Miso Paste
This is the collective name for several type of soya bean paste,
made from steamed soya beans fermented with various natural yeasts. Some
of these starter moulds are based upon rice, other on wheat or barley,
and yet more on soya beans themselves. The pastes come in different
colors, textures and flavors, depending on the yeast used and the length
of the fermentation process. Red or mugi miso, the most popular
paste, is more strongly flavored than the sweeter white kome miso.
Hacho miso, is dark with a strong flavor. Miso is the key
ingredient in a soup served at almost every Japanese meal. When mixed
with mayonnaise it make the increasingly popular miso-mayo.
Sesame Paste
The sesame paste used in oriental cooking is not the same as tahini, the
ingredient that frequently crops up in recipes from Middle East. Where
as tahini is made from raw sesame seeds, sesame paste is derived from
seed which have been dry-fried or roasted to bring out the rich nutty
flavor. If an oriental recipe calls for sesame paste, don't be tempted
to try tahini, therefore. Instead, use peanut butter with a little
sesame oil stirred in to approximate the correct flavor.
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