The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Homemade Miso

Benito's picture
Benito

Homemade Miso

After my go at the Red Miso Furikake Sourdough bake, Cedarmountain gave me the idea to make my own miso.  I actually use a lot of miso in my cooking and now I’m also gradually using it in my baking.  So why not make my own miso?  The first hurdle was to source koji rice.  I was able to find some here in Toronto as we have a local sake producer called Izumi and they sold me some koji rice.  Well the ingredient list for a simple miso is even shorter than bread, Koji rice, soy beans, salt and water.  OK perhaps it is the same as for bread.  The following is the recipe for miso that I followed.  

https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-make-miso/

 

HOMEMADE MISO

Prep Time 30 mins Cook Time 1 hr 30 mins Soaking Time 18 hrs Total Time 20 hrs

 

Make Homemade Miso from scratch with just 3 ingredients and a little patience. My simple step-by-step instructions on How to Make Miso will guide you through this process. Once it is made, you can use the amazing fermented paste for many delicious Japanese dishes!

Course: How to

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: miso

Servings: 3 kg (6.6 lb)

Author: Nami

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

January/February

  1. Gather all the ingredients. Besides this, you will need 2 large bowls (one should be a very big one), 1 strainer, Instant Pot (or pressure cooker or a large pot), a clean cloth, alcohol (shochu or vodka), a potato masher (or a food processor), a 1-gallon glass jar to put miso in, and a bag of 1 kg (2.2 lb) table salt.

2. Gently wash the soybeans thoroughly several times under running water.

 

3. In a large bowl, add the rinsed soybeans and fill the bowl with filtered water to about 5 inches (10 cm) above the beans. Soak the soybeans for 18 hours.

 

4. Drain the beans. Look how large the beans are now. The right soybean is before soaking, and left two soybeans are after 18 hours of soaking. After soaking, total soybeans weigh 1435 g.

 

5. Add the soybeans into the inner pot of Instant Pot. Fill the pot with filtered water to about ½ inch (1.2 cm) above the beans (roughly 8 cup line of the pot).

 

6. Close the lid and set HIGH pressure for 20 minutes. Make sure the steam release handle points at “sealing” and not “venting”.

7. STOVETOP OPTION: Alternatively, you can cook the beans on the stovetop. Bring to a boil over high heat, skim off the surface scum, lower to a simmer, and cook for about 3-4 hours, uncovered, until the beans are soft. Add water as needed during simmering to keep the soybeans submerged in just enough water.

 

8. Meanwhile, in a large bowl (You will add mashed soybeans in this bowl, so use your largest bowl/pot/container/dish), combine the rice koji and salt with your hands.

 

9. Also, put some alcohol (shochu, vodka, soju, sake, etc) on a clean cloth and wipe inside the jar you will put miso in.

 

10. Once the pressure cooking is finished, release the pressure naturally. It will take about 30 minutes till pressure comes down completely and you can open the lid.

 

11. Test if the beans are done, by pressing a bean between a pinky and thumb. If it is mashed nicely, it’s ready. Drain the soybeans over a bowl to capture the cooking liquid. NOTE: When you are mashing the beans, you may need some cooking liquid, so save about 1 cup just in case. Ideally, it’s best not to use the cooking liquid at all (for this particular recipe, which is designed to make miso without adding cooking liquid). Water in the miso has a higher risk of potentially causing mold growth in the miso.

 

12. While the soybeans are still hot, transfer some of the soybeans back in the Instant Pot inner pot and mash them with a potato masher (pestle or bottle, etc). Do this process in batches so it’s easier to mash nicely.

 

13. If you have a food processor, process some soybeans until they are paste form. Do this process in batches so it’s easier to process.

 

14. ONLY if the soybeans look really dry, add a small amount of cooking liquid. As I mentioned earlier, it’s best if you don’t add it in this recipe. Scoop out the paste and continue with next batch.

 15. Mashed soybeans must be warm/room temperature (NEVER hot) before combining them with the koji because hot soybeans can kill koji mold. Mashing takes time unless you make a small batch, so you don’t need to worry about the soybeans being hot in this recipe.

16. Add the warm (not hot!) mashed soybeans into the bowl with the koji and salt mixture.

 

17. Knead well to distribute the rice koji and salt with mashed soybeans. Take time to do this process until it’s mixed well.

 

18. Using your hands, form tennis ball-sized balls with mashed soybeans.

 

19. Put each ball into the container and mash it with your fist and knuckle to ensure that all air pockets have been eliminated. Do one layer at a time, and make sure to press down tightly. If you have a glass jar, you can see if you miss any pockets by looking from the side of the jar.

 

20. Repeat this process until all the balls are pressed tightly in the jar. Pat down the surface with flat of your palm or knuckle to smooth out. Make sure you have a space left for the weight on top of the miso. If your jar/container is too small, use another container. Clean the inside surface walls of the container with a shochu-soaked cloth/paper towel to deter mold.

 

21. Sprinkle ½ Tbsp of sea salt on top of the surface.

 

22. Place a plastic wrap on top of the surface and make sure to cover nicely. I use my adjustable drop lid (otoshibuta) to hold down the plastic wrap while I work on covering the edges and remove it when I was done.

 

23. Put heavy objects (or rocks) on top of the miso. I put 1 kg (2.2 lb) of table salt (cheaper than the sea salt) in a plastic bag and put it on top.

 

To Store

 

  1. Write down the date on a masking tape and put it on a jar. Place the miso in a dark and cool place for at least 3 months (I put in a storage underneath the stairs). You can also use a dark pillow case and try to find a darker spot in the house.
  2. After 3 Months (April/May)

    1. Stir the miso from the bottom up to avoid mold forming. When checking the miso, do so quickly to avoid exposure to air. If you see any mold on the surface, carefully scrape it off. Clean the inside surface walls of the container with a shochu-soaked cloth to deter mold. Smooth the surface, place a new plastic wrap on top, and put the weight back on top. Place the container back to a dark and cool place for another 3 months.

    After 3 More Months (July/August)

    1. During summer months, the fermentation will be faster but the chances of getting mold are higher. Stir the miso from the bottom up every 2-3 weeks and check your jar regularly and remove any mold appearing on the surface. Even if a layer of mold covers the entire surface, the miso below should be fine. Just scrape off the surface to a sufficient depth where only mold-free miso can be seen. Clean the inside surface walls of the container with a shochu-soaked cloth to deter mold. Smooth the surface, place a new plastic wrap on top, and put the weight back on top. Place the container back to a dark and cool place.

    When Miso is Done (September)…

    1. Remove the weights once the miso is done and store it in the refrigerator to prevent from over-fermenting. You can divide the miso into smaller containers so they will fit in your refrigerator. Now you can enjoy your own miso paste made with patience, love, and perseverance. 

Comments

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

Is this the koji rice that you used?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_yeast_rice

Benito's picture
Benito

No I used Koji rice that is inoculated with Aspergillus oryzae. It is a white rice and my understanding which is quite superficial at the moment is that this is what is used most often but I could be wrong. It is certainly the Koji rice used in sake production. 
It would seem that the mold/fungus in the red rice yeast is different from that if Koji rice. In the red rice yeast it is Monascus purpureus.  

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy
Benito's picture
Benito

Here’s the Koji rice I used, I should have posted a photo of it earlier. 

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

Thx. I should have just clicked the links in your post to start with. :-)

I generally like the taste of miso, but my digestive system doesn't like soy.

Benito's picture
Benito

Interestingly, there’s more rice than soy beans in miso, I never would have guessed that until making this.  Also you don’t need to use that much for the flavour punch that it gives to food, but I get it, a lot of people have problems with legumes of all sorts.  Anyhow, thanks for having a look at my blog post Dave.

Elsie_iu's picture
Elsie_iu

Miso originated in different parts of Japan adopts varying ratios of soy beans, rice, wheat and salt. It's a subject in itself!

Getting miso to mature is too a long a wait for me... I barely have the patience to home make shio koji and fermented veggies.

Benito's picture
Benito

That doesn’t surprise me.  It will be interesting to see how this turns out, hopefully I don’t get too much mold by starting it during the summer.  I’m not all that patient about things like this usually but it’s on the floor in the back of my closet so I can be relatively patient with it.  If it does turn out well I’ll have to try making miso with other additions or other legumes or grains.

Edo Bread's picture
Edo Bread

Glad you found ingredients.  When needed I have found I can get a lot of koji needs through Amazon actually.  I am looking forward to seeing your progress on this. September would be a nice young miso. You might consider keeping some fermenting for even longer.

Benito's picture
Benito

One month?  Wow that is a lot faster than I would have thought.  I will check on it relatively frequently now since it is warm but I wasn’t expecting anything approaching miso until three months from now.  Maybe by mid to late September I’ll see what it tastes like.  By using the food processor I didn’t have to add any of the cooking liquid back to the mashed soybeans. I’m hoping that the lack of added liquid reduces the chances of mold forming.  On the other hand, I’ve read that the liquid produced in miso production is Tamari.

Benito's picture
Benito

I guess it is true that miso ferments faster in the summer.  So my miso has been living in the back of my walk-in closet on the floor.  There ideally isn’t anywhere in the condo that is particularly dark and cooler than other places.  I suppose the laundry room but there are some fumes from cleaning supplies in there so didn’t want to keep it there.

After almost three weeks there is a darkening of the colour of the miso.  I haven’t opened it to taste it to see what it tastes like.  I’m a little hesitant because I might introduce mold into the miso so I’ll hold off for another while.

Benito's picture
Benito

Update on my homemade miso adventure.  Today my miso is almost 4 months old.  I opened it up to smell and now it is smelling like miso for the first time.  I prefer a darker richer stronger flavour to my miso so I’ll let it go much longer, in fact I’ll probably give it a year.  At some point I will get impatient and probably taste some.  However, I am cognizant of the risk of introducing mold by removing the salt acting as a weight on the miso so I won’t risk it quite yet.  I do wonder if the koji rice will break down sometime soon.  I don’t really want the rice to stay intact, I wouldn’t want the rice in my miso soup or my miso dressings.  Hopefully with more time the grains will break down.  The place I am storing the miso is quite cool now that it is almost winter, so the fermentation is slowing down, despite that, the miso is clearly becoming a darker colour.

Benito's picture
Benito

My homemade miso is now 8 months into fermentation.  It could definitely be used already, it is darker than a yellow miso but I prefer a darker richer more red miso so I’ll let it go longer.  The miso is quite dark at the top, I believe this is Tamari that has formed.  If my processing of the soya beans was wetter, I believe there would be even more Tamari made as a byproduct of the miso fermentation.  However, the wetter the soya beans are when forming the miso the greater the risk for molds and other unwanted microbes to grown and ruin the miso.  The deepening colour is really apparent now when you compare the miso to the earlier photos.

Benito's picture
Benito

My miso adventure, happy 1st birthday to my miso.  Today it is a year old and has reached what I think is a red miso my favorite stronger flavoured miso.  Tonight I’ll scoop some out and finally taste and and if it is good start to use it.  Tonight my plan is to marinade some chicken and butternut squash with the miso and do a roasted dish.

It has undergone quite the transformation hasn’t it?

 

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

Molto bene, Benny.

Benito's picture
Benito

Thank you Dave, I’ll soon going to open her up and taste her, big moment.