Master the basics of miso to transform everyday cooking

Tips, hacks and recipe ideas for the popular, umami-rich and versatile Japanese fermented bean paste

- Rituparna Roy

If you dine at Ground Up, chef Gayatri Desai's ferment-forward restaurant in Pune, chances are you will be offered a tour of her miso room. Desai has amassed around 40 batches of miso, most of which are prepared using indigenous grains and legumes. There's one made from ghevada, a rajma-like bean with a GI tag from Satara district in Maharashtra. The 36-year-old chef wants to familiarize her diners with an ingredient otherwise rooted in Japanese culture, and at the same time make it accessible and approachable for Indian home cooks.

Miso is a fermented soybean paste, and is believed to have originated in ancient China, and been a Japanese staple for over a millennium. It is made of soybean, salt and koji, which is a fungus cultivated on a grain like rice or barley, and acts as a culture to aid the fermentation process. It can take several months or years for the flavors to mature—from mild fruity and sweet to savory with a kick of umami. It is categorized according to color—white, yellow and red—which indicates the duration of fermentation and flavor profile.

Although miso is usually associated with Japanese cuisine, restaurants are now jazzing things up by using it beyond miso soup and ramen bowls. Chefs are also amping up desserts and cocktails with miso. And the market is flooded with miso products targeting the adventurous cook.