Making Miso

Aiko is actually a mad scientist - she has things growing & fermenting in EVERY nook and cranny of her house!  I had an upset stomach for the first few days here in the mountains at her house in Japan -  I would try anything she put in front of me.  Some of the smallest things she put in small dishes on the table, I found out were the oldest and the scariest!  But I'm a gamer!!!  SO, yesterday we made miso!  I love miso and was excited to see the process.

The pictures should tell their own story, but basically she mail orders the moldy rice, (koji fungi spore) and then boils soybeans for hours out side.  After the beans are soft we put everthing together with lots of salt, form balls out of it and throw them hard into a plastic bucket (to take all the air out), AND then let it AGE FOR THREE YEARS!  Really???  Three years?  Aiko says that it takes longer for her miso to ferment because of the colder climate in the mountains!  I looked on the internet and it said to check after 6 months.  I just think Aiko likes things really old and WELL fermented!!!  Let's check back in a few years.....