Which miso paste

Less forceful than most red misos and an affable entry into the pungent world of aka. Ideal for soup. Bold, dynamic, rich; this is your prototypical red. The most distinctively fermented of our faves. Best in small doses. By Robin Bashinsky March 27, You only need a little bit to add some serious umami to your dishes. It's typically made with fermented soybeans and barley or another grain.

It ranges from dark brown to red in color. What it's good for: Marinades and glazes for heartier dishes, like meats and certain vegetables, such as eggplant. You can use the first two varieties interchangeably, but if you find the exact kind your recipe calls for, go for it. If you're stuck with red and want to use it in a recipe that calls for white or yellow, be careful and use it to taste. Now that you know a little more about the different kinds of miso, here are 13 miso recipes to try out:.

Want to read more from HuffPost Taste? Follow us on Twitter , Facebook , Pinterest and Tumblr. News U. Politics Joe Biden Congress Extremism. Special Projects Highline. HuffPost Personal Video Horoscopes. Follow Us. As with lots of cooking ingredients, finding the right miso comes down to personal taste, Takayama notes, so we also asked the chefs how they use their favorite misos to help you choose the right one for you.

All of the chefs we spoke to say that white miso paste is a must-have for home cooking. Kazushige Suzuki, the head sushi chef at Sushi Ginza Onodera , keeps this saikyo miso paste, a sweeter white variety that originated in Kyoto, stocked in his kitchen to use in dips for fresh vegetables or sauces he says a very simple sauce can be made with just saikyo miso and vinegar.

Kyogoku also likes using a sweeter, Kyoto-style miso. Most of the chefs we spoke with say that home cooks should keep at least one white miso paste and one red miso paste — which are on the opposite ends of the pungency spectrum — in their pantries for maximum versatility. Because red miso is fermented for longer, it usually has a stronger, saltier flavor compared to white and yellow misos.

Therefore, they say, it should be reserved for heartier dishes, since it can easily overwhelm simpler food. Eusebio calls this affordable red miso paste from Shirakiku his favorite it is also the red miso we found most readily available online. Yellow miso is more fermented than white miso but still has a mild flavor.

Kim specifically likes the one from Cold Mountain, which is more readily available online. Gaby Dalkin, an L. Awase miso is a cross between red miso and white miso. While several of the chefs we spoke to recommend buying the two types separately and then mixing them as needed for recipes, Lawrence told us he loves this already blended awase miso from Horikawaya Nomura.

Vuong, chef and co-founder of Yaki Tiki and Rule of Thirds , recommends a barley miso.