Miso Dressing

I like miso for a lot of reasons.

1) It makes a delicious soup.
2) It makes a delicious marinade.
3) It makes a delicious dressing for salads.
4) It is deliciously salty.

Today, we're talking about Reason #3 to like miso. There won't be any pictures, because to be honest, it ends up looking like brown baby food with sesame seeds sprinkled in.

I guess there a ton of different types of miso (white miso, red miso...), each are made slightly differently from fermented rice, soybeans, and some other ingredients (tasty, huh?) that vary in color, taste, years aged, etc.

It typically comes in a refrigerated tub that ought to last you a good while. Since it's so salty, there isn't a huge hurry to eat it all up, although it might be so good that shelf life isn't even an issue. I don't know enough to talk about the nuances of the types, all I can tell you is that I bought the cheapest variety in the store. It is a red miso, which according to my good friend Wikipedia is older and saltier than the white variety. Then again, Wikipedia also has this tidbit of information.

"Some, especially proponents of healthful eating, suggest that miso can help treat radiation sickness, citing cases in Japan and Russia where people have been fed miso after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Notably, Japanese doctor Shinichiro Akizuki, director of Saint Francis Hospital in Nagasaki during World War II, theorized that miso helps protect against radiation sickness."

I mean, maybe, but I don't suggest you go around tempting fate by eating miso covered plutonium rods or anything like that.

This dressing would be great on just a plain salad, but the one I made tonight was of corn, red onion, and cucumber. Had I used more foresight while shopping instead of just buying vegetables willy-nilly, maybe I would have purchased an avocado, which would have made this even yummier. I guess you could just throw this on top of a plain avocado....drool.

Ingredients:

:: 2 tbsp miso
:: 2 tbsp rice vinegar
:: 3 tbsp mirin (japanese sweet cooking wine)
:: 1-2 tbsp water, depending on how you would like the consistency of your dressing
:: a few drops of sesame seed oil
:: 1 chopped scallion (optional)
:: 1 tsp sesame seeds (optional)

Mix them all together...... enjoy the magic!

This recipe makes about 1/2 cup, too much for 1 person probably, but the rest will keep in the fridge for about a week or so. If you didn't want to spring for mirin, I guess you could add in a bit more water and vinegar, and then add 1-2 tsp of plain white sugar. I haven't tried it, but it might be close to the right taste. Or if you have cooking rice wine, that would probably work, too. I would definitely not use sherry, marsala, or any of the other more intensely flavored cooking wines, though.

Final thought: sriracha and miso dressing together. I'm just saying.