Miso!

I have a recent fascination with miso. It's an incredibly versatile ingredient that can be used in a variety of applications. I'm just starting to explore it and have a lot to learn. Lately I've been enjoying toast spread with tahini and mugi miso but I think I'm going to start adding it to different sauces and dishes to learn how it interacts with other flavors.

I'm interested to find out what interesting ways the LTH community uses miso. Please share your knowledge!

I make a grilling baste with a recipe kind of like this:

In a small saucepan, combine
1/2 C miso (usually a reddish one, can't tell you the variety offhand)
1/4 C white wine or mirin
1/2 tsp each grated ginger and garlic (have I mentioned how much I like mincing garlic on a microplane?)
white pepper, sugar or honey, and toasted sesame oil to taste

Simmer until it thickens a little, Spoon it on grilling chicken breasts or pork chops after flipping them. Note that it does NOT stick well to meat, so turning it over again usually results in most of your sauce hitting the charcoal or burners.

I use miso in a variety of ways. I particularly enjoy miso dressing for my salads. The recipe listed below is a sicy version. You can, however, certainly leave out the sambal olek and have a mild tasting dressing.


1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon thin soy sauce
2 tablespoons light miso paste
1 tablespoon sambal oelek
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1-2 tablespoons chopped gari (pickled ginger)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup chopped scallion greens

In a blender cup, add vinegar, soy sauce, miso, sambal oelek, sugar and gari. Blend until smooth. Slowly drizzle in both oils. Pour dressing into a bowl and fold in scallions

I like the dengaku miso (like JoelF makes) - especially on konnayaku and grilled sweet potatoes (Thanksgiving last year).

See here for some recipes

A couple of yummy ideas. I mostly just eat miso soup, but now I want to try these two other applications. Thanks.