miso and vegetables in chicken broth

NAB, fourteenth in a series. Inspiration from Japan which is an archipelago nation on the other side of the Pacific from Canada and a little bit smaller than California, just as much fun but not nearly as diverse and with a heck of a lot more coastal area due to consisting of some 6,850 islands, four being rather large. I am so happy to have lived there during my culinary formative years and being forced to eat exposed to Japanese cuisine. The experience was enriching and we all came back changed from how we would have grown otherwise and with our favorite uniquely Japanese dishes and methods of preparation.

* mixed vegetables including onion and garlic, broccoli, mushroom, green beans, and spinach. I seem to have forgotten asparagus.

* chicken and turkey bits

* chicken and turkey broth

* egg cooked in a ramekin sitting in the broth

* wine

* brown rice light miso

I wish I hadn't used red wine. It discolored everything with an unattractive grayness.

[note to self: don't use red wine to steam vegetables]

I kept poking the egg white with a thermometer point to observe how it cooks in relation to the surrounding liquid and to reassure the white really does cook at 180℉ / 82℃. It does. I guess I got a little careless checking close to the yolk because I apparently poked it. I guess I just have to accept the accumulating evidence that I'm a klutz.

Too salty. I added a scant 1/16 aprox. kosher salt to sweating vegetables but I didn't realize the salt already in the miso would compound it so intensely.

South River miso

First of two products I'm pimping because I love them.

This is the best miso available in the United States. It is like no other.

South River miso is the real deal, made the way miso was made for centuries in Japan. It might seem a little bit ridiculous to don specialized cotton socks and stomp through fermented azuki beans (adzuki), but that's exactly what they do.

Usually, the miso is fermented for over a year up to four years but the most popular type among Americans, myself included, is the type that's not aged at all, the sweet type. Generally speaking, we're pussies when it comes to miso. The thing is, salt is added at regular intervals when miso is aged so the longer it's aged the more salt it contains, and that gets to be a little much for my personal taste. I've tried their full line, and it's the lighter style that I greatly prefer. Still, I'm not against mixing it up a little here and there with the stronger types made of different grains.

You could live on this stuff. It's extremely versatile. When I run out of South River and buy the type made in huge metal vats, it just doesn't come close, and I know I'm cheating myself from what miso is really supposed to be.

The texture is different. Regular commercial miso is likened to peanut butter in consistency. South River miso is not. This has little chunks, the texture is lighter, less compressed, less homogenous, altogether more pleasant.

The people at South River are lovely Earth-people back-to-nature types concerned with what's real in the world, and that's why I adore them even though I don't know any of them personally. This comes through clearly even through email contact. I can't see anyone unlovely lasting there.

Cost: More than ordinary miso, plus shipping. It's worth it. Lasts forever in the refrigerator. South River offers no discount for volume and no break on shipping.

Bottom line: $8.50 per 1LB jar (one-year miso) + shipping

I recommend this product without reservation. I urge you to try this, even just one or two jars (to make shipping worthwhile) and see for yourself the product is in a league all its own.