Copius
Miso, drawn for Copius

Miso

Miso

Latin nameFermented soybean paste
FamilyCondiments & ferments
OriginJapan
Season (France)All year
FlavourUmami · Salty · Sweet · Earthy
Typical price (France)12–25 €/kg

What it is

Samurai marched on miso — it travelled as dry rations and dissolved into instant soup. Every region and family had its own: white and sweet in Kyoto, dark and fierce in the north. “Handmade miso tastes of the maker’s hands,” the saying goes.

In the kitchen

Never boil it — heat kills its living aromas; whisk it in at the end. Beyond soup, a spoonful transforms butter, glazes for eggplant, even caramel.

Goes with

Eggplant Sesame Shiitake Ginger Salmon Butter Honey

Also used with

Ashitaba Black garlic Brown rice syrup Fuki-no-tō (butterbur flower bud) Konjac glucomannan Hoba leaf (magnolia leaf)

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