and koji users out there (hi, Benny!), the Flavor Freaks Substack site has an interesting new post on turning leftover soup into a miso or tamari with the help of mushrooms or other plant protein. I think it can be accessed without a subscription since I did so:
TomP
Hi Tom, thanks for thinking of me. You need to subscribe to read the article, they do offer a free 7 day subscription though. I just hate subscribing and then starting to get a ton of emails.
Benny
Sorry, Benny, I have a subscription to a different Substack site. Somehow I was able to read this one too, but now I can't. Maybe it was public for the first 7 days, sometimes people do that. I don't remember the key bits well enough to help. What I do remember is that when you have leftover broth (with no bones but maybe plenty of spices) and cook it ad cook it until even the woodiest bits soften, that bakes a good substrate for starting a batch of miso. I don't remember if he just plopped mushrooms into the mix and cooked them down too or did some other treatment of them. I do remember that a mix of wild mushrooms would taste better than just the usual supermarket varieties.
It is an interesting concept. I do wonder about the risk for developing mold with this method as it sounds fairly wet. The major risk when making miso is if it is too wet, you can get bad mold growing on it. Thus when I make miso, I ensure that it is quite dry and so far, several batches in now, I’ve never had bad mold growth.
Benny