into the wet and mix to form a soft cookie dough. Add three quarters of the chopped dark chocolate, stirring into the cookie dough until evenly distributed. Spoon the cookie dough into the prepared tin and gently press into an even layer to fill the tin. Top with the remaining chocolate, pressing lightly into the dough (this will create delicious pools of chocolate on top).
Bake for 25 minutes until beautifully golden brown. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with sea salt flakes, and leave to cool fully at room temperature. Once cooled, remove from the tin and cut into large squares. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Best of the season this fortnight (NZ)
Apples
Figs
Silver Beet
Celery
Early pears
Early pumpkins
Feijoas
Last zucchinis of the season
Kitchen music of the moment
The title may be exhaustive, but can we really expect anything less from Lana Del Rey at this point. Her latest album Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd was released last week, and I’m all about the final track, Taco Truck X VB, which for those who a fans of her magnum opus album NFR! will be familiar with the track Venice Bitch (VB) which is remixed here with a trap beat and new verse. It’s a good good time.
Eurovision is coming up, hosted this year by the UK (as last year’s runners up to Ukraine), and by now most of the participating countries’ respective entries have been released to streaming platforms. The other day I was listening to Spain’s entry EAEA by Blanca Paloma, and the flamenco sound/hook instantly took be back a track from the Kill Bill Vol. 2 Soundtrack called Tu Mira by Lole Y Manuel (circa 2004 – who doesn’t love a Quentin Tarantino soundtrack?!). I remember my Dad having this CD and the eclectic tracklist would often play on family road trips. Play it loud.
Interesting reads
A clickbait article that was circulating this week about a meatball made from the DNA of a mammoth got me looking into the concept of ‘cultured meat’ – read about this Australian company turning the meat game on its head
And in contrast, Italy’s heading away from lab-grown food
For those who are committed DIYers in the kitchen, here’s a method to make your own miso paste at home
Sometimes you need your sweet miso fix fast, and Meera Sodha (vegan recipe queen) has you covered with this miso mug brownie recipe
In light of recent food-throwing in NZ, some light reading – a brief history on throwing food at people as protest