Use Miso to Introduce Umami to Your Dishes

One ingredient, three ways

Kaki Okumura
Heated
Published in
5 min readJul 11, 2020

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A bowl of miso sits beside a pot of tea.
Photo: Ponyo Sakana via Pexels

It was late at night and I had stopped by the supermarket to buy some salmon filets but hadn’t really thought about how to cook them. When I got home, I looked in the kitchen to see what I could use for seasoning and found the cabinets sparse.

Another night of salmon seasoned with salt, pepper, and olive oil, I groaned to myself for not buying more spices while I was at the store.

But as I double-checked my fridge for ingredients, I found a small bag of leftover miso that my grandmother sent me. I checked the expiration date and found that it still had six months left on it.

Yes!

Health benefits of miso

Miso is a fermented paste made from plant protein-rich soybeans and grains and has been used in Japanese cuisine for centuries. It is an incredibly versatile ingredient that is full of umami flavor and health benefits and contains millions of gut-friendly bacteria that help digestion. Good gut health has been linked with not just good physical health, but also stable mental health in multiple nutrition studies.

In addition, a probiotic-rich diet may help reduce your risk of being sick and help you recover faster from infections, and may reduce the need for

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Kaki Okumura
Heated
Writer for

Born in Dallas, raised in New York and Tokyo. I care about helping others learn to live a better, healthier life. My site: www.kakikata.space 🌱