Saturday, December 23, 2017

Make Your Own Miso

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Ingredients
2 pounds non-GMO dried soybeans
2 pounds basmati rice koji
14 ounces fine white sea salt

Note:  Overall this process will take three to six months to complete

STEP 1 - Rice Koji
4.5 cups basmati rice
1.5 teaspoons koji starter

Directions
  • Rinse rice in cold water until the water is no longer cloudy
  • Soak rice in water overnight 
  • Drain water from rice
  • Line a steamer with fine-mesh cheesecloth and steam rice for one hour (note, mutimple batches may be required depending on the size of steamer)
  • Remove rice from steamer
  • Once cool enough to touch, use clean hands to stir and work out any clumps that have formed Continue to stir until rice has cooled to 110°F
  • Add koji starter to rice and mix thoroughly for 3-5 minutes
  • Cover with a clean and damp cloth
  • Incubate at 86°F for at least 12 hours (you must control your incubator's temperature based on the internal temperature of the rice)
  • After the first 6 hours, stir rice and break up any clumps that have formed
  • Cover and return to incubator for another 6 hours
  • Stir rice again; if its drier than before, re-dampen cloth, cover, and return to incubator for another 12 hours (note:  rice should smell faintly sweet)
  • Stir rice one more time and then create 2-3 trenches or furrows in the rice bed. 
  • Make the trenches halfway deep with a goal to create as much surface area as possible
  • Cover and incubate for 12 more hours, ensuring that the temperature remains near 86°F (30°C)
  • Occasionally, check rice and dampness of cloth
  • Rice should smell sweet and fragrant and have signs of a white fuzzy mold beginning to form. Cover and ferment for another 12 hours.
  • Once white mold has stretched across the rice bed, remove from incubator
  • Break up the rice clumps, and bring to room temperature
  • Use rice koji immediately, refrigerate or freeze in a sealed container, or slowly dry for 1-2 days 
STEP 2 - Beans
  • In a large pot of cold filtered water, soak the soybeans for 24 hours
  • Drain the beans and return them to the pot
  • Refill the pot with water to about 5 inches above the beans
  • Bring to a boil over high heat, lower to a simmer, and cook for about 6 hours (or more) until the beans are soft
  • Drain the cooked beans and mash into a coarse consistency
STEP 3 - Miso
  • Pour in rice koji
  • Sprinkle in 3/4th of the salt
  • Knead well to distribute the rice koji and salt with the mashed beans
  • Place a large crockery pot or food-grade plastic vat on the floor on top of plastic sheeting
  • Using your hands, form a palm sized spheres of bean mash and throw them into the container until half filled
  • Pat down the surface of the bean mash with the flat of your palm and sprinkle with the remaining 1/4th of salt
  • Smooth a clean muslin cloth across the surface of the mash and let it drape down over the sides of the container to keep out flying leaves or other debris
  • Place a wooden or plastic drop lid on top of the cloth-covered mash surface
  • Weight it evenly with 4 1/2 pound (flat weights or rocks)
  • Cover with one more large muslin cloth and wind string around the pot to tie the cloth in place; the cloth is needed as a mold barrier 
  • Let the young miso sit undisturbed (a warm place indoors or in a shaded area outside in spring/fall)
  • About once a month stir the miso; if you see any mold on the surface, carefully scrape it off
  • Once prepared, put in storage containers or jars; Miso can be stored for years

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