There are condiments (and products) that we undeservedly ignore, or read them (more out of habit) expensive and unnecessary. Meanwhile, their use can diversify the usual menu with new dishes and familiar dishes with new tastes.
Honestly.
And they do not break a hole in the wallet - and this is also true. Because globalization, products traditional for distant cuisines are sinking into our culinary culture and on store shelves.
Here I decided to make a quick list of such products, and miso paste came first. A lot of people have heard about it - or rather, about miso soup, but just as many people ignore it, believing that only miso soup is made from that pasta.
But no, ladies and gentlemen.
Miso is a real treasure. It's just as interesting as the furikake seasoning, but about furikake next time.
Miso is a fermented product and also a pure, unclouded umami flavor. The very fifth taste that stimulates appetite and salivation and makes other tastes brighter. I don't know how to write about usefulness, I'll just tell you what you can do with miso pasta at home.
It costs, now, by the way, about three hundred rubles for a large (kilogram) package.
For example, whip butter with it for frying vegetables and meat and anything else.
I caught it in one of the recipes of Vladimir Chistyakov, the chef of Buro TSUM. The butter is mixed with miso paste in a one-to-one ratio and used for frying, he suggested that he grease the vegetables with the mixture before sending them to the grill.
If you do not use butter, then it is quite acceptable to dilute with vegetable oil.
If at the end of frying you add a lot of water to the dish and cover with a lid, then try diluting miso in this water - you will see the taste will change for the better.
You can make sauce with miso, and there are many recipes. The simplest is 1 tbsp. l. miso, 1 tbsp. l. brown sugar, 2 tbsp. l. mix soy sauce and bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar. You can use it as an independent sauce, or you can add additional ingredients - vegetables, for example.
The difference between white and red miso paste is that the white one is softer, a little sweeter, and does not ferment so long.
Bon Appetit!