This miso paste ferment is an experiment using all raw ingredients.
2# 6oz. raw black-eyed peas (soaked and chopped)
2# 8oz. raw barley koji
7.2 oz. salt
Lima bean miso starter (blended in water and strained)
First the koji. I soaked pearled barley over night, and it puffs up all swollen and soft. I sifted spores from a previous batch of barley koji into a hotel pan, and tossed the raw soaked barley around in the spores coating them thoroughly. Then I incubated them at 85° F for 48 hours. (There are many already-published incubation methods for koji, and I won’t go into them here.)
Next the Black-eyed peas (BEP). I soaked them for 24 hours. They swell up big, too, and get fairly soft compared to many beans. I pulsed them slightly with the S-blade in a Cuisinart™ until they were chopped medium.
I put 2 tablespoons of live lima bean miso (not raw) into a cup of water and blended thoroughly. I let it sit for 20 minutes as the solids (cooked) settled to the bottom of the cup, and then poured off the liquid, which was full of bacteria from its own lacto-ferment.
I then blended the raw barley koji with the starter water, added half the salt, and then mixed this into the chopped BEP. I packed it into a crock and put a plate and weight on top. That was 14 months ago. ( I never added more than half the salt as it was salty enough without it to my taste preference.)
Here’s the BEP paste blended in the crock with an immersion blender. (Blending brings out lots of flavor.)
This fermented miso paste tastes much brighter than other BEP miso pastes I’ve made. It is less complex on the palette, and the flavor of the BEP comes through very strong. It is very delicious as a broth, and I have not yet experimented with it in any other dishes.
On making a cup of miso broth.
Boil good water. Fill a beautiful cup or mug with the boiling water to heat the vessel. Once hot, pour the water back into the kettle. (This cools the water in the kettle.)
Add miso paste and a little cold water, and stir to mix well.
Add hot water to bring temperature up to suite your palette, without killing the miso.