Miso is one of the integral ingredients of Japanese cooking. It is a well-known fermented food world-wide and can be purchased from supermarkets. Though it is still difficult to get ingredients for cooking Japanese dishes for some who live outside of Japan. Miso is actually easier to make than you think.
Types of Miso
Miso is a traditional and essential condiment of many Japanese dishes. It is an important part of Japanese cuisine. Miso is a fermented food and it is classified by the ingredients, colour, or taste. By ingredients, there are three types, rice (kome miso), burly (mugi miso), or beans (mame miso).
In terms of colour, there are white (shiro), red (aka), and mixed (awase) and this way of classification is the most commonly seen. For the taste, there are mainly either sweet or savoury/salty. Reference: Marukome Miso
Two regionally special sweet types
Sikyo miso on the left is Kyoto’s special sweet miso and it is often used for glazing fish and meat when grilling. Those dishes are called “Saikyo yaki” and are famous in Kyoto.
Kinzanji miso is Wakayama prefecture’s (where I am from) special sweet eating miso and this is my favourite. This paste is not for making miso soup or anything but for eating it as it is. It contains other ingredients like ginger, eggplants, and Shiso leaves. I buy this every time I go back to my hometown. (right on the photo above)
Hard to fail…
Making your own miso paste from scratch is not as difficult as you might imagine. It is actually hard to fail when making this condiment because 1. high percentage of salt (12-14%) kill bacterias. 2. Also Lactic acid bacteria changes the inside of the miso barrel into an acidic environment in which the bacteria cause miso rot and cannot tolerate sour (pH value around 5.o) environment.
How to make Miso
Making your own homemade miso from scratch is fun and is not hard to make. It only requires a few ingredients and a little patience as it takes about 6 months to mature. However, if you can not wait like me, you can start to use it after 3 months. It is totally worth the effort and time! See the making schedule above.
Making the miso takes about two days. The first day, you need to prepare the paste for fermenting; the soybeans need to be soaked for at least 18 hours, making sure that there is no core leftover to soak.
The next day, it needs to be cooked by either using a pressure cooker, which I did because you can make the process faster, or simmering for 3-4 hours. You need to cook the soybeans so that they are soft enough that you can mash soybean with your fingertips.
4 ingredients
Dry soybeans
If you have choices, choose a larger grain of soybeans that are not cracked or chipped. These have a high water absorbency, good aroma and soften easily when cooked. All desirable characteristics for making a perfect paste. I purchase these from local Japanese grocery stores, whole food shops, and online shops
Rice Koji
Koji is steamed rice (and/or other grains such as barley) that have been inoculated with a fermentation culture, Aspergillus oryzae. Aspergillus oryzae is known as ‘koji-kin’ widespread in Japan naturally. When it is added to other ingredients, enzymes in the koji break down carbohydrates and proteins into amino acids, fatty acids and simple sugars to ferment. I use Rice koji (dry type)
Salt
Any salt will work, though sun-dried, unrefined natural sea salt which is rich in minerals will make the best flavoured and nutritious miso. Generally you need about 12-14% of the total finished product weight in salt.
Water
Any water can be used for cooking the soybeans. I actually have been using just Australian tap water for this. Though, fresh spring water is recommended for trouble free-fermentation. Because water containing chlorine or other chemicals may retard the activity of miso’s micro-organisms.
Ingredients calculator tool
The ratio of soybeans, koji, and salt determines the flavour of your miso. The more Koji that is used, the sweeter the miso gets. So to make the calculation easier, Chopstick Chronicles’ fantastic team created a calculator tool for you. All you need to do is input the dry soybeans amount you will use for the mixture.
Equipment you need
You need the following basic equipment; a large pot to soak and cook soybeans, A mixing bowl to combine rice koji and salt and cooked soybeans, a potato masher or electric mincer to mash the cooked soybeans. And also you need a vat for fermenting.
The size and type of vats
You can use food grade plastic, enamelled cast iron pots, earthwares or wooden tubs. The total amount of paste you wish to make determines the size of the vat you need. In general, the larger the vat, the easier to ferment, and better results. This is because the larger the vat, the smaller the surface area of the paste in contact with the container itself.
The best time to prepare
For the best result, preparing miso for fermentation in winter is the best season. Because 1.in those colder months, the air is relatively free of contaminating microorganisms. 2. Miso ferments slowly in the lower temperatures of winter and it makes a deeper flavour. 3. You could use freshly harvested ingredients (rice and soybeans) in Autumn. The fresher the ingredients, the better the flavour of course.
2 tips to avoid mold from growing
Two types of mold; aerobic and sole tolerance typically grow in miso vats. In order to avoid these molds to grow, 1. minimise contact with air. Making balls of the paste, thumping it down and packing it firmly is to expel any air pockets. Sprinkle salt over the smoothed miso surface. Place 20-30% of the total weight of the miso prepared, to cover the surface. 2. wipe the inside of the container with paper towel sprayed with alcohol such as vodka.
How to use homemade miso?
Obviously, this is the main and the most important ingredient of Miso soup. But it is also used for many different dishes and Japanese people use different types of miso for different purposes. The main ingredients for making any type of miso are the same but the process and the length of fermentation are what determines the final colour.
White miso paste
White miso paste is whitish in colour because the maturing period is shorter than red. The flavour of the white paste is sweeter and milder than the red paste so it is often used for salad dressing, for glazing such as miso dengaku like Nasu dengaku, and Onigiri Miso Butter or for baking and sweets such as Miso caramel.
Red miso paste
Red miso paste is matured longer than white so that the flavour is bolder and intense and the colour is much darker than white miso paste. This red paste is used for miso soup, noodle soup such as miso ramen, and miso nikomi udon, and for fish dishes such as Saba misoni because it will remove the fish smell.
Books about Miso
The book of tofu and miso is my bible when making this magical paste. This book is two books in one, but you can get The Book of Miso
FAQ
Q: What is “rice koji’?
A: Rice Koji is steamed rice (and/or other grains such as barley) that have been inoculated with a fermentation culture, Aspergillus oryzae. You can buy them from Japanese grocery stores in dry form, or purchase them from online stores. In USA, Cold Mountain brand dry rice koji is easy to get.
Q: Mold is growing, what should I do?
A: Don’t panic. It is ok, just scrape them and transfer the miso into a different container to store. They are only growing outside and is quite normal.
Q: When can I start to use the miso?
A: You need at least three months to let the paste to ferment. After 3 months, you need to mix them in order to oxidise the miso. You can remove the weight and keep it somewhere cool.
Q: Do you have recipes that use miso?
A: Yes, I have a lots to share actually as I love it so much. Check out the following recipes as well as the recipes already mentioned in the post! Miso katsu don, Miso tamago(ramen eggs).
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Miso 手前味噌
Video
Equipment
- a large mixing bowl to soak soybeans
- A large pot to cook soybeans or a pressure cooker
- a potato masher or a stand mixer with mincer attachment
- a large vat to set miso ferment
- alcohol to wipe the the vat *6
Ingredients
- 200 g dry soybean
- 450 g rice koji
- 130 g salt
- 1/2 cup the water soybean cooked in
- 2 tbs salt for sprinkle
Instructions
- Wash the dry soybeans under running water until the water become clear.
- Soak the washed dry soybeans for over 18 hours
- After over 18 hours have passed, drain the water and place the soaked soybeans in a pressure cooker. *1
- Add enough water to cover the soybeans, lock on the lid in place and select pressure cooker. *2
- Set the timer to pressure cook for 5 minutes. When the 5 minutes is up, let the pressure come down naturally.
- While the soybean is being cooked, place salt and koji in a mixing bowl and combine them well and set aside.
- Pick one bean and check if you can squish the bean with your finger tips. If it can be squished, it is the right softness to mash.
- Mash the cooked soybean. I used a stand mixer with a mincer attachment, but if you don’t have it, just use a potato masher and mash them finely.
- Place the mashed soybean in a large mixing bowl while it is still hot and add koji and salt to the bowl. *3
- Mix them well with your hands and add some liquid if necessary. I add about 1/2 cup of liquid.
- Make the mashed soybeans into baseball sized balls.
- Slam the mashed soybean mixture balls into a container that is going to be used for fermenting 2-3 balls at a time and press them compactly in order to let any air bubbles out. Repeat the process until all soybean balls are compressed into the container.
- Smoothe the surface and wipe off any soybean mash from the container.
- Sprinkle salt to cover the surface.
- Place 20% of the mixtures weight over the salt sprinkled surface. I used salt in a ziplock bag. *4
- Cover the container with cling wrap and place a lid.
- Store the container in dark and cool place for at least 3 months. Write the date prepared on the lid.
- After 3 months, open the lid, remove the weight and turn the mixture with an wooden spatula.
- Smooth the surface again and place a cling wrap on top.
- Place the container back to a dark and cool place for another 2-3 months.
- After 2-3 months, transfer the container to a cooler place like the fridge in order to stop the Miso from over fermenting. *5
Thank you very much for your time, effort, and good will. For teaching us about Japanese cuisine. The wbsite is great, printing, video, blog. Just excellent. Congratulation to you both, mother and daugther.
Too bad you dont like coriander. I like it, fresh and in seeds. I like almost ALL foods, and spices of the world.
Again thank you. And keep on cooking and sharing. D.D.
Thank you D.D. for kind words 😀 Sharing and spreading our love of Japanese food is our mission 😀 Happy cooking Japanese dishes!
Hi Shihoko! Writing from Dublin, Ireland. I’ve recently made my first batch of Kombucha with great results and now I think I’m ready for miso. My biggest concern is the type of container used to ferment the beans. What do you use? I’ve read about pottery crocks but they’re expensive and hard to find here in Ireland. Any tips?
I used food grade plastic container… which is not so eco friendly. You can use like mason jars or the container you used for Kombucha, though miso will be fermented over more than 3 months period so it need to be something you don’t use often 😀 Did you see the video? You can see the container I used 😀 Good luck and please don’t hesitate to ask if you have more questions 😀
Hi Shihoko. How long does the miso last after making it.
Thanks Pamela!!
Hi Pamela, it last long time and you will use them up before it become bad.
Hello,
I’m making my first batch of miso today using your recipe.
Can you tell me why the ratios of bean / koji / salt vary so much in different recipes that I see online?
The recipes vary so much I decided to just pick one and try it.
I have seen a recipe with 250g soy, 40g koji, 50g salt. How does it work being so different to yours?
Hi Toby
The ratio of soybeans, koji, and salt determines the flavour of your miso. The more Koji that is used, the sweeter the miso gets. I don’t know how the recipe ratio you mentioned work?? Usually you need salt around 12% of soybean weight, if you like sweeter taste you need about 2.3 times of Koji to the soybean weight, Mild savoury flavour, you need 1.5 times of Koji, and dry flavour you need 0.8 times of koji. I use a lots of Koji because I like sweeter flavour 😀 Hope this help.
Thank you, Shihoko.
Your recipe says 130g salt for 200g dry soy bean, which is 65%.
12% of 200g is 24g.
is the 130g correct or should I use 24g?
I believe it’s 12% of soybeans *and* koji.
Hi there! First timer here. You say weight then cling wrap them a top? Did I read that correctly and should the container be airtight?
Hi JKT, NO the container does not need to be airtight. Miso still need to breath 😀 so even you use airtight container do not airtight the lid.
You draw a very helpful distinction: that the koji-to-soybean ratio determines finish of the finished product (sweet, medium, dry). This sort of thing, for a beginner, is difficult to infer by reading different recipes and seeing different ratios–thank you for making it explicit.
You are welcome Jamie. I am glad to know this post is helpful :D. Thank you for your comment and ratings. It helps me to improve my blog. Thank you 😀
Hello Chopstick Chronicles.
I found your site today, I live in Bulgaria and have not been able to buy jars of miso. So because I am already making soya milk and tofu I thought next step has gotta be the miso.
Thank you for a lovely presentation of how to make miso.
I alo like that you answer all the questions and recently too.
Often this is not happening!
Blessings
Liska
Hello Liska 😀 Thank you so much for commenting from Bulgaria! I am glad to know that someone in Bulgaria is reading my blog 😀 Yes, definitely Miso is your next project since you have been making soy milk and tofu already!! Let me know how it turns out!! Looking forward to hearing your result soon 😀
I just discovered your site today and I love the detailed explanations and graphics! The “Miso Making Schedule” is very handy for those of us who are visual learners. Thank you!
Hi Erin 😀 Thank you. I just wanted to make it easy and simple to make Miso. Miso is not hard to make 😀
Hi! We tried ur recipe 3 months ago. But our miso just looks dry even after 3 months.. anything we can do? Can we send u a pic? Hahaha
Do we continue fermenting it? Put more water on it?
Hi Carolyn did you add a little bit of the water you cooked soybean? if it is dry, you need to add the water and did you place a weight?
When do you drain the Tamari? Do you let it age the entire time with the miso or do you drain it every so often when you stir it?
When ever you see a paddle of tamari, you better to remove and keep it refrigerated, otherwise it will keep fermenting. And once you collect them keep it in a fridge and use it within 6 months 😀
Please tell me how to convert this recipe to sikyo white sweet paste.
Saikyo miso does not take take long time to mature. I will make one and share on Chopstick Chronicles soon 😀
I just flipped my miso and cleaned the kabi after 3 months. It looks amazing! I have 2 questions at this point though.
Should I use a weight still? (Bag of salt/rice)
Should I have salted the top again after flipping?
Ohhh Fantastic! Well done. You can start use the miso if you like, then put the miso into airtight container and refrigerated. It will slow down maturing and you don’t need weight. If you are going to mature and father ferment, then yes you need a little bit of salt and keep weight on and keep it dark and cool place again. Also room temperature affect the process too so if you live in Australia like me, it will ferment quicker.
supremely helpful!!, chopsticks chronicle you are my new angel😘👊👏
You are welcome Sonia. I am glad it is helpful 😀
Please tell me why the calorie count is so high?
Because it is for the whole batch? you will only use 1-2 tbsp for making miso soup out of 2kg 😀
I live in Nicosia , Cyprus. For the last 2 months I’m making tempeh. I would now like to try making miso. Your aricle is very helpful. There are one or two things that are not clear to me. What is rice goji ? Is goji the known goji berry? How can l get rice goji ? Thank you in advance.
Alecos
Hi Alecos, Thank you for your comment. Rice Koji is rice inoculated with Asoergrillus oryzae which is fungus known as “Koji”. Is there Japanese grocery stores near you? If not you can either make them or buy online. I never made it myself so I am not expert of making my own koji. You can buy
dry rice koji
online.Hi!
I started my first batch of miso a couple of months ago.
I checked my batch today, to see how it was doing and to drain the tamari, and noticed something very weird, and possibly worrisome: a fungi looking thing started growing on top of the miso. It was black/dark in color, wave-like in shape.
I took all of that thing out and made sure to clean the miso and the parts of the pot that it was growing on as thoroughly as I could, using just dry paper towels, to not contaminate the batch.
Since I couldn’t find any information online about such an issue, I decided to try to ask here.
Would appreciate any relevant information you might have!
Hi Ofer, did you sprinkle salt over the miso? It prevents other bacteria grow. Even that, you will still get some mold. Did you see my video? Remove fungi looking black part with miso 2-3mm(0.07-0.11inch) thick, and wipe inside the container with dump cloths with alcohol. You do not need to throw away.
Thanks Shihoko!
That definitely helps! 🙂
Also, the video seems to be unavailable…
Since the beans are soaked and cooked would it be possible to use rinsed canned beans?
Love your recipes!
Hi Liz, I think you could but I have never tried it myself. Also when you mash them depends on how dry/wet the mash, you may need to add liquid in which the beans are cooked. I am not sure adding the liquid comes with canned beans is good idea or not. So using canned beans may compromise quality and taste of the end result.
Thank you so much for presenting such an easy recipe for making miso paste
You are welcome 😀 Miso is my favourite Japanese condiment so I would like to spread the love of miso ;D
Your recipe seems simple and I’ve always wanted to try making my own Miso. I had to google what “rice koji “ was as I’d never heard of it and wasn’t sure if it was a special type of rice, like “Basmati”, or “Sticky rice” and so I wasn’t sure if I added the “rice koji” cooked or uncooked. Now I know that “Rice Koji” IS a cooked rice that has already been through a fermentation process of its own. I just thought that maybe a little explanation of that might be good in the recipe, just in case others like me panicked and wondered “does it go in dry, do I have to cook it first?” Lol! But now I’ve learned something in addition to the Miso recipe. ;D. Pls wish me luck. 🙂
Hi Entisar
Thank you for your feedback and good luck with your miso making 😀
Hello! I live in a tropical country where the average temperature is always between 28-32 degrees. Do you have any advice on the fermentation time – should I make it shorter, and is there any way I can check on the paste to see when it’s time to add the rice koji? Thank you 🙂
Hi Adeline, I live in sub-tropical climate and I made Miso in Summer. You can start to consume after three months and add koji at the beginning of the process so you don’t need to check on the paste.
great recipe and easy to follow!
Oh I’m glad, thank you
I like these miso making process, I Will definitely going to make this!! Thanks for sharing.
You are welcome Aria 😀