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Category Archives: Miso


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Sautéed Lotus Root with Miso Sauce

Today I will introduce you to “Sautéed Lotus Root with Miso Sauce”.

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Have you ever tried Lotus root? Lotus root is high in vitamin C, potassium, fiber and polyphenol. It doesn’t have a particularly strong taste or aroma but the crunchy texture is amazing! Even if you simmer it 20 ~ 30 minutes, it should still have great texture. Since it has no strong taste as I said, it can be used for many types of dishes.

This miso sauce is versatile. You can use it for any sautéed dish. Very flavorful, not too sweet and not greasy. This may not be a typical sautéed dish that you have had before.

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You can use any kind of dashi stock or broth for this recipe. I would like to introduce you to my favorite natural Dashi stock powder. It is called Kayanoya. I want you to try at some point because it is very delicious and healthy!!

https://usa.kayanoya.com/products

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The ingredients (Servings 2)
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7 oz. Lotus Root

7 oz. Thin Sliced Meat (any kind)

2 small Green Bell Peppers

1 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil

1 Tbsp. Organic Miso Paste

½ Tbsp. Sugar

1 Tbsp. Cooking Sake

2 Tbsp. Dashi Stock (any kind)

The ingredients have many substitutions.

If you don’t want to use alcohol in your dishes, you can use your favorite broth. The authentic dish uses pork as a meat but you can use beef, chicken, lamb, duck, or even fish. Even if you don’t use any meat, it is still very delicious!

The recipe is easy.

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Stir-fry meat and vegetables. Steam for 10 minutes. Add the mixed miso sauce, sauté for 5 minutes.

Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: Sauteed Lotus Root with Miso Sauce


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Miso Marinated Grilled Salmon (Gluten-Free)

Today I will introduce you to “Miso Marinated Grilled Salmon”.

It is very easy to make and incredibly delicious! I use only 4 ingredients. The preparation time is quick (but you need to marinate for at least an hour) and the cooking time is only 10 minutes!! In addition, I cook the salmon in a pan lined with parchment paper so there is no messy cleanup!

Marinated food with miso is very common and has a long history in Japan because it can be stored for a long time. We marinate various vegetables, meats and fish. The miso marinated vegetables are basically eaten without cooking and the miso marinated meats and fish are cooked and served. All ingredients have a lot of miso flavor and are slightly salty so very delicious!!! Lately in Japan, TOFU and EGG YOLK are becoming popular ingredients to marinate with miso.

This miso marinated grilled salmon is great for dinner by itself and also is great with your salad! The marinated salmon can be stored for 3 days in the refrigerator. So you can marinate some salmon fillets at once and cook lunch or dinner for your busiest days! Cooking takes only 10 minutes!

The recipe is

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Mix the marinated sauce and marinate salmon for an hour in the refrigerator.

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Cook in the pan lined with parchment paper.

Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: Miso Marinated Grilled Salmon

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Ingredients (servings 2)
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1 Fillet Salmon

3 Tbsp. ORGANIC Miso Paste

2 Tbsp. Cooking Sake

2 Tbsp. Organic Mirin (sweet cooking rice wine)

Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: Miso Marinated Grilled Salmon


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Very Flavorful “Authentic Tofu Miso Soup” (vegan/vegetarian/gluten-free)

Today I will teach you “How to make Authentic Homemade Miso Soup” with recipe video and detailed PDF direction. It is very easy to cook and has great flavor and wonderful taste, but I am sure you have never tasted authentic miso soup at most of restaurants in the US.

One of tips for cooking miso soup is to use great Dashi stock. I use different Dashi stocks depending on ingredients in my miso soup. I like to use bonito Dashi stock for vegetable miso soup. I tend to use kelp or anchovy Dashi stock for seaweed and seafood miso soup. Sometimes I use blended Dashi stocks which is very flavorful! If you follow a vegan diet, you can use kelp Dashi stock. I have some homemade Dashi stock recipes in my blog.
Here is “Kelp Dashi Stock” recipe post:  Homemade Kelp Dashi stock / Salted Kelp (Vegan/Vegetarian/Gluten-Free)
Here is “Anchovy Dashi Stock” recipe post: Homemade Anchovy Dashi Stock (Gluten-Free)

But you can also use instant Dashi stock powder to save time. There are a lot of great ones in many Asian markets and also on Amazon.

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Bonito Dashi powder              Kelp Dashi Powder

I want to tell you one more tip to cook delicious miso soup. Basically I use 2 Tbsp. of miso paste for 2 cups of Dashi stock. But you can use less or more miso paste. I tend to use a little bit more miso paste than 2 Tbsp. for vegetable miso soup. I use less than 2 Tbsp. of miso paste for seafood miso soup because I can enjoy the seafood flavor!

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Miso soup is an important dish in the Japanese diet. Miso (Soybean paste) is a traditional fermented food product. It is a very nutritious food, and Japanese say it may help keep the doctor away. In fact, there have been many studies of the beneficial effects of Miso on human health. I like to eat miso soup for breakfast more than anything else because I feel energy, my stomach feels comfortable and my head becomes clear. I think my body gets ready for school or work when I have miso soup in the morning.

In this recipe I use tofu. I like tofu miso soup because it is the quickest and easiest miso soup recipe! You can use any vegetables such as onion, potato, spinach, Daikon radish, mushrooms, carrot, bean sprouts, and so on. You can also use any seafood and seaweed for miso soup such as Wakame seaweed, clam, freshwater clam, oyster, lobster, and so on.

The recipe is very easy.

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Boil Dashi stock and cut tofu. Dissolve miso paste.

Ingredients (servings 2)
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7 oz. (1/2 pack) Tofu

2 cups Dashi Stock (any kind is okay)
(recommended instant kelp Dashi powder)Kelp Dashi Powder
(Recommended instant bonito Dashi powder)Ajinomoto – Hon Dashi

2 Tbsp. ORGANIC Miso Paste

Some minced Green Onion (to taste)

Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: Tofu Miso Soup

Recipe Video on YouTube:


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Fried Eggplant with Chicken and Miso (Gluten-Free)

Today, I introduce you to fried eggplant. This dish is my mother’s original recipe. She used Miso paste and ginger so it is very nutritious and delicious.

Eggplant is low calorie and has polyphenol, which works as an antioxident.

Miso is a fermented food. Recently, there have been some studies suggesting that fermented foods can improve our immunity. Japanese, who live longer than people from any other country, eat a lot of fermented foods, such as Umeboshi (pickled plum), soy sauce, Miso paste, Katsuobushi (dried bonito) and Natto.

Ginger is also very nutritious and healthy. Ginger helps  our blood flow, helps speed up our metabolism, and blocks the oxidation process inside our body.

This dish has the great flavor of ginger and juicy chicken and it doesn’t have a strong taste of Miso paste, so I am sure everybody can enjoy it!

{Ingredients (for 2 people)}
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・½ Eggplant

・0.5 lb Ground Chicken

・1 teaspoon grated ginger

・1/4 cup vegetable oil

・4 teaspoons ORGANIC Miso Paste

・2 teaspoons Sugar

・2 teaspoons Mirin Sweet Cooking Rice Wine

・4 teaspoons Cooking Sake

Here is my recipe in PDF: Fried Eggplant with Miso


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Miso soup (Gluten-Free)

Miso soup is also an important dish in the Japanese diet. Miso (Soybean paste) is a traditional fermented food product. It is a very nutritious food and may help keep the doctor away. In fact there have been many studies of the effects of Miso on human health.

The basic arrangement for many Japanese meals is called “Ichi-juu, San-sai”, and consists of one bowl of cooked rice, one kind of soup and three vegetable or fish side dishes, so most people have miso soup during  every meal.

Here I will introduce onion and shiitake miso soup. You can cook many other kinds of miso soup such as tofu and seaweed, Japanese radish and deep fried tofu, potato and onion, clam and green onion, and so on. Depending on the ingredients you want to use you may need to slightly change the amount of miso and the amount of cooking Sake based on taste.

{Ingredients (For 2 people)}
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2 tablespoons ORGANIC Miso Paste

½ onion

2 Dried Shiitake Mushrooms

1 cup Anchovy Dashi stock

1 cup water (leftover from soaking Shiitake)

1 tablespoon Cooking Sake

Here is my recipe in PDF: Miso soup