Miso Tasty

I miss Japanese food, or should I say I miss cooking Japanese food. When I was living in Japan I didn’t think twice about the ingredients and products I had available to me. Now I realise just how lucky I was. The food is incredibly delicious, with a variety of amazing flavours, and it’s healthy to boot! Japan is the only country I’ve lived in where I’ve eaten everything I wanted and lost weight. I felt healthy, which is the most important thing to me. Miso is a very traditional, healthy ingredient in Japanese food and is something I’ve eaten and cooked with many times. So when Miso Tasty contacted me about an press event come dinner party, I jumped at the chance to attend.

When I arrived I was greeted by an enthusiastic group of people and my own personal place card, in the form of a miso spoon. A lovely touch! Bonnie (the founder of Miso Tasty) told us all about the brand and it’s origins as we nibbled on veggies that we dipped into different types of miso. As we sipped sparkling sake (even better than regular sake), we were told about the different fermentation processes, and why each miso tasted as it does. If there was a wine tasting of the food world, it would have been this. My favourite was the hatcho miso, which we were told is the champagne of the miso world (and is the only miso eaten by the Emperor of Japan). Trust me to pick the most decadent and expensive of the selection! Bonnie then served us our own bowl of miso, along with a variety of ingredients such as: smoked salmon, noodles, tofu, spring onion and more. I have only ever had miso soup by itself, or with mochi at New Year, so I thoroughly enjoyed trying something new. Next we were served saikyo miso grilled black cod and smoked salmon (to die for!) with an aubergine-miso dish. I didn’t want to intrude on the veggie/vegan option so I didn’t try it but it looked good. The coleslaw (made with tahini and miso) was void of mayonnaise and still managed to be creamy. In fact it’s probably one of the best coleslaws I’ve had! I felt like eating all of the fish and coleslaw, but controlled my urges, which I’m sure my fellow diners were very happy about. Finally, we were served freshly baked gluten-free miso cookies…it might sound odd, but these were beyond delicious. We all snuck a few home too. 

Miso Tasty showed me that whereas their miso soup may be great for eating on the go, or as a healthy lunch option, you can also make a meal out of it. I had actually tried Miso Tasty’s soup before and was impressed by their use of miso paste, over other brands who usually opt for powder. The lovely company added to the atmosphere of the evening, but in the end the food was the star of the night. Every dish left me wanting more, and wondering how on earth they had managed to seal so much flavour inside. I’ll definitely be using my Miso Tasty to create some of the delicious recipes I tried during the event, and for some of my own creations.