Miso
Miso ( Japanese み そ also 味噌 ) is a Japanese paste that mainly consists of soybeans with varying proportions of rice , barley , other grains or pseudo- grains and table salt . Miso is an essential part of Japanese cuisine and is used as an ingredient in many traditional dishes such as miso soup .
Manufacturing
To produce a mixture of steamed soybeans, depending on the variety together with z. B. steamed rice or steamed barley fermented in barrels weighted down with stones . The Kōji molds Aspergillus flavus var. Oryzae and Aspergillus sojae are used for fermentation . This manufacturing process probably originated in the Chinese Empire . Nowadays, the production takes place in solid bioreactors .
history
The origins of miso cannot be clearly defined, but it seems certain that the paste came to Japan from either Korea or China . Some historians date this to the time shortly before the introduction of Buddhism in Japan, i.e. in the years between 540 and 552.
The first written records to confirm the presence of miso in Japan are from the Nara period (710-784). In 760, notes relating to fermented foods were left in an anthology ( Man'yōshū ) containing early Japanese songs and poems. In the years that followed, less and less soybeans were used to make miso paste, instead the proportion of rice or barley increased.
During the Kamakura period (1185–1333) miso became part of the recommended Buddhist lifestyle for a healthy and balanced diet. When famine ravaged the country and in preparation for it, more and more miso was stored as a lifesaver.
Only in the following Muromachi period (1336–1568) was the great potential of miso as a nutritious food for the supply of the samurai recognized by the outbreak of social grievances and civil wars in Japan . For this reason, Takeda Shingen encouraged his followers and farmers to plant soybeans on his land and process them into miso.
The first shops offering the various regional miso pastes appeared during the 16th century. The paste became available to the Japanese people and also affordable due to falling prices.
In the Edo period (1603–1867), the consumption of miso continued to rise, and yet the many small miso producers resisted joining together in large companies. On the one hand, it was difficult to transport over long distances, which meant that local suppliers continued to exist, and on the other hand, it was a tradition to produce and store miso yourself with the family.
At the time, European researchers revolutionized the field of fermentation in Japan by introducing powerful tools and methods. The first measurable progress in 1904 was the extraction and reproduction of the Kōji mushroom ( Aspergillus flavus var. Oryzae ), which is the so-called starter ferment for miso production.
The years of World War II represented a setback for further development , with production and sales being heavily regulated. State-set prices and qualities were set: only the three types of rice, barley and soybean miso were available on the market in the quality levels excellent and medium.
With the subsequent modernization of the production processes, the regional manufacturers and their traditional miso were largely displaced. Few of them have stayed true to their wooden vessels and tools, but since the 1970s the demand for authentic food has increased again. Homemade miso is even more common again.
sorts
Based on the basic ingredients, miso can be separated into the following types:
- Mamé-miso ( 豆 味噌 ), Hatchō-miso ( 八 丁 味噌 ), Tamari-miso which only consists of soybeans
- Komé-miso ( 米 味噌 ), Saikyo-miso ( 西京 味噌 ) which consists of soybeans and rice, Genmai-miso ( 玄 米 味噌 ) with brown rice .
- Mugi-miso ( 麦 味噌 ), which is made from soybeans and barley. (Karakuchi, Amakuchi)
These groups can also be roughly separated by color: red Aka-miso ( 赤 味噌 ), white Shiro-miso ( 白 味噌 ), yellow Shinshu-miso (fermented longer than white), (black miso) Kuro-miso ( 黒 味噌) ) and taste: hot Kara-miso ( 辛 味噌 ) and sweet Ama-miso ( 甘 味噌 ), as well as Awase-miso ( 合 わ せ 味噌 , a mixture of different varieties).
There is also Moromi-miso ( も ろ み 味噌 ): Moromi is the mash from which Shoyu is made. It's made from kōji, soybeans, cracked roasted wheat, salt, and water. Nattō-miso ( 納豆 味噌 ) with barley malt and ginger .
As well as buckwheat and barley miso ( Soba-miso 蕎麦 味噌 ), millet, hemp seeds ( Taima-miso 大麻 味噌 ), quinoa , amaranth , corn, chickpeas , adzuki beans and Japanese sago palm fern seed starch ( Sotetsu-miso 蘇 鉄 味噌 ), and rye ( Hadakamugi miso 裸 麦 味噌 ).
Others are the "5-grain miso" Gokoku-Miso ( 五穀 味噌 ), Inaka-Miso Red Miso ( 田 舎 味噌 ), Vegetable Miso Kinzanji-miso and Namé-miso (finger lickin miso), and Goto-miso , Neri -miso (Sweet simmered miso), Hishio
Depending on the raw materials used and the fermentation time , the finished miso has a light to dark brown color.
health and nutrition
The main nutrients in miso are protein , vitamin B 2 , vitamin E , various enzymes , isoflavones , choline and lecithin . Because of these ingredients, the benefits of miso for human consumption are often highlighted by food companies. A high content of vitamin B 12 was also often emphasized, but this turned out to be wrong: Vitamin B 12 , a vitamin relevant for human nutrition, does not occur naturally in miso.
Web links
- http://www.miso.or.jp/ (Japanese)
- What's New and Beneficial About Miso on whfoods.com, accessed February 17, 2017.
literature
- William Shurtleff, Akiko Aoyagi: The Book of Miso. Vol. 1, Second Edition, Ten Speed Press, 2001, ISBN 978-1-58008-336-2 , online (PDF; 37.43 MB), at pdf-archive.com, accessed on February 17, 2017.
- William Shurtleff, Akiko Aoyagi: Miso Production: The Book of Miso. Vol. II, Second Edition, Soyfoods Center, 1980, ISBN 978-0-933332-00-3 .
- John Belleme, Jan Belleme: The Miso Book: The Art of Cooking with Miso. Square One Publishers, 2004, ISBN 978-0-7570-0028-7 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ 'Miso, the traditional way of making . Archived from the original on February 18, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
- ^ Keith A. Powell, Annabel Renwick, John F. Peberdy: The Genus Aspergillus: From Taxonomy and Genetics to Industrial Application. Springer, 2013, ISBN 978-1-4899-0981-7 , p. 161.
- ^ William Shurtleff, Akiko Aoyagi: History of Koji - Grains And / or Soybeans Enrobed with a Mold Culture (300 BCE To 2012). Soyinfo Center, 2012, ISBN 978-1-928914-45-7 .
- ↑ History of Miso and Soybean Chiang - Page 1. at soyinfocenter.com, accessed October 29, 2016 .