What is the scoop on Miso? Is it raw?

[karenisraw]

Hi! I just bought some miso because I read about some people here on RFT eating miso. Could anyone give me a general idea about what miso is, how it is made, is it raw, what's in it and are the koji cultures in it a probiotic and is it a good probiotic?

k
:) :)

[rawpriestess]

Miso is not raw, it is a living food,

Alissa uses it in some of her recipes, I like chickpea miso, I do not do soy.

Miso has a salty flavor, and can be used in many things.

you can substitute a little celtic sea salt if you don't have miso, it won't be exactly the same, but I find a little salt and a little vinegar and you've got almost the same flavor as miso.

[karenisraw]

RP,

Thank you. I think I will try to find some chickpea miso. I am also trying to stay away from soy.

k
:)

[rawpriestess]

I buy my chickpea miso in a tub in the fridge section of the HFS, it's keeps almost indefinitely, the one I am still using, as I only use about 1 tsp every week or so, is at least one year old.

[Fragola]

I love miso, even if it is not raw.
I use barley miso, and my favourite salad dressing is a dessert spoon of miso mixed with the pulp of an avocado, mashed with a fork.
I then "massage" my veggies with this cream, using my hands, and it taste great.
Even if miso is not raw, it helps me enjoying my salads without the need of oil, salt or vinegar.

[Shivananda]

Sorry, I just couldn't resist that subject line... oh ho ho

Most (I don't know if all) miso is made by cooking the soybeans and barley (traditional mix) or just soy or just barley or just chickpeas or whatever with salt to soften them and break them down into a thick porridge, and to sterilize that porridge in preparation for the innoculation with koji.

Koji is kind of a rice porridge which has a natural fungus growing on it that is is considered by many to be probiotic, and a portion of it is thoroughly blended in to the bean slurry to begin the fermentation process. Then all that mixture gets packed into covered wooden (preferably cedar) containers and allowed to ferment in a cool place for 3 - 6 months or more. The liquid that accumulates on the top is called tamari, which was traditionally considered one of the finest of all the soy sauces (Although today tamari is mostly made on its own).

Anyway, that may sound weird to some, but it is basically how miso has been made for hundreds of years. And though some raw foodies don't eat it because the initial ingredients were cooked, others praise it because it is a high enzyme living culture, known for its health giving aspects, including a unique ability to remove radiation and air pollution damage from the body. And the fact that it is a living culture is why the taste gets stronger and more complex as it naturally ages in you fridge.

And the nice thing is, you can make soup with it without having to boil it. The best way I've found is to put a rounded tablespoon or so of the miso paste into a small strainer, put the strainer over a cup or bowl of warm water, and then press the miso through the strainer with the back of a spoon (I use a special japanese miso strainer that is deep, has a hook for the edge of the bowl or cup, and comes with a little wooden pestle for the express purpose of pressing the miso through into the water). Add a little thinly slice scallion, a touch of seaweed perhaps, maybe sliced mushroom, and you have what millions of Japanese people call The Breakfast of Champions. :)

[Boysenberry]

LOL! Loved that little line!

Okay, not to be stupid, but if miso is considered live, then wouldn't yogurt also be considered a live food? And since it comes in more than just dairy based, can we eat it... and still consider ourselves raw?

[Punky]

Sorry, I just couldn't resist that subject line... oh ho)


too funny Shivananda!

Alissa has a very simple and good miso soup recipe in her book. you throw it in the blender and it is so easy and good. I like the chickpea miso too since we don't eat gluten or soy.
there are many past threads on the subject if you use the banana search key at the top of the page.

[rawpriestess]

Hi Miso is NOT raw, but it is living, and many Raw food Instructors, have indicated that the benefits of the Miso far outweigh the fact that it is not raw, plus when you are using it, you are using about 1 tsp at a time for an entire recipe.

I believe Rhio said, that about Dijon mustard too,

although as I said above, you can substitute a little celtic sea salt and vinegar in recipes for that miso taste, and then you will be 100% raw.

[karenisraw]

Shivananda,

Thank you for the information. I googled miso but the explanations that I found did not cover everything that you explained.

k
:)

[Shivananda]

Alissa has a very simple and good miso soup recipe in her book. you throw it in the blender and it is so easy and good.
Yup, it is. My way is harder. If I was in a rush I might do it in the blender too, but there is a subtlety to conventional miso soup that I enjoy and like to evoke when I have the time to. Instead of the homogenized texture of blended soup, "real" miso floats suspended in the broth in billowy clouds. I don't know any other way to achieve that unigue look and texture than to use a sieve to push the miso through, into the soup


there are many past threads on the subject if you use the banana search key at the top of the page.

Oh, no, not the banana search key, Mr Bill!!! Oh, no... too late! Here we go again!!!

[lily]

Miso soup -- how wonderful! I didn't realise I could have that now I'm raw (maybe I didn't read Alissa's book closely enough). Anyway, thank you, Shiva, for this, just what I need in this cold wintry English 'spring'.

lily

PS I like barley miso

[tvillemom]

I've never tried barley or chickpea miso, are the health benefits the same as with traditional soy miso. I do love miso soup during the colder weather, warm and quick!
Wendi

[Shivananda]

I've never tried barley or chickpea miso, are the health benefits the same as with traditional soy miso. Hi Wendi,
I think all the misos are beneficial because of the live culture in them, but chickpea miso has a lighter, milder taste and doesn't have soy in it, which some people avoid.

Traditionally the richer tasting dark miso was for winter use, and was considered strengthening, wheras the light miso was for summer use, because it did not create at much heat in the body. Most Americans have only tasted the light kind, in standard Japanese restaurant miso soup with dinner. But as I said earlier, in Japan (and in this country at hotels which cater to Japanese travelers) it is more widely consumed for breakfast.

[Crystl-jade]

Thanks so much for this information. :)

There is Miso in my fridge and I have been wondering about it.

This soup sounds delicious, thanks S. for that recipie.

crystl-jade

[karenisraw]

I put some miso into my raw cracker mix to make a culture. I wonder if it worked.


Shivananda,

I get soft billowy clouds in my miso soup. Here is how I do it. I put a tablespoon into a bowl and add about a teaspoon of water. I mash it around in the water until the miso is sunny. Then I add more water until the bowl if full. Add your other soup ingredients.

k

[Shivananda]

Yes Kerinsiraw, you got it! Iove watching the little billows move around in the bowl.

Also, I use dark miso when I am trying to get a meaty taste in something, like in that mushroom/pecan "meat" I made for the shepherd's pie I created on St. Paddy's Day, or in mushroom gravy.

[rawfigure]

Shivananda...so from you previous post it sounds like Tamari is Raw ? or not ?

[Shivananda]

Is tamari raw? By what definition? The everyday stuff is not, and Bragg's (which was technically a tamari) is now discredited, but good quality organic tamari is borderline, and some are now coming through labeled "raw." But as far as I know they all still start out with a cooked base, which is necessary to predigest and sterilize the base "porridge," so that the koji culture has a clean culture to grow in.

I'm not anally congested on the topic, so that's good enough for me. :)