It's As Flavorful and Versatile as Parmesan…

In the last few weeks, a bunch of people have written me a version of this (paraphrased) message: “I love experimenting with new ingredients, but am reluctant to keep buying them because I use them once in whatever recipe calls for them, don’t know what else to do with them, and then they languish in fridge/pantry purgatory for all eternity.” I get this.

The key is having a few different recipes (maybe three or four to start) that use the ingredient, ideally in a few different ways. As you cook your way through those recipes, you begin to get a feel for the ingredient: how it tastes, how it behaves, how it enhances various types of dishes. Eventually, you become comfortable enough to experiment, you use it more, you add it to recipes that don’t even call for it, and soon enough it’s part of your cooking life and has a permanent slot in your pantry or fridge.

I started a running list of ingredients that I think would be good candidates for this, but please let me know if you have any in particular you’d like to explore. In the meantime, I want to start with one of my favorites, something that instantly adds incredible amounts of flavor and depth to anything it touches: Miso.

Quick primer: Miso is a fermented, aged paste made of soybeans, grain (usually rice or barley), salt, and the Aspergillus orzyae bacteria. It’s sold in plastic tubs, tubes, jars, or plastic bags and keeps, refrigerated, for a long, long time—months, at least. The best is organic, unpasteurized, traditionally made miso, which contains live cultures (pasteurized miso is no longer a living food). There are many kinds of miso, but generally speaking most fall into three categories:

• Sweet miso is usually white or light beige in color, smooth in texture, and has a hint of sweetness. It may be called mellow miso, white miso, or sweet white miso. This miso is best used in dressings; some people use it as a dairy substitute.