Kaiseki at Home

Fortunately quite a lot of people know about Miso soup, but did you know that there are different Miso pastes?

Today I want to introduce the 2 most important Miso pastes for Kaiseki Cuisine:

• HACCHO MISO – red Miso paste
• SAIKYO MISO – also known as SHIROMISO – white miso paste

There is a slight difference in ingredients, but the most important difference is fermentation time. White miso paste is fermented for a short periode of time, which is why it should be gently simmered when prepared. If you were to just desolve the paste in Dashi it would taste too “raw”. It has lovely sweetness and is one of the specialities of Kyoto. White miso soups are typically eaten during winter.

Red miso paste on the other hand is fermented for a longer time and thus has a much stronger taste. A little goes a long way and it should be gently dissolved in hot Dashi, but not cooked. Red Miso soup (aka. Akadashi) is a typical summer dish, because it is slightly more salty and the mineral content feels refreshing in the summer heat. It is also a great accompaniment to Sushi – the mellow taste of white miso paste is not a good mix with the sour sushi rice.

During autmn and spring typically a mixture of white and red miso paste is served to get the best of both worlds and the ratio of white to red miso paste changes from month to month. This mixed type of soup is called Fukusa-Shitate.