Happy hump day to you all.
It's been a while since my last post and life has been busy but here I am today sharing with you my first experience of cooking with Miso because I think it's pretty awesome stuff!!
For those of you wondering what the fudge is Miso, I'm about to share with you why you want to get your hands on some and start using it.
For my first recipe I decided to make something pretty simple and opted for a vegetable and noodle soup.
What is Miso?
It's a Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting soya beans with salt and koji (fermentation culture) and sometimes rice, barley or other ingredients.
The result is a thick paste used for sauces and spreads, pickling vegetables or meats, and mixing with dashi soup stock to serve as miso soup called misoshiru, a Japanese culinary staple. Typically, miso is salty, but its flavor depends on various factors in the ingredients and fermentation process. It has also been described as having Umami, which is a word describing an indescribable deliciousness; savory, rich, yum
What are the health benefits of miso?
It is rich in essential minerals and a good source of various B vitamins, vitamins E, K and folic acid. As a fermented food, miso provides the gut with beneficial bacteria that help us to stay healthy, vibrant and happy. Good gut health is known to be linked to our overall mental and physical wellness.
After popping into my local health food store Nature's Larder to see if I could get my hands on some miso paste, I came away with brown rice miso, which was recommended to me as having a great flavour. This one is also organic, non GMO and certified vegan which made me happy. If you want to check out the brand I used you can look it up on the the Clearspring website here. According to the website it has been developed for maximum nutrition. "Since it is made using whole soya beans and brown rice, it has a very wholefood nutritional profile".
Lets get down to business with the recipe and how I turned this salty and delicious paste into a nutritious and light soup.
After a search on google I couldn't find the right recipe. I came across a few that included meat and others that seemed too light to fill me up at tea time, so I combined a whole lot of ideas and came up with this veggie/noodle soup which worked out pretty well.
Instead of regular veggie stock I used this mushroom stock which I bought a while ago and had forgotten about. I figured it would work well with all the veggies and I was right.
Ingredients
1.5 stock cubes with 1.5 litres water
1 onion chopped
2 carrots peeled and chopped
2 round of rice noodles (pre-cooked)
Large chunk of ginger
3/4 of packet of mushrooms chopped
1/2 bag of spinach
1 packet of seaweed
Big blob of garlic paste
2 large teaspoons Miso
Method
1. Prepare the stock in a large jug with hot water
2. Squirt garlic into a pan with chopped ginger
3. Simmer for a few seconds
4. Add mushroom stock
5. Allow stock mixture to boil for a few minutes
6. Add all your vegetables (minus the spinach and seaweed)
7. Allow the veg and stock to simmer for about 10-15 minutes
8. Boil your noodles so they are almost cooked but not quite and drain
9. Once carrots are softened, add the seaweed/spinach/noodles and simmer for a minute
10. Turn hob off and add miso paste into soup
11. You don't want to boil the miso because it will loose some of it's nutritional benefits
12. Serve in big bowls and enjoy!!
Have you ever cooked with miso before? What is your favourite recipe?
Thank you for reading my post. I hope it was helpful.
Jo x
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