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

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Small heavy saucepan
• •Wooden spoon or silicone spatula
• •Small whisk
• •Clean storage jar
• •Fine grater for yuzu zest, optional

Instructions

1. 1

   Loosen the miso

   Put the shiromiso in a small heavy saucepan. Add the sugar, sake, and mirin, then stir with a wooden spoon or small whisk until the paste loosens and looks smooth. Do this before the heat goes on, because cold mixing gives you an even paste without chasing lumps around a hot pan.

   Shiromiso varies in salt and sweetness. Taste it first. If yours is quite sweet, hold back one tablespoon of sugar and add it later only if the balance needs it.
2. 2

   Cook it gently

   Set the pan over low heat and stir steadily for 5 to 7 minutes. The mixture will turn glossy and fragrant, and the raw edge of the sake will fade. Keep the heat low enough that the paste barely sighs at the edges. Miso scorches easily, and a scorched glaze tastes heavy no matter how careful you are afterward.

3. 3

   Temper the yolk

   Beat the egg yolk in a small bowl. Spoon in a little warm miso paste and stir it smooth, then scrape that yolk mixture back into the pan. This warms the yolk before it meets the full heat, so it thickens the glaze instead of curdling into specks.

4. 4

   Thicken to gloss

   Keep stirring over very low heat for 3 to 5 minutes, until the paste holds a soft trail when you draw the spoon through it and drops slowly from the spoon in a ribbon. Don't boil it. The yolk gives the glaze its body and pale shine, but boiling tightens it and dulls the finish.

   The finished paste should be spreadable, not stiff. It thickens more as it cools, so stop while it still looks a little softer than you want.
5. 5

   Season and cool

   Taste the glaze. Add the usukuchi shoyu only if it needs a little edge, and fold in yuzu zest only after the heat is off so the fragrance stays clean. Transfer to a clean jar and let it cool. Press a small piece of parchment onto the surface if storing, because the paste skins over when left exposed.

6. 6

   Use the glaze

   Brush a thin layer over grilled tofu, eggplant, konnyaku, taro, or bamboo shoot, then warm it briefly under a grill or broiler just until the surface shines and deepens in spots. Don't bury the ingredient. Dengaku-miso is a glaze, not a blanket, and the food underneath should still be readable.

Chef Tips

• •Buy true shiromiso for this, not a generic pale miso that tastes mostly salty. Kansai-style white miso should be sweet, rounded, and creamy, with enough salt to stand up but not enough to dominate.
• •If you have a small donabe-style sauce pan or a heavy enamel pan, use it. Thin metal gives hot spots, and hot spots make miso catch before the rest of the paste has thickened.
• •For a meatless table, this glaze needs no fish stock at all. Serve it over grilled tofu, konnyaku, or vegetables at their shun, and it remains honmono. The point is the miso and the fire.
• •Use the glaze sparingly. Three small strokes across tofu look calmer and taste better than a thick coat spread to the edges. Leave it room.

Advance Preparation

• •The glaze can be made up to 4 days ahead and refrigerated in a clean covered jar.
• •Let chilled dengaku-miso stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before brushing, or warm it very gently over low heat to loosen it.
• •Do not freeze it. The egg yolk and miso separate, and the texture turns coarse.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 17g)