We’re already fans of baking with salted butter, and we’ve been using miso to balance the sweetness level of doughnuts, jams, and cobbler to an even greater degree.
Which should you buy and where should you start?
Let the color of the miso help you predict how it will taste (and how you can use it). There are over a thousand different types, but in The Miso Book, John and Jan Belleme simplify them into two major groups.
Some miso is smoother than others. If you're working with a chunky variety, you can whisk it with liquid, then press it through a fine mesh strainer.
First, sweet miso: light in color, with a proportionally high amount of koji to soybeans and a relatively short fermentation time, it’s mellow and refreshing (you can sample it by the spoonful). If sweet miso is sandwich bread, dark miso (often labeled as red or brown miso) is a hearty miche. A longer fermentation time, higher salt content, and proportionally more soybeans to koji makes it saltier, earthier, and more intense, with a pungency that’ll hit you right in the sinuses.
Senior food editor Chris Morocco recommends starting with sweet miso as an entrypoint. Not only does its milder flavor make it more versatile as an accessory ingredient, but it also dissolves more easily into dressings, soups, and sauces.
Whichever type of miso you’re selecting, look for a minimal ingredient list: Ideally, you’ll want just soybeans, rice or barley, salt, and sometimes alcohol, which is used as a preservative. Morocco recommends the Miso Master brand, made in North Carolina. South River Miso, out of Massachusetts, is another favorite brand in the test kitchen. You’ll find much larger selections of miso at Japanese markets—just remember that darker means more powerful.
The many varieties of miso
How should you store it?
You can keep miso in an airtight container in the refrigerator indefinitely, though it may get darker or denser over time. You can also store it in the freezer, which will not change its texture or flavor.
How can you use it?
Well, soup, obviously: Start with the classic, then tinker it into chicken noodle miso, kimchi and egg miso, or another variation.
But you probably won’t get through a whole container of miso only making soup. Morocco likes to take advantage of it as an accent note—rather than a headliner—in less traditional places: Try blitzing it with pecans and spreading it on a sandwich for a fancier PB&J. Or blend it with herbs for a pesto you can mix with ramen noodles, swirl into soup, or spread on a pizza, or with tahini for a mayo-like dressing that will be at home in chicken or egg salad.
Blend miso into butter and use it to coat green beans, rub on corn, or smear into garlic bread.
Or go sweet! Use miso butter as the basis for a miso blondie or snickerdoodle, or cream together miso, butter, and confectioners’ sugar for a sandwich cookie filling. You can even incorporate miso into a sweet potato pie for a version that's far from one-note.
As you experiment, keep in mind that darker miso delivers big, bold flavor better suited for hearty stews and braises, whereas sweet miso is your go-to for sauces, glazes, and baking projects.
Now put your jar to use:
A quick sear gives corn kernels caramelized edges and concentrated flavor. Here, they're cooked with crisp chickpeas, then tossed with za'atar anddressed with a mixture of ginger, jalapeños, miso, and tahini.
This cilantro-miso pesto is bright and delicious on springy ramen noodles.
Toasted sesame seeds can often be found in the Asian sections of some supermarkets, sometimes labeled Gomasio. If ever there was a time of year to keep a big jar of them on hand, pre-toasted and ready to go, this is it. They are the perfect crunchy topper for everything from salads to soups and roasted vegetables.
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