With lessons learned from Miso experiment #1, I’m making another batch but this time I’m going to try the recipe from the book instead of from the package.
- 10.5 oz whole dried soybeans
- 1 bag (500 g) Koji barley
- 7 oz kosher salt
- 0.5 oz kosher salt for finishing
Next day, I put the beans in a larger pot than last time and filled it with water ~3 inches above the bean level and boiled them, in medium-low heat, for about 2 hours.
Once it was done I collected 13.5 oz (400 ml) of the water from the boil, added about 3.5 oz salt and put it in the freezer for 20 minutes to cool down. I put the beans in a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil trying to make it so it’s a layer no more than 1 bean deep.
After the 20 minutes both the beans and the soy-water + salt were about body temperature so I went ahead and used a potato smasher to squish the beans and added the water. Also added the rest of the 7 oz of salt and made sure everything was well mixed.
It looked like a really coarsely chopped tapenade and was mushy but not wet. I added the whole thing to a 2L fermenting crock and pushed it down to make sure there are no air pockets. Then I sprinkled the last 0.5 oz of salt over the top, making sure to try and spread it evenly, and put plastic wrapt up against the mixture to try and prevent too much air from hitting the smashed beans.
Not, it’s time to wait again.