Miso

Japanese Fermented soybean paste

Miso

味噌 (Japanese)

Also called Soybean paste · Shiro miso · Aka miso

Deeply savoury and salty; white miso is sweet and mild, red miso is stronger and earthier, and blended (awase) sits between.

What it is

Japan's fermented paste of soybeans, koji (cultured rice or barley) and salt, aged from months to years.

How it tastes

Deeply savoury and salty; white miso is sweet and mild, red miso is stronger and earthier, and blended (awase) sits between.

  • Savoury/Umami
  • Fermented/Funky
  • Sweet

How to use it

Whisk into hot dashi off the boil for miso soup; mix with mirin and sugar for a glaze on aubergine, fish or chicken; rub into meat as a marinade; a spoon in a stew adds depth. Never boil it hard; the aroma fades.

  • Base/Stock
  • Marinating
  • Finishing

Where it comes from

Miso has been made in Japan for over a thousand years, and every region has its own style, from the sweet white miso of Kyoto to the dark, long-aged hatcho miso of Aichi. Miso soup is eaten at breakfast across the country.

Tasted and scored by us · the same axes as every product page How it tastes · four axes

Sweet
Rice koji
Heat
None
Salt
Salted soybean
Sour
Gentle ferment

Salt is a formulation property; on a raw ingredient it is read from the ingredient itself.

Across cuisines · not a substitute

Recipes arrive with the shelf

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Products that contain it

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