Variety is the Spice of Life

9 January 2013

January 2013

Western civilizations traditionally have used microbes to preserve and ferment milks producing a wonderful and wide variety of cheese, each one with its own characteristics. In the East the counterpart to cheese development has been fermented soyfoods, and the most prevalent of these is miso or aged and fermented soybean paste. There are as many different misos as there are different types of cheese, with a similar range of textures, colors, and flavors.

Miso variety results from adding different grains to the soy like barley, rice, wheat, millet, and buckwheat, and from differing local techniques and climates. Eden Foods selected five delicious varieties that are representative of the range of misos: 1.) EDEN Genmai Miso with brown rice, mellow, sweet, and golden, 2.) EDEN Mugi Miso with barley, full-bodied, all-season, 3.) EDEN Hacho Miso from only soy, the heartiest and richest, 4.) EDEN Shiro Miso with white rice, the sweetest and lightest, and 5.) EDEN Natto Miso, a chutney made from mugi miso, barley malt, slivers of kombu seaweed, and piquant ginger root.

All EDEN misos are made by folks that Eden Foods is proud to represent. All soybeans used to make them are confirmed by Eden Foods to be Non-GMO.

Fermented Superfood

Legend has it that in Japan's mythological ‘Ages of the Gods’ a deity transferred to mankind the art of making miso. This gift was to nurture health, happiness, and longevity for all. From a more practical perspective the need to preserve food drove the ancients to learn the use of micro-organisms to ferment and stabilize ready-to-eat soyfood for easy storage and transport. Fermentation amplified phytonutrient and flavor, and made it very easy to assimilate this densely nutritious food. Miso's popularity and universal appeal came in its use in miso soup, but also because it could be used in the preparation of almost every entrée and side.

Miso has recently gained recognition in the West as a delicious, protective superfood with its wealth of enzymes, microorganisms, and phytonutrients that aid digestion and is bracing to our immune systems.

A Wondrous Transformation

EDEN misos are made from U.S.A. family organic, GEO free whole soybeans and grain, choice sea salt, and koji Aspergillus oryzae, a vitamin B-12 synthesizing culture starter. Soybeans and grain are cleaned, steamed, inoculated with koji, salted, and aged in 200-year-old wooden kegs pressed with large river stones. A wondrous transformation occurs in these giant kegs as time, temperature, and pressure combine to create this wonderful food. Today, just a small percentage of the miso in Japan is made in this slow, traditional way. Commercial miso is made quickly and cheaply of genetically engineered processed soy, and pharmaceutical enzymes. It often contains preservatives and monosodium glutamate (MSG). Eden avoids these imitations, opting for the increasingly rare traditional approach to its creation.

Nutrient Supercharged

In the fermentation of miso, carbohydrates become simple sugars and proteins are broken down into easily assimilable amino acids. Beneficial enzymes, vitamins, and an array of phytonutrients are created. Miso offers iron, B vitamins, potassium, essential fatty acids (omega 3, 6, and 9), and beneficial bacteria like Lactobacillus. Miso is five times higher in protective isoflavones than unfermented soy food. Fermentation breaks down trypsin inhibitors in soybeans allowing easy and full utilization. The beneficial characteristics of miso result from long, slow fermentation, inherent in time-honored methods like those used for EDEN miso.

Comfort Food Supreme, Superb Seasoning

Miso is a most intelligent addition to anyone's diet. It nourishes while cleansing and is a ‘comfort food’ supreme. Miso soup is the easiest way to take miso and sea vegetables. Miso is a superb seasoning and enhancement for stews, sauces, gravies, vegetables, noodles, fish and seafood, meats and poultry, spreads, salad dressing, dips, and marinades. Edenfoods.com has many creativity provoking ideas and dozens of free miso recipes.

EDEN Misos are packaged in a double-bagged reclosable standing pouch. and pareve.