Miso Follow-up, Miso Soup, and Chili-Miso Noodles

Some of you may recall that a year ago, I made miso. The year’s fermentation was over a couple of weeks ago but today was the first chance I had to check out the results. They were a bit surprising.

Six months ago, I took a sneak peak to see how the miso was progressing, so I was expecting the miso to look nearly the same as it did then, and taste maybe just a bit mellower. Here’s what I found:

The label on the crock tells me it’s ready.

Hey, there’s my small molcajete! (I tend to use my molcajetes as weights just as often as I use them for grinding.)

And the plate the sushi place near Luke and Lanet’s gave me!

I didn’t find any soy sauce like I did at six months, but what’s this? The miso looks much darker.

Removing the plastic wrap proved my eyes were not deceiving me: the miso really had turned from yellow to brown.

At first I was disconcerted by this unexpected color change. But it didn’t smell strongly or bad: just pleasantly of miso. So I tasted a little bit and it tasted good…really good. I also remembered that I originally followed two recipes from different sources: the instructions GEM Cultures sent me, and the recipe in Wild Fermentation, and that though the two had been nearly identical, the former had called it “yellow” miso and the latter “red”, so I’d been very confused as to what to call mine. And at six months, it sure looked yellow. But I guess what happened is I made red miso.

This is how much I have:

I’m going to let some of it age even further by keeping it in a cool place in the basement, but out of the fridge.

It’s MUCH better than it was at six months. The texture is very much improved. You can still see the koji, which makes it appear to not be perfectly smooth, but it feels really nice. It’s like a very, very soft clay. I’d venture to say it tastes better than the red miso I have from the store. (It’s also darker than the red miso I have from the store.) I wish I could describe it better than just saying it tastes like…miso. It’s mellower than it was at six months, but much more complex. At six months, I still thought the store-bought stuff tasted better. This – this is pretty good stuff.

To celebrate, I made miso soup for lunch. I may already have put miso soup up here somewhere, but well, if I did, this post is better. I don’t measure anything. This makes about two servings.

Miso Soup

Put a 4″ inch piece of kombu in two cups of water in a saucepan.

Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.

Keeping the heat on medium low, remove the kombu (you can eat it if you want) and add 1/2 teaspoon or so of dried wakame. I also add a splash of sake and a splash of rice vinegar, but both are optional.

Add some diced tofu. Fortunately I just made a batch today, as it would have been a shame to stick store-bought tofu into miso soup made with homemade miso!

Put a few tablespoons of miso in a small bowl – how much depends on how strong the miso you’re using is – and add some of the hot water from the pot, about 1/4 cup. Whisk together.

Pour the miso into the pot and add some chopped scallions. You’ll commonly see it advised not to let the soup boil after adding the miso because boiling kills the beneficial enzymes. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but scalding hot miso soup isn’t nice anyway, so keep it just under a boil until you’re ready to eat.

I also made Chili-Miso Noodles by cooking some udon, and whisking together 2 tablespoons of miso, 1 tablespoon of chili broad bean paste, a couple splashes each of rice vinegar and mirin, and about 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil, heating this mixture briefly, and stirring into the noodles, then garnishing with scallions.

A very miso-y meal.

I know some of you are suffering with me in the mid-Atlantic region, which was hit with two blizzards/near blizzards in a span of four days. We’ve enjoyed several years of mild winters and Virginia in particular does not budget or prepare for much snow, so this has been crippling. The federal and county governments have been closed for days and many side streets are impassable, even those that have been plowed. Four-wheel drive vehicles seem to be doing okay on our street, but neither Mark nor I can even get our cars out of the driveway. There’s a good 4″ of snow on the road – all the plow did was sort of push it down, not push it away – and Mark had to help the mail man get his truck out of an intersection the other day when it got stuck. (It just so happened that I’d made Mark lug home kitty litter from Wegmans, which was convenient timing for the mail man!) I’ve been walking up to Wegmans on good (non-actively blizzarding) days for exercise and to get lightweight things, but we won’t be driving anywhere for several more days. The street is hard to walk on because in most places, the snow is not compacted down, so you really have to trudge. And where it is compacted and smooth, it’s icy. Basically I AM MOVING TO AUSTRALIA. Or if that’s impossible, California, even if I am pretty sure they’re due for a huge earthquake. Anyway, I haven’t taken too many pictures, because I’m just sort of disgusted with snow, but here are a few from the first storm.

Mark’s been, bizarrely, excited about shoveling. Which is fine with me! He looks like The Little Shoveler Who Could in this pic.

This is my car. I had to go out at 3 am during the first blizzard and wipe it off because it’s a convertible and I don’t want the heavy snow to break the top, so this is just what snow was added to it until the next morning. By the end of the day yesterday, the level of snow was higher than the hood of the car; it looked like I’d driven into a bank of snow.

This is the side yard. If you look carefully, you can see this is a fenced area. Inside that fence is the pool. Thinking about the pool during this weather makes me very sad. Especially since my swim classes have been cancelled all week so I haven’t been doing any swimming.

I hope everyone else who’s been affected by these storms has been staying safe and warm. Unlike my poor friend Nona, we’ve had power the whole time, and we can both work from home, so we’re faring better than many people and I’ve no right to complain. Except I opened my last bottle of red wine last night and once that’s gone, I may have to complain. I think instead of juice and other healthful things, tomorrow’s trip to Wegmans is going to have to involve the wine store.

I’m sure my Canadian friends are going to laugh at me again. But I’m REALLY over snow. And they’re predicting more on Monday.

19 Comments »

  1. vivaciousvegan Said,

    February 11, 2010 @ 7:48 pm

    That is so col you made your own miso!!!! Your soup looks divine!!!!! I cannot believe how much snow you have…WOW!! The picture of your husband is crazy, that is a ton of snow!!! Bundle up and be safe!!!!
    I love your blog, it makes me happy and your husband reminds me of my silly husband……lol

  2. vivaciousvegan Said,

    February 11, 2010 @ 7:48 pm

    That is so col you made your own miso!!!! Your soup looks divine!!!!! I cannot believe how much snow you have…WOW!! The picture of your husband is crazy, that is a ton of snow!!! Bundle up and be safe!!!!
    I love your blog, it makes me happy and your husband reminds me of my silly husband……lol

  3. Chantal Said,

    February 11, 2010 @ 8:37 pm

    I can’t believe you made miso… this is one of those recipes from Wild Fermentation that I saw, looked at, and wondered who would ever summon the patience to make it. I mean, I have had my share of bubbling counter experiments, but this one… You have me beaten by a mile and a half. I tip my hat to you.

    I am from Ottawa (Canada). And I certainly am not laughing at you because of the snow. I am in fact a little bit jealous. We haven’t had too much snow around these parts this year. It has been too cold at times for that. There is actually more snow in your backyard right now than where the Olympics should be starting in a few days… sad…

  4. Chantal Said,

    February 11, 2010 @ 8:37 pm

    I can’t believe you made miso… this is one of those recipes from Wild Fermentation that I saw, looked at, and wondered who would ever summon the patience to make it. I mean, I have had my share of bubbling counter experiments, but this one… You have me beaten by a mile and a half. I tip my hat to you.

    I am from Ottawa (Canada). And I certainly am not laughing at you because of the snow. I am in fact a little bit jealous. We haven’t had too much snow around these parts this year. It has been too cold at times for that. There is actually more snow in your backyard right now than where the Olympics should be starting in a few days… sad…

  5. kibbles Said,

    February 11, 2010 @ 8:45 pm

    This entire post can be described as WOW. The delicious looking miso, the snow, just amazing.

  6. kibbles Said,

    February 11, 2010 @ 8:45 pm

    This entire post can be described as WOW. The delicious looking miso, the snow, just amazing.

  7. Josiane Said,

    February 11, 2010 @ 9:35 pm

    Your miso looks fabulous! I’m lucky to have access to organic miso made locally by really wonderful people, but I’m sure that homemade beats anything, even that one.

    The snow… I certainly won’t laugh at you. Yes, we’re used to having that much snow, but I know that being used to it – and, therefore, being equipped for it – makes a whole world of difference. I understand perfectly well that being stuck with that much of the white stuff when no one is equipped to efficiently deal with it is a pain (even here, when we get lots all at once, the “efficiently” part of dealing with it goes out the window and everything becomes a real pain). Sincerely, I wish we were the ones having it right now. The fact that I can see the grass in my yard in mid-February is all kinds of wrong. Everything is upside down, and it’s really upsetting. Anyways, I hope things will soon be back to normal in your area. Bon courage!

  8. Jain Said,

    February 11, 2010 @ 10:08 pm

    Congrats on the miso! I can’t even comprehend a year long recipe; it must have been soooo satisfying to taste. I’m glad it turned out so delicious.

    I’ve been thinking about you during weather reports, recalling your contempt of the white stuff. We shot our tv so these are some of the few pictures I’ve seen. Very impressive.

    At least you can walk to wine! I hope Monday’s snow isn’t too bad and the area returns to normal soon.

  9. Jain Said,

    February 11, 2010 @ 10:08 pm

    Congrats on the miso! I can’t even comprehend a year long recipe; it must have been soooo satisfying to taste. I’m glad it turned out so delicious.

    I’ve been thinking about you during weather reports, recalling your contempt of the white stuff. We shot our tv so these are some of the few pictures I’ve seen. Very impressive.

    At least you can walk to wine! I hope Monday’s snow isn’t too bad and the area returns to normal soon.

  10. Renee Said,

    February 12, 2010 @ 9:07 am

    The miso looks divine! Maybe one day……

    My daughter moved to the D.C. area (Fort Belvoir) on December 19, which was the first big snowstorm. She moved from Mississippi, so it was a REAL shock! She is SO ready to move back south!

  11. Mom Said,

    February 12, 2010 @ 10:26 am

    Amazingly, the only thing I really understand what you are talking about in this post is the snow. I wouldn’t be able to find any of that cooking stuff around here even if I did know what it was, let alone be making it myself. I think you must have been switched at birth, although if so, I am glad I got you!

  12. trinity Said,

    February 12, 2010 @ 4:57 pm

    Nice miso, lady! I never knew it took a year to age- makes me treasure miso even more than I already do. I am snowed in (not nearly as bad as you, but with Texas drivers on the road it would be truly unwise to go too far in this weather), and like you, my mind is on red wine. I’m dreaming of the mulled variety… let’s see if I’m brave enough to head to the grocery store and make it a real Friday night.

  13. trinity Said,

    February 12, 2010 @ 4:57 pm

    Nice miso, lady! I never knew it took a year to age- makes me treasure miso even more than I already do. I am snowed in (not nearly as bad as you, but with Texas drivers on the road it would be truly unwise to go too far in this weather), and like you, my mind is on red wine. I’m dreaming of the mulled variety… let’s see if I’m brave enough to head to the grocery store and make it a real Friday night.

  14. Chris Said,

    February 13, 2010 @ 12:53 am

    Every one of your posts are amazing, and this one was just as awesome. I’m in Cleveland, so I know about some snow. Stay warm, peace.

  15. Jes Said,

    February 15, 2010 @ 10:09 pm

    I’m done with shoveling snow too…when it started snowing today I almost cried. Luckily it was just a dusting, but man, if it had accumulated I would have been on a rampage. Or just curled up in bed and refusing to move.

    BUT the miso looks so so so good! I’m going to have to get on making some soon. I keep forgetting. Next snow day, it’s on!

  16. smucky Said,

    February 16, 2010 @ 6:34 am

    That is the most epic snow covering I’ve ever seen renae myers. You SHOULD move down here, it never snows! (BTW I’ve discussed it with immigration, and they’re ok with you moving here but in exchange for a visa/citizenship, you have to make some apple pie and peppermint/choc chip ice cream.)

  17. smucky Said,

    February 16, 2010 @ 6:34 am

    That is the most epic snow covering I’ve ever seen renae myers. You SHOULD move down here, it never snows! (BTW I’ve discussed it with immigration, and they’re ok with you moving here but in exchange for a visa/citizenship, you have to make some apple pie and peppermint/choc chip ice cream.)

  18. Carolyn Said,

    February 16, 2010 @ 8:53 pm

    Perhaps making miso is what we all need to start doing in the Mid-A, if we’re going to be having this kind of weather. Thanks for the inspiration!

    Unbelievably, my neighborhood didn’t lose power (Annapolis), the roof didn’t cave in, and the county road leading into my neighborhood finally got plowed on Saturday (four days after the SECOND blizzard).

    And there may be more snow on the way next week…

  19. Edith Said,

    March 4, 2010 @ 1:16 pm

    I’m impressed by your miso…
    Anyway, just wanted to introduce Texas as a possibility for snow relief! Yes, we did have a freak snowstorm here recently (D/FW area), but it was the first snow in any quantity since 1964! That should tell you how seldom. Very rarely snow falls, but almost never sticks to the ground, is gone in an hour at most. People whine.
    And we have many large Asian groceries with great produce ^_^

    Daffodils are blooming now.

RSS feed for comments on this post

Leave a Comment