Types of Miso
I know that I have a soft spot for Miso soup but did you know that there are at least 3 kinds of Miso in the market? The miso we know is made from fermented soybeans but the term miso also applies to the product created from fermented barley and rice. The three varieties of Miso I know off are:
# Shiromiso, “white miso”
# Akamiso, “red miso”
# Kuromiso, “black miso”
The red and white miso are the ones most commonly used in miso soup that we drink and it’s sold worldwide as a generic term, “Miso”. The raw materials used to produce miso may include any mix of soybeans, barley, rice, buckwheat, millet, rye, wheat, hemp seed, and cycad, among others. Lately, producers in other countries have also begun selling miso made from chick peas, corn, adzuki beans, amaranth, and quinoa. Fermentation time ranges from as little as five days to several years. The wide variety of Japanese miso is difficult to classify, but is commonly done by grain type, color, taste, and background. Black Miso in this case is perhaps produced from buckwheat or other dark colored grains.
Here’s a very ritualized video …almost artsy fartsy… video of making miso soup with some noodles.
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