9 Miso Recipes To Add More Umami To Your Week (2024)

FAQs

Is miso a umami? ›

When we talk about umami, red meat, mushrooms and soy sauce often come to mind. But there's another widely used, intensely flavored ingredient that packs a major umami punch: miso.

As a rule of thumb, pairing miso with earthy, woodsy flavors — think winter squashes like pumpkin, kabocha, and butternut; toasty, nutty flavors like brown butter, sesame, chocolate, and caramel; or hearty fruits like apples and bananas — adds its deep, dynamic flavor without being overpoweringly funky or salty.

Can you eat miso paste raw? Grab a spoon and dig in – you CAN eat your miso paste raw! I often recommend this to people when they are trying a new variety or are considering which variety to use in a recipe. It's a great way to discover the unique taste of miso and how each variety differs in flavor.

Gozen miso

It is said to be a sweet red miso of Tokushima Prefecture, which contains a high ratio of koji-mold and has a rich umami.

Some foods that are high in umami compounds are seafood, meats, aged cheeses, seaweeds, soy foods, mushrooms, tomatoes, kimchi, green tea, and many others. Try adding a few umami-rich foods to your diet to reap their flavor and health benefits.

Miso soup is low calorie, low fat, and high in nutrient content, so it is safe to eat daily. However, it does have a high salt content. So, those on blood thinning medication or who have heart problems (including high blood pressure and heart disease) may want to limit their consumption of miso soup.

Eating miso soup every day can be okay for many people, as miso is a nutritious and flavorful ingredient commonly used in Japanese cuisine. Miso is a fermented soybean paste that provides a good source of protein, vitamins, and minerals. It also contains beneficial probiotics that can support gut health.

Miso improves your digestion

Having a healthy gut flora is very important because it helps defend your body against toxins and harmful bacteria. It also improves digestion and reduces gas, constipation and antibiotic-related diarrhea or bloating ( 6 , 8 , 9 ).

From awase, it gets more intense, with red (aka) miso—dark brown miso with the saltiest, strongest flavors, often fermented for more than a year and made with soybean koji—and white (shiro) miso—usually cream to pale gold, with the mildest, sweetest flavors, fermented quickly, and using rice koji.

If you want to add a little bit of spice to your instant miso soup, there are a few options. You can add red pepper flakes, sriracha sauce, or wasabi paste. These will all add a nice kick to your soup.

What do Japanese eat with miso? ›

This comes down to personal preference, although typical additions include crisp or sliced spring onions, tofu, wakame seaweed mushrooms, fish, and/or shellfish. The soup is generally served as a small portion side dish to complement a meal, such as a bowl of rice, sashimi or steak.

Once opened, miso paste should be stored in the refrigerator and used within a couple of months to a year. Since miso paste can still ferment and spoil quickly if not refrigerated, the best way to store miso paste is in an airtight container or jar with as little air space as possible so it won't dry out.

Miso paste is fermented, and its high salt content protects it from mold. Depending on whom you ask, miso paste will last in the fridge for anywhere between six to 18 months.

Miso is a “preservative food,” that can be kept for a long period of time due to its salt content. If kept in your refrigerator, miso itself does not go bad. In terms of the quality of the taste, miso should remain relatively consistent for up to one year.

For those looking to introduce an alternative umami-rich ingredient to their cooking that is both vegan and vegetarian-friendly, stock up on our miso cooking pastes online today!

Miso is acclaimed for its salty, umami, sweet and fermented notes that can transform a dish in an instant. In the event that you need to substitute out this Japanese cooking staple, here's what to use instead of miso paste.

Yeasty and salty, but with smooth, sweet and somewhat meaty flavours, miso is useful for adding depth to a wide variety of dishes, from marinades to simple cooked rice. It adds body to soups, stews and gravy too, but use it sparingly.

For your reference, miso is a paste made out of fermented soybeans, and then often made into a vegetarian soup broth made with kelp, which is a type of seaweed. He then experimented with the kelp until he could extract a concentrated and dry version of that savory flavor. Today, we know this extract as MSG.