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Miso Making Chronicle – 1 year later and finally done!

November 30, 2016 By admin 19 Comments

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Miso Making Chronicle - 1 year later and finally done!
Around this time last year, I made my very own homemade organic sprouted miso for the first time. I even brought back a traditional cedar barrel for miso making from Japan in order to do this. It was quite a job as I overestimated what would fit in the barrel and I made 40 pounds worth! Yes, you heard it right. 40 POUNDS!! 
At the time, letting it ferment for one full year seemed like forever. I couldn’t wrap my head around the idea that I just put in this much work, but had to wait for a full year until it was done. I would hover over it with curiosity for the first few weeks, but then slowly started to forget about it. When the 6 month mark hit and I opened it up for a check up, I knew another 6 month was going to fly by. Then came Halloween, and Thanksgiving, black Friday. As I woke up from the mixed feelings of happiness and uneasiness from the shopping I did on black Friday, I remembered it. My miso should be ready!

I took the barrel out of the closet and sure enough, it was dated 11/26/15. Exactly 1 year ago, this miso was made. I couldn’t believe it was finally time. I’ve longed for this very moment so no time to waste! Let the opening begin.

Miso Making Chronicle - 1 year later and finally done!
I took the cover and outer lid off. The salt bags I used as weights peaked their heads out through the inner lid. I always liked how this looks.

Miso Making Chronicle - 1 year later and finally done!
I removed the salt bags and the kelp lid and the salt mounds were waiting for me. No sign of mold so far.

Miso Making Chronicle - 1 year later and finally done!
I peeled off the kelp lid made from laying kelp, and the salt layer greeted me. Usually, there should be a pooling of dark brown liquid, tamari at the top, but looks like I didn’t get much on this one. It may have been because I didn’t have enough weight on it, or maybe I needed a bit more water content, or the LA climate was too dry. You can see that the little bit of tamari came up from the miso and got absorbed by the salt layer. That’s were the salt is brown colored. 

Miso Making Chronicle - 1 year later and finally done!
I scraped off the salt layer and the beautiful deep brown miso revealed itself. No sign of mold whatsoever! Amazing!! What a beauty!! Since there was no mold growth at all, I decided to keep the tamari salt to use for cooking. It should make a delicious miso tamari salt.

Miso Making Chronicle - 1 year later and finally done!
Just to make a comparison, this was how the same miso was 6 month ago. More of a yellow brown and didn’t have much sheen. 

homemade miso making chronicle 6 month fermentation update
Drum roll! Then this is the same but 1 year old miso! The color difference is quite significant when you look at it side by side. A beautiful deep auburn color with a nice sheen to it. It also has a slight alcohol smell from the fermentation, which wasn’t there 6 month ago. 
What a difference half a year makes in the fermentation process! And the taste? A full bodied intense but well rounded miso flavor. The depth of flavor is like no miso I’ve tasted before. Ok, I fully get it now. This is an art form.

Miso Making Chronicle - 1 year later and finally done!
Since I used organic brown rice koji, the little rice grains were still intact. If you use the regular white rice koji, it breaks down and disappears, but the only organic koji that was available in the US was brown rice koji. I transferred the grainy miso into a couple of jars, and the rest was blended up in the food processor to make it into a nice and smooth miso. It took a good couple of hours blending and stuffing the jars with a barrel full of miso. But when it was all done, I just sat and gazed at these beautiful little miso babies. I was a proud mama!  

Miso Making Chronicle - 1 year later and finally done!
My cedar miso barrel needs to be in constant use, otherwise it will get damaged so I immediately ordered koji for this year’s miso making. I’ll make some tweaks based on what I found this time, and post another miso making chronicle post.

That night, I made miso soup without dashi to see if the rumors were true. Dashi is stock and you cannot make miso soup without it. It’s sacrilege and if you tell a Japanese person you made miso soup without it, they will give you a horrified look and immediately give you the miso soup 101 lecture. But rumor has it, homemade miso is so good, you don’t even have to use dashi, quite possibly the only time us Japanese might be ok with, dare I say, dashi-free miso soup? The rumors were true. The deep rich flavor made the miso taste like it for sure had dashi, even though it didn’t, and boy was it tasty! I drank the broth up like a thirsty man in the desert. I can’t get enough of it! Guess what’s for dinner tonight? That’s right, miso soup!

Filed Under: Homemade Miso Making Posts

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Vicki

    February 8, 2017 at 5:10 pm

    Hello Mariko! I really enjoyed reading about this Miso making process. Congratulations! I have a friend I’m going to send this to. Best wishes on your other projects!

    My husband and I know the great value of eating more raw foods and juicing. It heals the body; I think cooking classes would really help.

    please contact me though the given email; I would like to ask you some questions, if you don’t mind. Thank you!

    Reply
    • admin

      February 9, 2017 at 6:33 am

      Hi Vicki,

      Thank you so much for your lovely comment! And thank you for sharing this post with your friend!
      I will shoot you and e-mail:) xx

      Reply
  2. TerryUnumn

    August 31, 2017 at 12:25 pm

    Hello. And Bye.

    Reply
    • admin

      August 31, 2017 at 8:59 pm

      Hi! Thank you so much for checking out my blog!

      Reply
  3. Manuelfum

    December 28, 2017 at 6:59 pm

    I enjoy all your posts. You’ve done really good job

    Reply
    • admin

      January 2, 2018 at 6:09 am

      Thank you so much!

      Reply
  4. Amy Feng

    December 30, 2017 at 8:23 pm

    Congratulations,i am googling how to make miso at home and i find out this useful article! But i have some questions about the barrel,how to clean it and what to do before i use it for the first time,and it will be damaged if you dont use it often? Thanks and happy new year!

    Reply
    • admin

      January 2, 2018 at 6:08 am

      Hi Amy,

      Happy New Year! Wishing you a blessed New Year full of peace, happiness, prosperity and health.

      Thank you so much for your comment. What is the material of your barrel you intend to use? You can clean the barrel with soap and water.
      If it is made of wood, it would be ideal to use it on a regular basis. If you made a lot of miso, you can keep it in there even after it’s ready, if you don’t need to make another batch of miso right away. Let me know if you have any other questions!

      Reply
      • Amy Feng

        January 31, 2018 at 8:48 pm

        Thanks for your reply,i bought a traditinal cedar wood barrel from Japan,and i wash the barrel with water,but the wood color turned darker, i will try your recipe to make chickpea miso, it looks so tasty from your foto!!

        Reply
        • admin

          February 5, 2018 at 8:15 am

          Hi Amy,

          That’s awesome! Your barrel will get darker in color with use overtime too.
          Don’t they smell amazing? It’s gonna be awesome!
          When you make the miso, I recommend not mixing the entire salt in and leave some out so you can use it to salt the top.
          I learned that doing it this way will keep your miso from getting too salty:)

          Reply
  5. DelonleMow

    January 1, 2018 at 6:47 am

    Hola, Me gusta mucho tu sitio, ?sigue haciendolo mejor!

    Reply
    • admin

      January 2, 2018 at 6:09 am

      Feliz año nuevo! Muchas gracias!

      Reply
  6. Michaelhoaky

    March 28, 2018 at 12:56 pm

    Thank you for helping people get the info they need. Great stuff as usual. Keep up the great work!!!

    Reply
    • admin

      April 3, 2018 at 7:36 am

      Thank you so much for your kind words! I truly appreciate it:)

      Reply
  7. Brianvon

    June 21, 2018 at 4:06 pm

    Many thanks for the site, it is packed with so much useful info. Reading this .

    Reply
  8. Brianvon

    June 22, 2018 at 7:35 am

    I am amazed. I do not think I know anyone who understands just as much about the topic. You should make a career of it, honestly, impressive site

    Reply
  9. Maya Crawley

    April 14, 2019 at 10:33 pm

    Thanks you so much for sharing your miso-making experience, really helpful and exciting. I really really want to get a traditional cedar container to try making miso in – do you have an suggestions on where I might be able to order one from? Yours looks super cute.

    I live in New Zealand so could possible order one from Japan?

    Any suggestions would be much appreciated,

    Cheers
    Maya

    Reply
    • admin

      September 1, 2019 at 7:38 am

      Hi Maya,

      I am very sorry for the late response. Life took me away from my blog this year, and I wasn’t able to be on top of checking the comments I receive.
      It can be a large vessel depending on what size you want, and that could rack up the shipping cost. I brought mine back in a vary large duffle bag.
      Probably the best way is to travel to Japan and bring it back with you. But you may have some luck looking on Rakuten Global https://global.rakuten.com/en/
      There may be some store who would ship overseas.
      Once again, I deeply apologize for my delayed response.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. MISO MAKING CHRONICLE – HOMEMADE CHICKPEA MISO 1 YEAR LATER AND FINALLY DONE! says:
    February 7, 2017 at 5:03 pm

    […] things is that on level 2, we have a lot of “create your own” projects. Since my homemade organic sprouted miso was done last December, I’ve been bringing it in and using it on my create your own projects and it’s been […]

    Reply

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Mariko Sakata

Hi, I'm Mariko! I am a raw food chef, instructor, and a cookbook author. Plant-based cooking is my passion. My creations are plant-based, mostly raw, and gluten free.
Hope you enjoy my recipes! Check out my About page to find out more about me.

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marikosakata

拙著『乳製品を使わないヴィーガンチーズ』の担当してくださった敏腕ベテラン編集者の方が、テンプレートを使って、誰でもたった1冊から本を出版できる画期的なサービス、BOOKOを考案され、そのクラウドファンディングをされています📚

好きなことをいつか本にできたらな✨と思われている方は結構いらっしゃると思います。現に私もその一人でした🙋🏻‍♀️私も何年も、「いつかレシピ本を出版できたらな✨」と考えていました。ただ出版社による商業出版は初版部数なども絡み、著者の実践、フォロワー数、トピックの需要などと、様々なファクターが問われ、誰でもとはいかず、ハードルが高く感じられるかもしれません。kindle出版の手もあるけれど、やはり紙の本も出版したいとなると、自費出版も最低部数があるためコストが高く、これもハードルが高く感じられます。

そこで誰でも手軽に一冊から紙の本が出版できるサービス、Booko登場!📗
BookoはAmazonのたった1冊から本を出版できるオンデマンド印刷サービスを利用。Bookoが作成した本の印刷用データをAmazonに送ると、
✔️Amazonがその本を販売📱💻
✔️購入されたら印刷📗
✔️配送してくれ🚛
✔️著者には印税60%が支払われる💴
というものです。

このサービスだと個人出版がノーリスクになり、非常に手軽で身近になりますが、只一つ大きなハードルが残ります⛰それは個人が出版用の印刷データの作成しなければいけないこと!出版業界にはレイアウトの様々な基準やルールがあり、商業出版ではデザイナーがレイアウトをデザインしてくださります。これを一から素人が作成するのは大変!

そこにBookoサービスが介入✨数々のベストセラーを20年以上手掛けられてきたベテラン編集者の方が今までの叡智を盛り込んでデザイナーと手掛けた、誰でも簡単に編集できる出版用テンプレートを提案💻 
Bookoの
📗料理本
📗実用書
📗ビジュアルブック
📗ポートフォリオ
📗小説
📗ビジネス書
のカテゴリーの中から好きなテンプレートを選んで、内容を編集したら、Bookoが印刷用データを作成。後はAmazonに送信するだけで、Amazonが販売、印刷、配送、印税を支払ってくれます📚

今までハードルが高かった本の出版を簡単に、手軽に、誰でもできるように身近してくれる画期的なサービス、Booko! 
一冊から出版できて最低部数がないから、ご自宅で開くお教室用のテキストブック、クックパッドやインスタグラムに今まで投稿したレシピを纏めて料理本などと、個人出版できる可能性は無限大✨Bookoサービスのローンチに向けて現在ウェブサイトや数々のテンプレートを作成中なので、どうぞあなたと出版との距離をグーンッと縮めてくれるBookoのクラウドファンディングのご支援のほど、宜しくお願い申し上げます🙇🏻‍♀️クラウドファンディングのリンクはプロフィールのリンクからか、ストーリーをご覧ください。
I love hand rolls💕 When it comes to making sush I love hand rolls💕 When it comes to making sushi at home, hand rolls are the best in my humble opinion. You just have to prepare the sushi rice, your choice of fillings, and nori. No hassle of using sushi mats. 

This time, my fillings are Just Egg tamagoyaki, black eyed peas tempeh spicy tuna, homemade tofu ham, carrots, cucumbers, baby chard, avocados, red clover sprouts, etc. All vegan and gluten free😊 I also used @otafuku_global ‘s delicious vegan sushi sauce they had kindly sent me✨It was perfection, especially with the Just Egg tamagoyaki😋

ヴィーガン・グルテンフリー手巻き寿司🍣 スクランブルドエッグや卵焼きが作れる卵代替え品Just Eggと自家製テンペがあったので手巻き寿司にすることに。Just Egg卵焼き、スパイシーテンペツナ、自家製豆腐ハムに野菜やアボカド、スプラウツをたっぷり✨ @otafuku_global さんが送ってくださったヴィーガン寿司ソースと頂いて最高でした😋
I couldn’t find the 100% buckwheat soba I usuall I couldn’t find the 100% buckwheat soba I usually get at the Japanese market for the yearly Japanese tradition of eating soba on New Years Eve. I’m trying these ones out from Amazon as a replacement, but these look very different from the Japanese ones🧐 I’m not quite sure how they are going to turn out, but we’ll see🤷🏻‍♀️ 

Black eyed peas tempeh are done just in time for New Year’s Day tomorrow. Have a lovely New Year’s Eve and a happy year everyone!

日系マーケットに十割そばがなかったので、急遽アマゾンで見つけた100%蕎麦粉のお蕎麦を購入。見た目が全然日本の十割蕎麦と違うから大丈夫なのか不安ですが。。。
明日用に発酵しておいたブラックアイドピーズのテンペも間に合って仕上がりました。

喪中のため、新年のご挨拶を控えさせていただきますが、本年も大変お世話になりました。来年も引き続きどうぞ宜しくお願い申し上げます。
Happy holidays everyone! Hope you all have a wonde Happy holidays everyone! Hope you all have a wonderful holiday season🎄✨💕

メリークリスマス🎄✨素敵なクリスマスをお過ごしください🎅🏼
Sunday DIY💪🏼 I’ve been meaning to clean u Sunday DIY💪🏼 
I’ve been meaning to clean up this corroded brass pepper mill, a friend of mine handed down to me, for quite some time now. 

I finally got to it, and with the help of a few YouTube videos and some trial and error,
I got it cleaned up pretty good✨ At one point, the whole thing turned copper, but with some serious elbow grease, it’s back to shiny brass again and I’m in love✨ 

友人から去年譲り受けたヴィンテージの真鍮のペッパーミル🧂緑青や酸化も全体にあって、今までクリーンアップも先延ばしに。このサイズでこのようなコンディションの真鍮を磨くのは初めてなので、YouTubeの力を借りて悪戦苦闘😅一時は完全に銅のペッパーミルになりましたが、何とかピカピカの真鍮に戻りました✨これから使うのが楽しみです💕
Adding sweet potato and vegan marshmallow casserol Adding sweet potato and vegan marshmallow casserole to our Thanksgiving feast this year🥘  Ever since I had this dish in North Carolina many years ago, it’s been on my mind. I think it’s gonna be a keeper for years to come🍠 Happy Thanksgiving everyone✨

今年の感謝祭にはスイートポテトとヴィーガンマシュマロのキャセロールをプラス🥘何年も前にノースキャロライナでこのキャセロールを食べてから、ずっと作ろうと思っていた一品。まるでデザートのようだから、辛党の私にはデザートいらず。Happy Thanksgiving✨
Thank you @plantbasehappy2 for trying out my vegan Thank you @plantbasehappy2 for trying out my vegan Boursin cheese recipe🙏🏼✨ So happy to see you enjoyed it💕

@plantbasehappy2 さん、拙著のブルサン風チーズレシピをお試しくださり、誠に有難うございます🙇🏻‍♀️✨お口に合ったようで大変光栄です💕

Repost from @plantbasehappy2

 vegan ブルサン風チーズ🧀

材料はヘルシーなのに濃厚なチーズ !
クラッカーとお酒が止まらない …

完全に @marikosakata さんのレシピ本に虜です 𓈒𓏸︎︎︎︎
@tomoko_inner_beauty , thank you so much for tryin @tomoko_inner_beauty , thank you so much for trying my out the vegan mozzarella recipe from my book🙏🏼✨

少し涼しくなってきて、発酵ヴィーガンチーズ作りが楽しくなる季節🍂 @tomoko_inner_beauty さん、ヴィーガンモッツァレラをお試しくださり、誠に有難うございます🙇🏻‍♀️💕

Repost from @tomoko_inner_beauty
•
Vegan cheese 🧀✨✨✨
 
今日も暑かった💦
 
暑くても秋の気配が訪れると
食べたくなるヴィーガンチーズ🧀😍✨✨✨
 
@marikosakata さんのヴィーガンチーズは
まさにチーズ🧀✨っていう味わい✨
 
コクがあって、発酵させるからちゃんとチーズ🧀
なのに身体に負担がなくて心地よい🥰✨
 
ナッツをリジュベラックという玄米で作る乳酸菌飲料で
発酵させて、
味を整えて寒天で固める、という工程。
 
ご著書を見たときは、難しそう…と思っていて
 
まりこさんの実演を見せていただいた時に
ステップが分かりやすかったのと
試食で頂いたチーズがとにかく美味しくて😍🧀
 
作ってみたらやっぱり美味しかった😍🧀
 
なので今回倍量で作りました🧀🧀✨
 
そのまま食べても
クラッカーに載せても
小さく切ってサラダに載せても🥗美味しい😍🧀
 
 
気に入っている食べ方は
小さく切って塩昆布と和えたり
 
塩昆布+醤油少々でご飯に混ぜておにぎりに🍙
海苔を巻いて食べるとめっちゃ美味しいです😍🍙
 
 
写真のクラッカーはグルテンフリー✨
玄米や十六穀米のさくさく軽い薄味クラッカー✨
 
小さなパッケージなので持ち歩きおやつになりそう🍘
薄味なのでクルトン替わりにも使えそうです🥰✨
 ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
 
YouTubeチャンネル作りました❣️
ゆったり癒しのスイーツ動画、ぜひご覧ください✨
 
20種類のギルトフリースイーツが動画で学べるudemy講座
 
ロースイーツのいちごのフレジェ講座🍓✨発売中
 
お申し込み、詳細はプロフィール欄のリンクよりご覧いただけます✨
 
お問い合わせはメッセージをどうぞ🥰✨✨
 
 @tomoko_inner_beauty 
 
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
Thank you @plantbasehappy2 for purchasing my book, Thank you @plantbasehappy2 for purchasing my book, and trying out one of the recipes🙏🏼✨

@plantbasehappy2 さん、拙著をご購入くださり、そして早速ナチョスチーズレシピを試してくださり、誠に有難うございました🙇🏻‍♀️✨お気に召していただけたようで、嬉しい限りです💕

Repost from @plantbasehappy2
•
vegan ナチョスチーズ & トルティーヤチップス !

ソースはナチョスチーズ味!🧀
トルティーヤチップスにディップするスタイル。

美味しすぎて、トルティーヤチップスと
コロナビール買い足した位。

ソースは @marikosakata さんの
レシピ本から。
本当に買ってよかった!!!!!

旦那はveganではないのだけど
レシピ本みて全部美味しそう!!
俺でもこれも作れそう!!と言ってた☺︎ たのしみ

一番惹かれた ナチョスから作りました 𓂃٭
まだ今はフードプロセッサーしかないから
粒が残ってるけどこれはこれで美味しい!

市販でようやくveganチーズが手に入る
ようになってきたけど添加物なぁ、、
と思ってたし、なんか惜しい!が多くて。(しょうがない)

この本にのっているものはリアルにチーズ、、

しかもテンション上がるチーズばかり!!
これから作るのが楽しみ🧀
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