Food Styling by Barbara Gray, Food Consultants
of Hawaii / Photo by Dean Sensui, Star-Bulletin

By Kekoa Catherine Enomoto
Star-Bulletin

You may think of soothing miso soup as chilly-weather comfort food, but cold miso chicken is also perfect picnic fare for summertime. Moreover, a Maui chef says summer is the season for red miso.

"There are certain misos with different flavors, they're like coffees," said Katsuhiko Sato, chef at the Maui Prince Hotel's Hakone Restaurant, which features baked lobster with miso sauce and white miso gnocchi soup.

Four flavors Misos shown at top, from top down: White miso (shiro): Light, mild and sweet. Use in dressings, to pickle vegetables and fish, and as a topping for foods to be grilled. Kurano kaori miso: A light reddish brown Japan-made miso. Red miso (aka): Health-food stores offer this Japanese, Westbrae Natural Red Miso. Black miso (hatcho): Aged up to 3 years. Has a deep, slightly bitter flavor.

Sato said red miso is thin and more suited for summer dishes, while the thicker white miso is more appropriate for winter use. His staff buys both misos and combines them, using more red miso in the summer mix, more white in winter.

Red, white or black miso -- how do you cook with the salty, fermented soybean paste often made with rice or barley?

"Miso is ethnic and seasonal," said John Morita, part owner of the half-century-old American Hawaiian Soy Co., maker of Marufuku miso. "Put miso in gravies for meats. I know a Chinese lady who always puts miso in her pot-roast gravy. Her kids love it.

"Miso complements vegetables, such as watercress in soups. Or put a little bit of miso in stew, to make it sweeter," he said.

Hawaii-made Maru-HI and Marufuku brands are milder and less salty than Japan-made miso, because they're aged quickly in a subtropical climate, and made with about 70 percent rice and 30 percent soybeans.

Local miso is also "handmade," not totally machine processed as in Japan, and it's unpasteurized; thus, isle miso contains healthful, live cultures that aid digestion and cleanse the body's system, Morita said.

Food Styling by Barbara Gray, Food Consultants
of Hawaii / Photo by Dean Sensui, Star-Bulletin

A look at recipes by chefs and miso makers reveals that miso's easy as 1-2-3. Generally cooking, add 1 tablespoon miso per cup of soup. Add 2 tablespoons per 1 cup of miso vinaigrette. And, add 3 tablespoons or more per 1 cup of miso marinade; for chicken, fish, even grilled veggies.

When selecting a type of miso, remember, the darker it is, the longer it has been aged -- making it stronger and saltier.

Morita, who takes miso-soup breaks instead of coffee breaks at his Kalihi-Kai factory, divulged the secrets of miso soup. "You bring the stock to a boil, and miso is the very last thing you put in. If you boil the miso it tastes bitter.

"When you're just about ready to eat the soup, you put miso in a bowl, add some of the boiling stock and mix them to form a 'creamy poi' consistency. You pour this mixture back into the soup pot, so the miso doesn't boil and you don't have to chase out all the lumps."

Tofu and green onions might be the only garnish in summer versions of miso soup, while winter soups take more and larger chunks of mushrooms, daikon and other veggies, he said.

For flavorful miso chicken or miso butterfish, Morita said, "I lomi it every so often -- that is the key, even for fish."

Big Island chef consultant Faith Ogawa shared two tips for miso vinaigrette. "Let it sit for about a day or more, so all of the herbs and flavors can blend in, and so it has a nice, refined flavor to it."

And, "good vinaigrette is well-balanced in flavor. The acidity and amount of oils are blended just enough, so you don't pucker but have a wonderful flavor to go with a nice, crisp salad." Then, she adds a little liquid, such as vegetable stock or water, to dilute and lighten the vinaigrette.

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By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
The makings of miso, from left: soybeans, rice and salt,
with the miso starter in the center.

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Miso adds zing to
many dishes

Staff & wire services

Make use of that plastic tub of miso in the back of your refrigerator in a raft of soup, sauce, marinade and vinaigrette recipes.

Marufuku miso soup

John Morita, American Hawaiian Soy Co.

4 cups water
8 medium-size dried shrimp
2 heaping tablespoons miso (equal to about 3 to 4 level tablespoons)

In a pot, combine water and dried shrimp; bring to a boil. In a soup bowl, combine miso and a small ladle full of the hot broth; stir to achieve the consistency of "creamy poi." Return miso/broth mixture to pot and stir to incorporate; do not boil. Serve soup in individual bowls. Makes 6 servings.

Note: Can add to soup pot veggies and condiments, such as watercress; won bok, or Napa cabbage; wakame, or kelp (if using dried wakame, rehydrate it); small cubes of fresh tofu; aburaage, or dried tofu, cut in small pieces; and kaiware, or radish sprouts. Heat through.

To prepare miso saimin: Make saimin according to package instructions. Add desired condiments, such as bean sprouts, won bok, some scrambled egg and bits of luncheon meat. In the bottom of the individual saimin bowl, mix miso paste -- 1 slightly rounded teaspoon per bowl -- and a little water to form a "creamy poi" consistency; then pour in the boiled saimin noodles and hot soup broth.

Approximate nutritional analysis per serving, plain soup: 30 calories, 1 g total fat, no saturated fat, 10 mg cholesterol, 400 to 600 mg sodium, depending on miso brand.*

Miso veggie tofu soup

Jim Everhart of Folsom, Calif.

1/2 white onion, chopped
2 cans (each 14-1/2 ounces) chicken or vegetable broth
6 cups water
2 cups thinly sliced mushrooms
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, sliced into 1/2-inch strips
Pinch red pepper flakes
4 green onions, thinly sliced (save tops for garnish)
3/4 cup mild miso
14-ounce package extra-firm tofu, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 head cabbage, roughly shredded
1 red bell pepper, quartered and thinly sliced
3 stalks celery, thinly sliced across the grain
1 cup snow peas, cut into thirds

Combine and bring to a boil: onion, broth, water, mushrooms, ginger, red pepper flakes, green onions. Stir in miso until fully dissolved and bring back to a boil. Add tofu and return to a simmer for 2 minutes. Add cabbage, bell pepper, celery and snow peas and heat for 2 minutes. Serve with a garnish of green onion tops. Makes 8 servings.

Approximate nutritional analysis per serving: 121 calories, 4 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, no cholesterol, 1,432 mg sodium.*

John Morita's miso
chicken or fish

2-1/2 pounds chicken thighs, skin removed (or butterfish, with skin left on 1 side)
Bed of shredded cabbage for garnish

Marinade:
1 cup miso
3 tablespoons sugar or mirin (sweet-rice wine)
1 tablespoon sake (or beer)
1-inch "finger" of ginger, grated
1/2 teaspoon Asian garlic-chile paste, optional (or chile-pepper flakes to taste)

Combine marinade ingredients. Marinate chicken or butterfish in a resealable plastic bag in refrigerator for 1 hour or overnight, making sure to lomi (massage) marinade into meat or fish.

Bake chicken 20 minutes at 325 degrees. Turn chicken over and bake 20 minutes more. Increase oven temperature to 375 or 400 degrees and brown 5 to 10 minutes.

Or, bake chicken halfway, then finish cooking on a hot grill.

To cook miso butterfish: Cut a piece of brown-paper bag to fit inside a skillet; oil both sides of paper. Heat skillet on low heat. Put marinated fillets on heated paper and cook, covered, for a few minutes on low heat. Turn fish over on paper and cook, covered, until done.

Arrange chicken or fish on cabbage and serve. Makes 5 servings chicken or 6 servings fish.

Note: Double the marinade for a 5-pound box of chicken.

Approximate nutritional analysis per serving chicken: 310 calories, 9 g total fat, 2 g saturated fat, 105 mg cholesterol, 2,000 to 2,200 mg sodium. Per serving butterfish: 430 calories, 19 g total fat, 2 g saturated fat, 125 mg cholesterol, 1,800 to 2,000 mg sodium.*

John Morita's quick
miso barbecue sauce

1 part miso paste
1 part ketchup
1 part brown sugar
Grated fresh ginger to taste
Chopped green onions to taste, optional

Combine ingredients and use to marinate and baste grilled pork or other meats.

Approximate nutritional analysis per 2 tablespoons sauce: 80 calories, 1 g total fat, no saturated fat, no cholesterol, 500 to 700 mg sodium.*

Miso vinaigrette

Faith Ogawa, chef consultant, Waimea, Big Island

1/4 cup white miso
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup peanut oil
1/2 cup vegetable or chicken stock (or 1/3 to 1/2 cup water plus salt to taste)
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon mirin (sweet-rice wine)
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds

Whisk together all ingredients and chill. Makes 2 cups or 16 (2-tablespoon) servings, based on adding 1/3 cup water. Drizzle over crisp salad greens.

Approximate nutritional analysis per serving: 90 calories, 7 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, no cholesterol, 240 mg sodium.*

Mark Ellman's
tomato miso vinaigrette

From "Dr. Shintani's HawaiiDiet Cookbook" by
Terry Shintani, Health Foundation Press, 1997, $15.95

2 tablespoons chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 cup white wine
1 cup rice vinegar
1 cup tomato puree
8 tablespoons red miso
1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 sprigs fresh tarragon

Saute onion and garlic in wine; reduce to a glace. Add vinegar and reduce by half. Add tomato puree and reduce by half. Add miso; bring just to a boil. Emulsify in a blender with olive oil and tarragon, with a touch of sesame seed oil. Add water if too thick. Makes 24 servings.

Approximate nutritional anlysis per serving: 31 calories, 1 g total fat.*