Chef’s Kiss: Supermarket White Miso Pastes, Tested and Rated

One of the most recognised and distinctively Japanese ingredients, miso is a thick paste made of four simple ingredients: soybeans, salt, rice (but sometimes barley or other grains), all fermented with koji, Japan’s noble mould. Koji is a heavy-lifter in Japanese food, responsible also for making soy sauce, saké, shochu, rice vinegar and mirin. But even with only four ingredients, there is miso and there is miso.

For several years, I have been making my own at home. It’s a slow but very rewarding process – I wait at least 12 months before tasting but have found two years to be my favourite age of miso. Of course, as with any ingredient, the best part about making your own is that you can make it exactly how you like it.

To that end, a close comparison of different miso pastes shows that no two are exactly alike. In fact, Japan has no official standards for making miso, unlike soy sauce, which uses the same ingredients. With around 1000 miso producers in Japan, it’s no wonder they say there are as many different types of miso as there are people who make them. But this is also what can make knowing what to buy very confusing.

For this edition of Chef’s Kiss, I tested five shiro (white) miso products including the most widely available brand in Australia. First, I did a blind tasting of each product on its own and then made a batch of dashi with thinly sliced potato and spring onions. I poured exactly 125 millilitres of this into five bowls and stirred a tablespoon of each miso into each bowl, then did a side-by-side taste test of the resulting miso soups.

Miso is often put into categories based on its colour: white, brown and red. White miso is meant to be a sweeter style miso, and supposedly more delicately flavoured, as it is generally fermented for less time and contains a higher proportion of rice koji. But just looking at this line-up, they could be completely different products. Tasting them proved that there were even more differences. That’s because there are some important variables that make each miso so distinct.

Firstly, there is the koji, which can be grown on rice, barley or soybeans. How it is grown changes the flavour dramatically. Secondly, there is the length of time it has been fermented for – generally speaking, the longer the ferment, the more aging, the deeper the flavour and darker the colour. The youngest miso pastes are usually about six months old, while older ones can be aged for three years or longer. The proportion of soybean to rice koji ratio will also affect the flavour – the more soybeans, the stronger the flavour, the more rice koji, the sweeter the miso. Finally, how smooth or chunky do you want your miso? Some are very smooth and creamy, while others are grainier with visible, chewy soybean pieces that add texture.

One thing I would always look for (other than organic and unpasteurised) is that the miso is made of just soybeans, rice (or barley), koji and sea salt, which is exactly how it has been made for centuries. I prefer only Japanese-made miso. The reason for this is because koji is specifically and distinctively a Japanese mould and it is a major player in the flavour of miso, not to mention the whole fermentation process.

Finally, it’s really important not to boil miso – this is something I was taught by my Japanese mother and grandmother. Cooking the miso ruins its flavour and kills any probiotics. When making miso soup, you should turn the heat off before you stir the miso through. Note that some of these miso pastes included a small amount of alcohol as a preservative (two or three per cent) – these products might need to be cooked off depending on who you’re serving it to. In that case, take the advice of Japanese mothers and grandmothers as you will!

Carwari Organic Miso Paste (White)

Sample price: $17.40 (500g) from Carwari
Ingredients: organic soybean, organic rice (koji), sea salt
Product of Japan

Blind tasting

Taste and appearance: Full of umami and balanced saltiness, although “salty” isn’t the first thing that hits you. The ideal caramel hue, with visible texture of the ingredients.Texture: The only product in this line-up with a chunkier texture, rather than perfectly smooth. I always go for this texture when choosing miso (yes, I also prefer chunky peanut butter). Not too dry or too firm.
Aroma: A nutty and fruity aroma.
Packaging: A plastic tub with a paper seal, which is my favourite kind of packaging because it’s so easy to use and keeps miso well. If you aren’t a fan of plastic, you can transfer it to a glass jar but keep the paper on top – this protects the miso and keeps well for years this way.

Recipe tasting

By far the tastiest miso soup came from this sample. It was like I was back at my grandmother’s table. The sediment that comes from the chunkier style settles at the bottom of the bowl and is my favourite part of the soup (you can use a miso strainer or a tea strainer when adding the miso if you don’t like the sediment). It had a full-bodied flavour that fills your whole mouth and lingers on your palate well after you’ve finished.

This was also the only miso of the samples tested that was unpasteurised, meaning the koji culture is still live. Simply stir through the soup at the end of cooking or you’ll lose those living cultures. This also means it will continue to ferment and age, even slowly in your fridge, and will last forever. If you want to preserve the flavour exactly as it is, store it in your freezer to stop the aging process. 5/5

Hikari Shiro Miso Paste

Sample price: $4.30 (400g) from Woolworths
Ingredients: water, soybeans (30.5 per cent), rice, salt, alcohol (3 per cent)
Product of Japan

Blind tasting

Taste and appearance: this was the palest of all the products (to me, the colour of a truly white miso should resemble peanut butter). Although it was very salty, it had a sweet aftertaste that was surprisingly long-lasting.
Texture: Super smooth and not too firm.
Aroma: Sweet and nutty.
Packaging: A plastic bag, which makes this product the most annoying to use. You have to cut across the top and there’s no way to reseal it. My tip is to transfer it to another container, such as a glass jar, or at least put it in a ziplock bag.

Recipe tasting

Hikari is the most mainstream (and affordable) brand in this line-up, and is stocked in both Coles and Woolworths. This one really surprised me. It made an almost creamy miso soup and had a very traditional white miso flavour – very close to the Carwari organic miso, but slightly sweeter. Although it was very smooth, this had some of that lovely sediment in the bowl. It really simply tasted exactly how I want miso soup to taste and it was comfort in a bowl – it looked and tasted like many trips to Japan. 4.5/5

Spiral Foods Organic Shiro Miso Paste

Sample price: $12.99 (300g) from select grocers
Ingredients: organic rice (38 per cent), water, organic whole soybeans, sea salt, alcohol (2 per cent), koji
Product of Japan

Blind tasting

Taste and appearance: This was the most unusual shiro miso I’ve ever seen – to the point where I thought it may have been labelled incorrectly. It was a very intensely dark, espresso brown colour, almost like a barley or brown rice miso. Flavour-wise, it was surprisingly sweet, barely salty at all (in fact, it contained less than half the salt content of the other miso pastes) and had a deep, umami flavour.
Texture: Super smooth and not too firm.
Aroma: An unusual, distinctly chocolatey fragrance, followed by the aroma of dried dark fruit, like prunes or raisins. Pungent, but pleasantly so.
Packaging: Plastic tub, with a slip of thin paper covering the paste so it doesn’t dry out, and a resealable plastic lid. Thumbs up.

Recipe tasting

Although I was initially excited by the complexity of the aroma and flavour in the blind tasting, this product did not work at all for miso soup. Being fruitier and sweeter, it just doesn’t have the traditional flavour of miso. Being also less salty, the soup was bland and lacked oomph. You’d probably have to use more paste than usual to achieve a robust flavour, but then the colour would be over-the-top. I would, however, consider this miso for a dengaku sauce, where you combine it with mirin, some sugar and perhaps add a splash of soy sauce, and spread it over fried eggplant or tofu. 3/5

Miso Tasty White Miso Paste

Sample price: $7.95 (200g) from Woolworths
Ingredients: water, soybeans (35 per cent), rice, salt, yeast, koji culture
Made in Japan, packed in the UK

Blind tasting

Taste and appearance: Intensely salty, with a sweet and fruity aftertaste and dark caramel colour.
Texture: Super smooth and very dry/firm.
Aroma: Almost no aroma at all, aside from a slightly alcoholic/yeasty smell.
Packaging: Glass jar.

Recipe tasting

Also available in major supermarkets, this one struck me as tasting very sharp and slightly acidic, which is not a flavour profile you normally think of – white miso in particular should have plenty of natural sweetness from the koji. While the brand claims this is fermented for only six months, it’s definitely not delicate in flavour. The soup looked the part, but just had no personality and was lacking on all fronts. Reach for Hikari if you have the option on your next supermarket shop. 2/5

Kura Organic Miso Paste Shiro

Sample price: $4.99 (200g) from selected grocers
Ingredients: water, organic soybean, organic rice, salt
Product of China

Blind tasting

Taste and appearance: Very salty, slightly nutty with a bitter aftertaste and a darker, deep hazelnut-brown colour.
Texture: Smooth but with a slightly floury grain on the tongue.
Aroma: Faint, barely detectable.
Packaging: Glass jar.

Recipe tasting

Though it was an organic product, this miso was instantly my least favourite. The flavour and aroma fell flat; I could taste only the salt (it was the saltiest of all the soups). It also had a bitter aftertaste, which isn’t a flavour usually associated with miso. The grainy texture of the paste was also a bit off-putting – it integrated into the recipe fine, but the overall miso soup was waterier than the other samples. 1/5