Miso

Miso is a kind of salty Japanese condiment used in the Japanese cuisine as one of the leading ingredients. There are many types of miso, depending on the composition and proportion of the ingredients used which are mainly fermented beans, rice, and wheat. It is produced in a two-step process.

First Step is the making of koji fermented cereal.  The cereal (here rice or barley), the source of starch, is soaked and then steamed to obtain the optimum moisture content for the growth of the crop.
The seeds are then inoculated with a strain of Aspergillus oryzae and lactobacillus to be fermented for about 45 hours at 35 C, until each grain is infested, i.e., coated with white mycelium. This mold culture, which is done in the open air, in a warm and humid room, therefore performs an aerobic fermentation.
The second step begins by washing and soaking the soybeans. These are then steamed, crushed and then spread on bamboo trays. These are mixed then with koji, salt, and water. Everything is placed in large tanks that are carefully closed.
Fermentative by micro-organisms (yeasts and lactic acid bacteria) are initiated with some old miso or by adding a selected commercial strain. This second fermentation begins at 25-30 ° C, for a variable duration depending on the type of miso, 15 days for sweet miso, 3 to 4 months for salt miso.
The miso usually has all the essential amino acids, and it is rich in B vitamins and, the unpasteurized version is rich in lactobacillus and enzymes food. To date, more than fifty different enzymes have been listed. Thus, miso can be considered food in itself. However, because of its strong and salty taste, many consider it a condiment. It can be compared to chicken or beef concentrates, in cubes or syrup, or even to a blue cheese used in preparing of soups and sauces.
Main nutrients of miso are protein, vitamin B 2, vitamin E, various enzymes, isoflavones, choline, and lecithin. Because of these ingredients, the benefits of miso for human nutrition are often highlighted by food companies. A high level of vitamin B 12 was also frequently emphasized, but this turned out to be wrong: Vitamin B 12, a vitamin relevant to human nutrition, does not naturally occur in miso.