Non soy miso.

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Non soy miso.

Postby Lozax on Sat Feb 23, 2013 11:07 am

Hello,

I just read that :
http://www.wildfermentation.com/new-frontiers-of-miso/

Does any of you know how to make miso with beans or legumes other than soy?

I would be particularly interested in almond or pistachio miso!

Thanks.
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Re: Non soy miso.

Postby 10kFerment on Sat Apr 13, 2013 7:36 pm

I've made miso from northern beans, black beans and black eyed peas and plan on trying kidney beans soon.

I've also made tempeh from northern beans, black beans, pinto beans and kidney beans.

Northern beans are neutral for all blood types so it makes a great addition for people who can't eat traditional miso because of the soy.

Black beans make a fabulous miso and tempeh... not good for the B or AB blood types though, seriously avoid it. :) LOVE the flavor!

:D
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Re: Non soy miso.

Postby WWFSM on Fri Oct 11, 2013 12:36 pm

Can I resurrect this thread? I didn't really want to start a new one on the same topic.

I adore miso, but can no longer eat soy. The supply of soy-free miso is inconsistent in these parts, and at an upward of $20 per pound, a bit out of my price range. So I've started making my own.

First batch is about 2 weeks old. It's a sweet miso (short ferment, with 50/50 koji rice and beans) as described in The Art of Fermentation. I used a mixture of dry beans from the back of the cupboard, mostly romano and black eye peas. It's sitting on the kitchen counter, at between 65 and 71 degrees F (the temperature we keep our house, yes I know, burr). So far it is growing - creeping around the edges of the plate the weight is on - and growing mouldy. The mould is all white, and smells sweet like aged koji rice, and a bit like amazuke (koji rice drink/pudding stuff)

I know koji is a mould, but I'm not use to having so much surface mould growing on my ferment - is this normal? I mean, it completely covers the surface of the liquid, and is now climbing up the weight and sides of the crock - rapidly! Can someone reassure me this is okay for human consumption?

Right now I'm gathering supplies to make my first attempt at one year miso. I'm thinking two vats, of at least 2 gallons each, one with just chickpeas, and one with mixed beans. But I should tell you, the people in the Japanese grocery store do look at you funny when you start ordering koji rice by the kilogram - If this works out, I'll have to learn how to grow my own.
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Re: Non soy miso.

Postby WWFSM on Sat Oct 12, 2013 10:24 am

It's my first attempt at making miso, and I'm getting quite nervous that something may be wrong. It probably isn't, but I would love some reassurance from more experienced miso makers.

So, here's what I mean by surface mould, hopefully the pictures will work.

Image

The mould is all white, smells like amazuke with a bit of bean fart.

Like I said before, it's the sweet miso recipe from The Art of Fermentation, with 1 kilo mixed beans, and 1 kilo koji rice (from the store), and the amount of salt it said in the book. It's two weeks in. I am planing to age it for 4 weeks or whenever I run out of store bought miso.

At the time of mixing, I thought it was on the dry side, but now it has quite a bit of liquid on top, a lot more than I expected.

I scoped off what mould I could and washed the plate and rock well (the rock is always scrubbed with salt and boiled between fermentations to avoid cross contamination. sometimes it's even H2O2 bleached if I'm grumpy at it).

Since it's been two weeks, I thought I would dig in and have a taste. The taste is like beans, and a bit like miso, but with the... I don't know what to describe it, it's like texture-taste of the outside of a rind of a brie that has been in the back of the fridge for far too long - sort of gritty white mould taste, not repulsive, but not yummy either.

Image
(internet willing) here's a photo of what it looks like so far.

I smoothed over the top, replaced the weight, and will try to make a better lid thing for it, but I'm also considering laying soaked kombu (kelp) on top of the miso paste, underneath the lid and weight - I think I read somewhere that this is done sometimes, but I cannot for the life of me find the reference now. Anyone tried this?

so, can anyone reassure me, am I doing this right?
Doing my best to be the change I want to see in the world, one meal at a time.
http://wholewheatfsm.blogspot.ca

Currently Culturing
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Re: Non soy miso.

Postby WWFSM on Thu Oct 17, 2013 11:08 am

...I'm also considering laying soaked kombu (kelp) on top of the miso paste, underneath the lid and weight - I think I read somewhere that this is done sometimes, but I cannot for the life of me find the reference now...


I found out where I read about useing kombu for sealing the top of the miso vat, the Book of Miso http://books.google.ca/books?id=SKqJsiZ49HkC&lpg=PP1&dq=miso&pg=PA169#v=onepage&q&f=true.

Anyway, an update. My 5 gallon crocks arrived this week, but one of them went right back to the shop again because it was cracked when I unpacked it. But I have one crock and as soon as the Koji rice arrives, and I finish getting the farm ready for winter, I'll put up a mixed bean miso.

Since the local Japanese food shop where I get my koji is starting to get weird about me ordering so much, I'm thinking it's time to make my own koji. I might try the method in The Book of Miso for the first attempt, just a small batch to see how it goes. http://books.google.ca/books?id=SKqJsiZ49HkC&lpg=PP1&dq=miso&pg=PA177#v=onepage&q&f=true Anyone tried this method yet?
Doing my best to be the change I want to see in the world, one meal at a time.
http://wholewheatfsm.blogspot.ca

Currently Culturing
Kombucha, perry, cider, wine (red and white), mead(s), miso, sourdough, & seasonal veg my garden gives me
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Re: Non soy miso.

Postby WWFSM on Tue Nov 26, 2013 1:25 pm

Woot, so excited that my soy free sweet miso worked out.

I wanted to share my recipe and experience here, if you don't mind, as a reference for future miso makers. http://wholewheatfsm.blogspot.ca/2013/11/soy-free-sweet-miso-paste-recipe-with.html
Doing my best to be the change I want to see in the world, one meal at a time.
http://wholewheatfsm.blogspot.ca

Currently Culturing
Kombucha, perry, cider, wine (red and white), mead(s), miso, sourdough, & seasonal veg my garden gives me
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Re: Non soy miso.

Postby Christopher Weeks on Fri Oct 17, 2014 2:17 pm

So what ended up being the deal with the white mold?
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Re: Non soy miso.

Postby WWFSM on Sun Nov 30, 2014 8:31 pm

Christopher Weeks wrote:So what ended up being the deal with the white mold?


It tastes and smells like koji (I accidently ate some) and since it seems to happen with every miso pot, I've decided it is koji.

There's been a fair amount of success with my miso making this winter so far. Still sticking to sweet miso (short ferments) but have a few ideas what went wrong with the earlier vats.

Needed to cook the beans more - a lot more! Cooked them well beyond what I would for normal eating and this not only makes tastier miso, but also easier mashing.

Better cleaning of the vat and tools prior to making miso. I'm not a fan of sterilizing in general, but a quick pour of boiling water over the tools followed by a wiping with sake seems to do the trick and stops my miso tasting like kimchi and sauerkraut.

Shorter ferment. The last batch of miso was ready in 3 weeks and tasted FANTASTIC! It was simply chickpea, rice koji and salt. For the shorter ferments, I used a higher ratio of koji to beans, and less salt.

Much moister miso mix. Also making certain I reserve and use the bean cooking liquid. Made it much moister than I thought appropriate, and it turned out the best. The koji rice, being dry, absorbed the excess liquid. Moist miso also ferments faster apparently.

When using mixed beans, cook them separately. Even similar sized beans like black turtle and adzuki have drastically different cooking times. To get the turtle beans cooked, the adzuki had dissolved to mush. :cry: At least I didn't have to mash them.

Keep trying and trying and trying until I got it right. Not giving up was key. Besides, if historical peasant farmers can make their own miso, a present day peasant farmer like myself should be able to do it too gosh darn it.

Just recieved my koji spores fro GEM cultures. Can't wait to finally try growing my own koji.
Doing my best to be the change I want to see in the world, one meal at a time.
http://wholewheatfsm.blogspot.ca

Currently Culturing
Kombucha, perry, cider, wine (red and white), mead(s), miso, sourdough, & seasonal veg my garden gives me
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Re: Non soy miso.

Postby Tdlotus@gmail.com on Fri Mar 20, 2015 7:43 pm

I started an adzuki bean miso in Nov of 2013 and I am fermenting it for 2 years if possible. I made my own koji and then used good quality adzuki beans. I used a few different containers and I had the same problem as you describe with the white mold and it just did not smell or feel right to me. The fido jars that I used however did not produce any molds and they are making a lovely tamari on the top of the miso now. I topped the miso with a layer of salt and left an airspace of about 1.5 inches.
So in the end I let go of the air lock jar and the jar topped with salt and plastic and kept the fido jars fermenting. The miso in the fido jars looks and smells lovely and I can't wait to try it.
The color started out as a muted brown and now it is a richer burgundy brown more like the color of an uncooked adzuki bean. I don't want to disturb the culture and create mold so a bit of a smell is all I took until November. I will post again when I open the jars. I have tasted adzuki bean miso in the past, it is very expensive to buy but the taste is wonderful and sweet. Here's hoping I get a similar result!
td
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Re: Non soy miso.

Postby MartinKrpan on Fri May 08, 2015 2:45 am

Hey WWFSM, could the white scum on your miso have been a layer of dead yeast, like the on often found on pickles? Doesn't look uniform and hairy enough to me to be mold.

Nice to read your input on beginner miso making, only made koji a few times myself (really love shiokoji and amazake) and as soon as i finish making my new incubator, so I can make big batches of koji i'll immediately give my hand a try at miso.
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