Genmai miso

Miso de riz complet (genmai miso)

What it is

Koji cannot get through the bran: Aspergillus oryzae grows readily into polished rice and stalls on the intact husk layer, which is why brown-rice miso stayed rare until millers learned to score the bran just enough for the mould to enter without stripping it. What survives that scoring — the oils and the bran itself — is the nuttiness the paste is bought for.

In the kitchen

Never boil it: slake it in a ladle of hot stock and stir it in off the flame, since a minute at a rolling boil flattens the aroma and kills the live culture. A tablespoon per 200 ml of stock is a soup; twice that becomes a marinade that will cure fish overnight.

Goes with

Kombu Katsuobushi (dried bonito) Silken tofu (kinugoshi) Wakame Negi Ginger Eggplant Salmon

Same species

Akazu Arborio rice Rice paper (bánh tráng) Basmati rice Black glutinous rice Black rice

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