May 2016
Japanese folklore holds that miso was a gift to humanity during the age of the gods, but unquestionably it is a remarkable food. Precursors of it were common in China. Fermentation opens the storehouse of nutrients in soybeans making them very easy to digest. Its versatility, storability, ease of transport, rich nutritional value, and appealing flavor lead to its universal popularity in Japan.
The use of microbiology in Western countries became common for making cheese from milk. In Eastern cultures similar fermentation was applied to soy to make sauces and miso pastes. Fermented foods like miso use microorganisms to chemically breakdown proteins into all nine essential amino acids, and to reduce complex carbohydrates to simple sugars. This microbiological transformation of soybeans is beneficial because it alleviates the necessity for us to provide the considerable energy necessary to digest them. People only have one stomach. Cows have four. Fermentation makes the nutrition easy to assimilate, and enhances it by adding new phytonutrients of considerable value, the combination of which creates a potent immune system boost for those who partake. This is inherent in traditional miso.
Miso fermentation enzymes also disassemble the anti-nutritional trypsin inhibitors of soybeans. This helps ease full utilization of soy's dense nutrition. Also, any gluten proteins that may be in an ingredient of a miso are dismantled, doing away with issues for growing numbers of today's gluten sensitive. Both these values are only present in traditional misos.
Powerfully nutritious and delicious miso is receiving high acclaim and acceptance as a uniquely strengthening and beneficial superfood. Miso contains an array of enzymes that aid in the digestion of protein and starches in grains, beans, and vegetables. This makes it extremely wise to include it in vegetarian or mostly vegetarian ways of eating.
It has been observed that those wishing to remove dairy from their diet after having been raised on it, find it extremely difficult to do so without miso being included in their diet at least once a week. Otherwise, cravings for dairy food persist.
There are many types of miso with a surprising range of tastes, textures, and colors. This results from combining beans with assorted grains like barley, brown or white rice, wheat, millet, and buckwheat. Ingredients, regional techniques, ambient microbiological variations, and the local climate all contribute to differences. Eden offers four traditional misos, and two new red and a white, freeze-dried instant miso soups.
Freeze-Dried Protected
Both fermentation and freeze-drying have been used since ancient times to make food storable and suitable for travel. The Peruvian Incas used high altitude low air pressure and cold temperatures of the Andes to freeze-dry foods from vegetables to meat. In Japan's mountains freeze-drying has been used for centuries to produce kanten a.k.a. agar agar, and koya-dofu a.k.a. dried tofu, utilizing the winter freeze-thaw-freeze cycle. EDEN agar agar bars, agar flakes, and dried tofu are still made this way today.
Modern freeze-drying was developed during WWII in the U.S.A. to distribute blood serum to Europe for the wounded. This is done in a controlled space with a vacuum to pull off the water. The new freeze-dried organic soup cubes, both Red and White Misos, are made this way. Instant EDEN Miso Soups are hand finessed from the finest ingredients, maker know-how, and skillful care. Organic kuzu, silky organic tofu, EDEN instant wakame flakes, and organic green onion are included to balance them, adding appropriate flavors, textures, and nutrients. Freeze-drying protects the subtleties of miso soup including color, flavor, aroma, and nutrient composition. These miso soups remain substantially unaltered with only the water gently removed. They are superior to spray-dried brands that are common. Instant EDEN Miso Soups are surprisingly, wonderfully good.
Compelling Benefits
In addition to miso's great flavor and versatility, daily use of miso is credited with a wealth of benefits that enrich people's lives by aiding digestion and strengthening the immune system. Miso is also soothing, a supreme comfort food. Eden offers four varieties. The sweetest and lightest is aged for two months, EDEN Shiro Miso made of white rice and soybeans; mellow, sweet EDEN Genmai Miso is made of soybeans and brown rice; full-bodied EDEN Mugi Miso is made from soybeans and barley; and the heartiest, richest EDEN Hacho Miso is aged for three years. EDEN Genmai and Shiro Misos are Gluten Free.
All these misos are made of U.S.A. family organic Non-GMO whole soybeans and grain, choice sea salt, and koji Aspergillus oryzae — a vitamin B-12 synthesizing culture starter. The beans and grain are cleaned, steamed, koji inoculated, salted, and aged in 200-year-old wooden kegs. Only a very small percentage of miso made today is made this way. We know it as traditional miso.
Miso Makes Life Better
Instant EDEN Miso Soup and EDEN Miso are extremely beneficial. Their benefits are so wide ranging it would be a practical and legal challenge to list them. EDEN Miso nourishes while it cleanses us. Pure and Purifying.
Miso soup is the easiest, and by far the most common way to take both miso and sea vegetables.
Freeze-dried 8 gram cubes of Instant EDEN Miso Soup are a handy and quick way to enjoy the beneficial, soothing richness of a high quality miso soup. Just add 8 ounces of hot water, stir, let it sit a moment to bloom, and enjoy the traditional deliciousness of handmade miso soup. They are a wise choice at any time of day - at home, for traveling, office, school, and camping. They contain no monosodium glutamate, autolyzed yeast extract, or any untoward additives. Both are Eden tested Non-GMO and Gluten Free.
EDEN Miso soybean paste is a versatile seasoning for soups, grain porridge, stews, beans, pastas, casseroles, sauces, gravies, salad dressings, marinades, etc. Visit edenfoods.com/recipes for ideas and oodles of free EDEN Miso recipes. 
pareve offerings.
