Miso

Miso is soybeans fermented with salt and koji, and it is the easiest way to give Western food a savory, slightly funky backbone. White miso has a short fermentation, so it is sweet and mild: whisk it into butter for corn or salmon, into a salad dressing or into mashed potatoes. Red miso, aged longer and sometimes for more than a year, is saltier and stronger, and suits braises, glazes for eggplant and hearty soups. Stir either in near the end of cooking rather than boiling it hard, so its aroma survives. One tub covers both a weeknight glaze and a pot of soup, which makes it worth keeping on hand.