Talk to me about miso

[MiniDriver]

I had my first bowl of miso soup today (autocorrect makes it misogynist!) I got it as a sample from the sushi guy. 

And loved it.  I know there are lots of types of miso paste, but don't know what makes one better than others or if there's not much difference between varieties .  Edumacate me, please.

[Run Amok]

Well, my suggestion is to just try some and find what you like. Be aware that miso soup in restuarants starts with "dashi" which is japanese sea stock . So, if you make it at home it probably won't taste the same and that is why. You can make your own dashi pretty easily if you can track down the konbu & bonito- easy to find here, I'm not sure that's the case everywhere.

Anyway- Bonito is fish so I always make my miso without it at home. I like the fuller flavored misos. Typically, the lighter the miso the lighter the flavor. You can also use it for a lot of other things like marinades and salad dressings.

[merigayle]

Miso paste, i get the fermented brown rice miso. I start with a pot of water, bring it to a boil with some cut up veggies. I take some of the water and put it in a bowl and let the wakame (seaweed) soften in it. I add tofu and then take some more of the hot water and mix some of the miso in it and pour it into the pot. I usually add some shoyu to the pot as well. At the end, i cut up the wakame and put it in. yum.

[VP of Tea]

RA, thanks for that bit about the dashi. I like miso soup at sushi places, but when I made it at home it was decidedly underwhelming. That explains it!