Lifestyle Choices

Miso (pronounced meets) is produced when soybeans and a grain, usually rice or barley, are combined with salt and a mold culture, then fermented in wooden vats for up to three years. The resulting paste, which is rich in B vitamins and protein, is an essential condiment in Japan and China. Rather than starting their day with coffee, most Japanese get a nutritional boost from a cup of hot miss soup. Miss can be used to season and enrich all types of soups and stews, whether clear or creamed. It also can add nutrition and flavor to sauces, gravies, salad dressings, dips, sandwich spreads, casseroles, and vegetables. You can even marinate tofu in miso. Unpasteurized miso contains live cultures and has abundant lactic-acid-forming bacteria, protein, and enzymes that aid digestion. Also, the antioxidants in fermented soy foods-such as miso-are more easily absorbed than those in unfermented soybeans and soy products.

To get miso’s health benefits and full flavor, buy the unpasteurized kind packaged in either plastic tubs or in plastic bags sold in the refrigerated sections of health food stores. Miso found on the dry-goods shelves is pasteurized and, therefore, lacks the health-promoting live cultures found in unpasteurized miso.

The addition of other ingredients and variations in the length of aging produce types of miso that differ in color, flavor, and texture. Mugi is the most popular for seasoning. It is made from fermented barley, soybeans, and sea salt. Hatcho is made only with soybeans and sea salt and has a stronger flavor. Kome, the mildest miso, is made from a fermented sweet brown rice, soybeans, and sea salt. Genmai miso is made from soybeans and the husked grains of roasted brown rice.

Unpasteurized, naturally aged miso should be stored in the refrigerator in a glass jar or ceramic crock. Like fine wine, miso gets better with age and, kept cold, will be good for several years. Should a white mold appear on the miso’s surface, simply scrape it off_ As the mold is harmless, you can even add it back into the miso.

When using miso, do not boil it, but add it at the end of cooking to preserve all its enzymes and nutrients. Use miso sparingly, as it is very salty.

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