One of the best things about being a journalist are the tit-bits of knowledge pick up along the way and which can really enrich your life.
This story I recently did on miso is a good example. I’m not sure I’d ever had proper miso before, but I doubt I’ll be able to go back to the 400 yen supermarket kind again.
This is a picture of Kousuke Ishii of Ishii Miso in Nagano. (Nagano prefecture is famous for miso and produces about half the miso consumed in Japan).
Their miso costs 3 to 5 times the ordinary kind. It is made from organic Japanese soy and matured for up to three years in these barrels. The company only sell through their factory shop, to people taking tours of the factory, and by mail order.
Best miso I’ve ever had.
If you want to check out miso in Tokyo, try Sano Miso, who have their main shop in Kameido. The is the CEO of the shop Masaaki Sano.
They have no less than 60 kinds of miso, plus various kinds of dashi, soy sauce etc. Its a real gourmet paradise. Sano-san told me that a lot of people go there to learn about the basics of Japanese cuisine as they shop. Some of their most enthusiastic customers are non-Japanese .
More miso links (in Japanese):
Japan Federation of Miso Manufacturers Cooperatives
A slideshow of all the miso photos:
Miso in Nagano and Tokyo, May 2009 – Images by Tony McNicol
Sad sad. I liked the page a lot … yet, my feed reader has no flash support. I wondered why I could not see any pictures. Now I know, because one has to put the pictures in a stupid flash application.
This means I can’t continue enjoying the blog.
Those look like very neat places.
I would love to take the time to walk around and even eat there.
Nice shots…
Thanks for the story and photos Tony, I would love to go there and see how they produce it.
Thank you for this post and the link to Miso Cooperatives page. I did a couple of miso tasting and it was amazing to find so many regional varieties!
Hi Kai . . . I asked Photoshelter (the company that host my archive) why the flash doesn’t show up in feed readers. Apparently it is up to the individual feed reader companies to add sites to their whitelist. You are right, it is a shame.
Thanks for the other comments too. I am going to make ton-jiru with the miso tonight.
Thanks for the useful info. It’s so interesting
Great story, great pictures. I’ll definitely be checking Sano out, though Nagano’s a bit far for me.