How Miso Is Made

Source Foods steam organic short grain brown rice or barley and then introduce a micro culture - aspergillus oryzae. The inoculated grain is then kept warm and humid for about 40hrs in traditional cedar wood trays until bound in enzyme rich white threads. Now called koji it is mixed with cooked organic soy or field beans (depending on variety of miso), sea salt and then packed into vats where an enzymatic fermentation begins the breakdown of the beans and grain into an easily accessible food source.

The duration of the miso fermentation is determined by the ratio of ingredients. High koji to bean and low salt makes an active miso fermentation with a light colour and mellow savory sweetness like our sweet brown miso or mellow range of miso. These misos compared with a low koji to bean and high salt ratio, which will produce a slow miso fermentation (our amakuchi miso) with larger colonies of yeasts, bacteria, darker colour and stronger taste.

Different beans and grains add interesting tastes; Field beans giving a earthy sweetness, some long time suppressed seeds of Hemp imparting a delicate taste and bouquet, or good fiery ginger and mexican spices make yummy delicious varieties of miso.

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