Yakimiso: Simple but Tasty Japanese Miso Condiment
Together with “Shoyu (醤油: soy sauce)”, “Miso (味噌: fermented soybean paste)” is a quintessential Japanese seasoning that is quite well recognized in many countries.
As miso soup and plain white rice make up the essential parts of the Japanese diet, many of us have food made with fermented soybean paste almost every day.
As a seasoning, we occasionally use miso paste singly, but in most cases together with other seasonings like mirin and sake.
Additionally, we sometimes make a seasoning or condiment blend by combining fermented soybean paste with other seasonings.
For example, the combination of miso and mayonnaise, Miso Mayo is commonly prepared by Japanese home cooks and is typically used for fresh vegetables like cucumber sticks.
In addition to that, I have one more recommended miso-based condiment, which is called “Yaki Miso (焼き味噌)”
Yaki Miso (焼き味噌)
Yakimiso is a miso condiment that has long been loved in Japan. Actually, it is a compound word composed of “Yaki (焼き)”, a Japanese word for “grill”, and “Miso (味噌)”, so Yaki-Miso literally refers to grilled miso paste.
Basic Recipe
Image and Recipe: macaro-ni.jp
However, Yaki-Miso isn’t just a grilled miso paste, but the recipe calls for some ingredients in addition to miso. But according to the popular Japanese recipe site “Macaroni”, the basic recipe of the miso condiment is quite simple as follows.
| Ingredients | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Miso | 3 tablespoons |
| Long green onion | 1/4 to 1/2 |
| Sesame oil | 1 teaspoon |
| Sugar | 1 teaspoon |
- First, chop the long green onion into fine pieces
- Put the sesame oil in a pan and fry the green onion pieces until wilted
- Turn off the heat and add in the sugar and miso paste. Stir the mixture well until the sugar dissolves
- Again, lightly cook the mixture over low heat until it becomes savory
- Ready to eat, enjoy Yakimiso!
Uses
As for the usage of Yaki Miso, Japanese people like to eat it with plain white rice or vegetables. Since the cooked miso is savory, it works especially well with plain or bland food and goes perfectly as a nibble with alcoholic drinks like sake.
