Miso

Directions

1. 1
   Sterilize all utensils in boiling water before preparing to make miso.
2. 2
   Rinse the soybeans and soak in the water overnight or until the soybeans have approximately doubled in size.
3. 3
   Bring a large pot with the soybeans and soaking water to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook, covered, for 3 to 4 hours or until soybeans are soft.
4. 4
   The soybeans can also be cooked in a pressure cooker.
5. 5
   Put the soaked beans with the soaking water in a pressure cooker and cook at max pressure for 40 minutes.
6. 6
   Consult your pressure cooker manual for additional instructions.
7. 7
   Drain the beans into a colander, RESERVING the liquid.
8. 8
   While the beans are still hot, by hand, mash the beans until only about one-third of the soybeans are whole.
9. 9
   Allow the beans to cool down to about 90-95 degrees F.
10. 10
    Use a thermometer!
11. 11
    Koji is like yeast, if the soybeans are too hot, it will kill the cultures.
12. 12
    Take 200 ml of the reserved liquid (adding additional filtered water as needed) and dissolve the salt.
13. 13
    Add this liquid slowly to the soybeans while stirring continuously.
14. 14
    Crumble the koji into the miso mixture and with your clean hands mix until you obtain a smooth mixture.
15. 15
    To ferment the miso, use a heavy, glazed, ceramic, food-safe container.
16. 16
    Rub the inside of the container with 1 teaspoon of salt and add the miso mixture.
17. 17
    Level the miso surface and sprinkle 1 teaspoon of salt across the surface, to prevent unwanted molds and bacteria from spoiling the air-exposed areas.
18. 18
    Cover the miso with piece of parchment paper cut to fit the container exactly.
19. 19
    Press the paper firmly on the miso, smoothing out wrinkles and bubbles.
20. 20
    Top with a round wooden lid that just fits in the container (sitting directly on top of the miso) and about 10 pounds of weights.
21. 21
    My mom uses boiled-clean river rocks.
22. 22
    Cover the top of the container with wax or parchment and tie in place with cotton kitchen string.
23. 23
    If your container is large enough, you can repeat the steps above on subsequent days to make more batches of miso, making sure to leave several inches of headspace to be able to sufficiently cover, weight and wrap the container.
24. 24
    Remember to salt the container and the top of the miso each time you make additions to the container.
25. 25
    Place the miso container in a dark, clean, cool room.
26. 26
    The miso will be ready after 12 months fermentation.
27. 27
    During the fermentation some liquid (tamari) will rise to the surface.
28. 28
    If no liquid tamari is seen on the surface then the pressing weight must be increased.
29. 29
    Don't peek.
30. 30
    Opening the container while it is fermenting causes it to lose quality.
31. 31
    You'll need to check it occasionally to make sure that the tamari is rising to the top, but this should be done infrequently, once every couple of months or so.
32. 32
    This miso can be kept in the container for a few years.