Miso- Koji in food

You add koji to rice, it gives you sake.

You add koji to soy beans, it gives you miso.

Miso (YES! also made with koji)- is one of the staples of Japanese cuisine. Miso is fermented soybean paste, made of our soybeans or grains, salt and koji. Since miso is fermented aliment, it is full of probiotics and it's great for your gut health.

Our first ever recipe- dedicated to the only item on the menu of Meshiya (yea, that lovely Izakaya in the movie Midnight Diner 深夜食堂)- Tonjiru 豚汁

Tonjiru 豚汁

Serving for 2-3 people

Ingredients:

Pork Belly slice 50g

Carrot 1/2 pc

Radish (daikon) 1/3 pc

Konjac (grey) 1/3 pc

Root (Gobo) 1 pc

Mushroom or shiitake 2-3 pcs

Yam 2-3 pcs

Ginger 3-4 slices

Garlic 5-6 cloves

Spring Onion (for garnish)

Dashi 400ml

Awase Miso 2 1/2 tbs

Sesame oil 2 tbs

Instructions:

1) Cut all the vegetables in small pieces (same size) and cut the pork belly slices into 2-3 cm.

2) Stir fry pork and vegetables with sesame oil for 5-6 mins

3) Pour dashi and mushroom and konjac into the pot

4) Grate ginger and garlic and put into the soup

5) Once it's boiling, turn off the fire and put miso

6) Serve it in a bowl and garnish with spring onion

Remarks: We used Awase miso for this dish. Awase miso is a mix of both white and red miso- it's a very versatile ingredient, which is suitable for almost all types of Japanese cooking.

Sake Pairing

While it's a matter of taste when it comes to which sake to pair, just as a rule of thumb, this dish being flavourful and rich in umami, should be best with the RICH style (e.g. Junmai). Our chef loves this in winter with hot sake (Atsukan). And guess which sake style is best to be served hot? Also the RICH style!