My Family's Mild Sweet Miso
- 1 kg Soy beans
- 1 kg Rice koji
- 490 grams Salt
- 250 grams Starter miso (use storebought miso)
- Soak the soy beans overnight (12 hours) in about 3 times the amount of the beans of water.
- Drain off the soaking water.
- Put the soy beans in a "no-water pot" (a pot that doesn't require the addition of a lot of water), add just enough water to cover the beans, and start cooking.
- (If you cook the beans in a regular pot with lots of water, it may take about 3 hours.)
- If you cook the beans in a "no-water pot" for about 30 minutes, the beans will become soft enough the mash with your fingers.
- (They'll still be firm, but you can mash them.)
- Mash the beans up with a potato masher or in a food processor (while the beans are still warm).
- Put the salt and rice koji in a bowl, and rub them together with your hands.
- Sterilize a miso pot with boiling water, then wipe it with a piece of cotton wool impregnated with shochu (a high alcohol distilled white liquor).
- Put half of the starter miso (storebought miso) to the pot (about 125 g) and spread it on the bottom.
- Combine the salt and koji mixture from Step 3 with the mashed soy beans from Step 2 in a bowl.
- Add the remaining starter miso, and mix well.
- Form the mixture into balls.
- Put the balls into the pot from Step 1 little by little leaving no gaps.
- Push down hard with your palms to level out the surface.
- Cover the miso with plastic wrap so that it's not exposed to air.
- Place a weight on top.
- Cover the pot with a lid, and wrap it up with newspaper.
- Put the pot in a cool, dark place.
- Check on it every 3 months.
- It should be ready to eat after the summer.
- If a soy sauce like liquid comes out of the miso, just mix it in.
- If mold grows on the miso, just scoop off that part.
- When the rainy season in June is over, mix the miso up from the bottom to expose it to air.
- It's a good idea to wipe down the pot with shochu again at this time.
- The equipment you need A miso pot; a large pot; a large bowl; a potato masher or a food processor; a weight, or use a bag of salt as a weight instead; plastic wrap; newspaper; string.
koji, salt, starter
Taken from cookpad.com/us/recipes/148049-my-familys-mild-sweet-miso (may not work)