Miso beginnings
On an crisp evening in August, a bunch of eager miso enthusiasts attended a miso workshop at Source Eco Hub. We shared stories of time spent in Japan, a desire to reduce food waste and the packaging we use. Many of us also regularly coming together to eat meals by Tori’s Nest at Source.
Tori’s Nest
Chie and Aki are from Tori’s Nest. They specialise in using local, seasonal produce (often collected from Source’s lush garden and fruit trees.)
Tori is the word for bird in Japanese. Chie and Aki’s food is made with feeling. They hope to share a love of Japanese food with people visiting their nest.
So, what is miso?
Miso is a staple in Japanese cuisine, and is made from three ingredients – usually soybeans, rice, and salt. It can be used to flavour a soup, make tasty dressings, or add a savoury flavour to vegetables, meat or fish.
Miso is packed with umami goodness – one of the five basic tastes that’s tasty but hard to explain. It’s not quite bitter, nor sour, salty, or sweet. Other foods high in umami are cheese, mushrooms, and seaweed. The flavour profile of miso even works well in desserts (as we came to taste for ourselves!)
How long does it take to make miso?
It can take quite some time to ferment miso. We sampled three different types – including a chickpea version, which was around 1 month old. To make our own miso – it will take around 10 months to reach flavour maturity. Fortunately, it’s all about personal taste, so easy for us to check in and taste our creations over that time period. Good miso can be worth the wait!
How did we start making our miso?
After tasting some different misos, we started to make our own. We sterilised the jars, weighed out the rice koji (a type of moulded steamed rice), the soybeans, and sea salt. The rice koji has been cultured with Aspergillus oyzae, a type of fungus which helps with fermentation.
Chie then showed us how to pack the miso into our containers. It’s important not to release the air when doing this. This action felt like rolling a ball, then throwing it into the jar! We then sprinkled some salt and putting baking paper on top of the mixture, to protect the miso and prevent mould from growing. Although it’s possible to remove this later, let’s start strong with our miso.
Time to enjoy a meal together
We then shared dinner with our new workshop pals. On the menu was onigiri (rice ball) filled with celery leaves cooked with miso, succulent daikon radishes and carrots, paired with a miso and amazake sauce, a creamy miso and tahini dip, a miso soup, and for dessert – a miso and beetroot brownie.
The colours and flavours combined spectacularly. It was fun to get together and see the possibilities of miso, sharing, and connecting with each other through food.
Want to come along to a future workshop?
You can find out more about Tori’s Nest, and Source Eco Hub here.
Follow our Seasonal Events guide through here for more cooking workshops, festivals, crop swaps and more.
