What do you think about a dish from a fermented soybean? Sound gross! But hey! Japanese people love them a lot. They call it Miso. Unlike hummus and peanut butter, Miso is not ideally eaten straight to your mouth. It’s a thick paste-like with brownish or reddish in colour and it’s very salty and tangy in taste.
In Japan, miso is commonly used in miso-soup which gives a flavourful effect on Japanese dishes. It can take your sauces, tofus, vegetables, and marinade to the next level using these fermented soybeans.
And since people are very creative and inventive, you can make miso using grains or barleys. This kind of miso would definitely have different taste and color from the soybean. They said, darker colored miso is more strong flavoured compared to the white and yellow miso. Misos made from soybeans are gluten-free unlike those made from barley and rice.
You can find miso in an oriental or Asian grocery store. Most of the time they’re inside the fridge to keep its shell-life longer. Grocery stores stock miso inside a plastic tub or bag together with tofus, vegetables, other dairy products. It’s recommended to buy miso in an Asian grocery store because mostly they can offer wide range of miso that you can choose from. These are labelled as “miso paste” “miso” or “soybean paste”.
Storing up a jar of salad dressing is nothing new to the people. Some were store-bought while some are homemade. But for people who are foodie, like you and I, we love to do-it-yourself and make our own unique recipes. Before anything else, we should make our own tahini paste, and let’s start from scratch.
To make tahini, you only need 1 cup of hulled or unhulled sesame seeds and 3 tbsp of olive oil. Heat the pan in medium heat and toast the tahini until it’s fragrant and turns into golden brown in color. Once done, let it cool down and put inside the blender together with the olive oil. Blend it in until it turns into a paste, like a peanut-butter consistency. And you got your tahini paste!
Ceasar’s, Thousand Island dressing, and vinaigrette are old school dressing for your salad. Fed up of using vegetable or olive oil with lemon as a dressing? Are you running out of ideas for your salad dressing? How about let’s try something more Asian this time. And this means, another option of a healthy dressing for your salad green addiction.
Here is the step-by-step process of your tahini miso dressing that will drive you crazy.
Needed:
- · ¼ cup of warm water
- · ¼ cup of tahini paste
- · 1 tbsp. of miso paste (red)
- · 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
How:
- · In a bowl, using a spoon, mix tahini paste, lemon juice, and miso paste.
- · Gradually add water into the mixture. And stir. Add until your desired consistency si achieved.
- · You can add spices and herbs to take it to the next level of salad dressing,
- · Note: The dressing becomes thicker and thicker as days goes by. Just add water to thin it up. You can store this tahini miso dressing for a week in your fridge.
Wait! You can also use this dressing to use as a spread for your bread and dipping for your deep-fried dishes, too!
These fermented soybeans, barley, and grains may sound ridiculous but its taste is much deeper than it looks. There’s a saying goes like “don’t judge the book by its cover”.