Shiromiso Dengaku-miso (白味噌田楽味噌, Kansai white-miso glaze)

White miso looks mild, and that is exactly where its strength hides. Shiromiso, the sweet pale miso of Kansai, doesn't shout across a plate. It sits on grilled tofu, eggplant, or young bamboo shoot and lets the ingredient stay itself. Nothing hidden. That is the Kansai hand at work.

Dengaku-miso frightens people because it sounds like a sauce you must inherit from a Kyoto kitchen with three locked cupboards. It isn't. Miso, sugar, sake, mirin, and one egg yolk are stirred over low heat until the paste turns glossy and falls slowly from the spoon. The yolk gives body and shine, but only if you treat it gently. Rush the heat and it tightens into grains, which is a small tragedy and an avoidable one.

The detail that decides it is the fire. Use a heavy pan, keep the heat low, and stir steadily so the alcohol cooks off and the sugar melts before the miso catches. What you want is a glaze, not a scorch. Brush it thinly on tofu or vegetables after they have been grilled, then give it only a brief final kiss of heat so the surface shines. The method is small. The restraint is the lesson.