| 1 | The best resource on miso that i know of is shurtleff and aoyagi"s book _the book of miso_. |
| 2 | It"s quite a complex subject. |
| 3 | The differences is miso can be attributed to a variet of factors, from the proportion of ingredients, cooking techniques, and duration and temperature of fermentation. |
| 4 | The redish color comes from long fermentation times (or in cheap imitations, from dyes). |
| 5 | The whiter misos are generally fermented for short times, and often made with rice in addition to soybeans. |
| 6 | Reds are generally saltier and whites sweeter. |
| 7 | Misos vary widely in fat content (like most soy products) and generally range from .25 to 1.5 gram of fat per tablespoon (and from about 6%cff to over 30%cff). |
| 8 | Some varieties, like peanut miso, obviously have even more fat. |
| 9 | Since it is rare that a dish has more than 1 t miso per serving, miso does not generally add appreciable fat to a dish. |
| 10 | Many of the white sweet misos clock in at the low end (.25 grams per t, 6-10%cff) so if you do want to use more miso, these kinds can be added liberally to a dish (and since their taste isn"t as strong or salty, they do become many dishes in greater quantity). |
| 11 | I find the dark, hearty misos make great gravy starters. |
| 12 | Add a bit of water/stock, some nutritional yeast, spices and a thickener to some miso and voila, instant delicious gravy. |
| 13 | A favorite miso-potato recipe follows. |
| 14 | There are numerous styles of miso. |
| 15 | Red misos tend to be more "savory" and white ones are usually more "sweet". |
| 16 | Country-style (inaka) is made grainier on purpose. |
| 17 | If served as a sauce on veggies, probably it"s not straight miso but mixed w/sugar and some rice vinegar. |
| 18 | Btw a warning to vegetarians, some misos come "dashi-iri" which includes fish-based stock. |
| 19 | I think the ingredients label in english will mention fish, but not sure (since i can read the japanese, i don"t usually check the english), so check the ingredients carefully. |
| 20 | There is kombu-dashi (i even found some granulated packets) which is vegetarian, but most dashi is from bonito flakes (i guess it must be cheaper). |
| 21 | Aiko p |
