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The Han/ Uses of /Aiso
An island nation, Japan has an ancient
bond with the ocean, and that bond is re
flected in their cuisine. They eat lots of sea
weed, as a vegetable with dinner and in soups
and salads, and they also make nori rolls: sea
weed pressed into a fine paper-like sheet that’s
used as a delicate wrapper for rice, veggies and
seafood. And of course, fish and other sea crit
ters figure strongly in Japanese cuisine,
whether cooked or served as sashimi (thinly
sliced raw fish and seafood) or sushi (rice
formed into small squares or ovals or into nori
rolls with some combination of veggies and
sashimi).
I’ve always thought that the slight salti
ness of miso was a reflection of the saltiness
of the sea. Miso is a smooth, protein-rich, fer
mented paste made from cooked soybeans,
grains (usually rice or barley), sea salt, water
and a culture.
It’s one of the most important ingredients
in Japanese cooking (it’s used in Chinese cui
sine as well, but on a much more limited and
regional scale). Miso is a fermented food, like
yogurt, cheese, wine, beer, tofu, tempeh, etc.,
and it’s a rich source of protein, especially for
vegetarians because it’s got loads of B com
plex vitamins including the rare-in-the-veg-
etable-kingdom B-12.
Miso is used to season soups, stews, casse
roles, grilled and fried foods, sauces, dressings,
dips and spreads. It’s also used to pickle veg
etables and seafood, and there are probably a
wider variety of pickled foods in Japan and
they play a more important role in the day to
day diet.
Traditionally miso was made in small
batches in family run miso shops. Like cheese
making in France, miso making was respected
as a highly skilled and artful craft. The cooked
soybeans and grains were ground coarse or
smooth, mixed with salt and the fermenting
culture, packed into ceramic crocks and set out
on the back porch to ferment for anywhere from
half a year to more than two years. There are
dozens of styles that range from light yellow,
slightly sweet misos to deep dark red brown,
strong-flavored, savory, almost meaty misos.
Today most miso manufac ired in Japan
and exported to the States comes out of fac
tories that mass-produce the stuff. If you want
to purchase miso locally, you have basically
two choices: either go to one of the Asian
grocery stores in town or go to one of the lo
cal natural foods stores. The Asian stores carry
the mass produced stuff which is really just fine
and is pretty inexpensive. The natural foods
stores carry a better grade of miso made by one
of several American miso makers but it costs
a little more.
There are lots of ways you can use miso,
and if you want to know more there’s a good,
definitive book called (surprise) The Book Of
Miso by William Shurtleff & Akiko Aoyagi;
it’s loaded with recipes, history, pictures and
instructions for making your own miso at
home.
Miso soup and miso broth are pfobably the
most popular and traditional ways to have your
miso. They’re also probably the easiest way to
try miso. Over in Japan they drink miso broth
instead of coffee in the morning. It doesn’t
have quite the same caffeine kick, but it does
have its own hearty, satisfying, mildly salty and
subtler lift.
Just pour boiling water over a generous
tablespoon of miso in a big coffee mug and
slowly dissolve the miso into the hot water
with a spoon. Depending on your own taste
and how big that mug is you might want to
use a little more or less miso.
You can add miso to any soup that you
make but I think it’s most at home in thin
broth soups and hearty vegetable and/or bean
soups. Try adding about three tablespoons to
each quart of soup. Add the miso right at the
end because it’s good to cook it as little as pos
sible. Remember that miso is salty so you
shouldn’t add any other salt when you use miso
unless you taste it first and decide it needs that
extra pinch.
In closing, here’s a simple recipe for miso
soup:
S\ice half a medium onion, iw stalks
of cAenabout one cap of cabbage, and
a duv<? of garliz. 5auhf the v<?ggu?5 in
oil until the onions are clear and then
add one quart of water and bring the
soup to a boil. Ladle a little of the broth
into a smaller bowl and mu four table"
spoons of dark miso with it and return it
to the soup along with one cup of cubed
tofu. Let it simmer for a couple of mui"
utes, and lt‘s readq to serve.
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Matthew Greenia
• A Taste of Athens is-Community Connection s maior amual fund raiser, Community Con
nection is an.information and referral service that puts people in touch with social service
agencies, child care msoufees, mente' health agencies volunteer opportunities and more
in 11 counties in tlort'v-as? Georgia About 350 Athenians amended ! a$t»years Taste of
Athens, making ’ha? nr * event a big success ’his year, you can expect great food from
about 30 oca! restaurants and food service businesses, wines from four purveyors, and
the buzz of lively conversation A Taste of Athens takes place at Trumps at the Georgian
Hotel Sunday Feb 5 Tickets are available ’hrough Community-Connection or at the door
die evening of the event For more info call 353*13 i 3
• • • ‘Aatthew Greemc
Athens’ ONLY Japanese Steakhouse
presents ti...
Neiv Early Bird Special . ^
6.-30 i
Sun. — Thurs.
Special includes your choice of:
(5) pieces of Nigiri Sushi oo<6 ,(D roll of Maki Sushi
■ Tuna ■ Red Snapper ■ California Roll
■ Octopus ■ Surf Clam ■ Cucumber Roll
■ Crabstick ■ Mackerel * ■ Tuna Roll
■ Egg Omelet ■ Horse Clam ■ Salmon Roll
■ Boiled Shrimp H Conch ■ Shrimp Roll
I Smoked Salmon ■ Fresh Salmon
os S Q 95
Soup and Salad.,. FOR JUST
$«95
J per person
Sorry! No sushi will he served on Valentine's Day
®INOKO
Business Hours:
Mon. - Thurs. 4:30 to 10:00
Fn & Sat 4:30 to 10:30
Japanese Steak & Seafood House Sun Lunch 12 00 to 4:30
161 Alps Rd. • 546-8589 Sun. Dinner 4:30 to 9:00
Dear citizens of Athens-Clarke County:
The police officers of the Athens-Clarke County
community need your help.
As citizens of the community ourselves, we looked
forward in 1991 to the progress that could be made by
combining our governments into one. Now, four years
have passed, and we are still far from the goal of
equality between the city and county police departments.
There is disparity between the salary levels of city and
county police officers. Sergeants supervise officers
making more money than they do. Promotion
requirements are not uniform, and seniority is ignored.
Currently, there is no process requiring the Athens-
Clarke County Commission to meet and confer with
police employees to resolve these differences. We need
your help to establish a process for police officers to
negotiate grievance proceedings, benefits and working
conditions.
Please help us by signing our petition requesting a
refeiendum on the issue. We need the opportunity to
meet with the unified government to address these basic
issues which are of vital importance to the officers
protecting your community.
Sincerely,
Northeast Georgia Chapter
Police Benevolent Association of Georgia, Inc.
Info. Line: 354-4519