Are you excited to cook with the miso paste you got from the local Japanese store but unsure where best to keep it? Learn how to store your delicious seasoning fresh, and enjoy the savory flavor!
Delicious miso paste is a staple in Japanese cooking, bringing its salty-umami flavor to any dish – but the question is where best to keep it? Is your pantry or fridge more suitable for ensuring a pleasant taste sticks around?
You will learn how to store miso paste, helpful tips, delicious recipes with miso paste, and more. Read on!
Jump to:
- Where is the Best Place to Store Miso Paste?
- Best Stored in The Refrigerator
- Freezing for Long-term Storage
- Store at Room Temperature
- Helpful Tips for Storing Miso Paste
- Airtight Container for Miso Paste
- By the way, what is Miso Paste?
- How long does miso paste last?
- Japanese Miso Soup Recipes
- The Best Way to Use Old Miso Paste
- FAQ
- Thanks For Stopping By!
- 💬 Comments
Where is the Best Place to Store Miso Paste?
Looking for a great spot to store your miso paste? Let's talk about these three options:
- Refrigerator
- Freezer
- Dark and cool place
Best Stored in The Refrigerator
The storage conditions are critical to keeping the best quality fresh miso. The best way is to keep it in low temperatures.
Once opened, miso must be kept in an airtight container and refrigerated to preserve its freshness. Storing at room temperature can quickly diminish the taste and overall quality, so I always keep mine in the fridge. It will last in the refrigerator for a year or more!
I recommend keeping even unopened miso paste in the fridge if you can't find a cool, dark place.
Freezing for Long-term Storage
Another way to preserve the flavor of delicious miso paste is by freezing it. Kept in your freezer, this savory seasoning can stay at its quality for up to a year as no bacteria grow inside the freezer.
Since miso paste contains many ingredients besides water, it does not freeze like ice cubes, and you can use it right out of the freezer (no need to thaw).
Store at Room Temperature
If a fridge and freezer are not your options, you can store miso paste at room temperature. The best place is somewhere dark and cool, like kitchen cabinets, and avoid direct sunlight. Ensure the temperature stays below 20C/68F to keep the excellent quality.
Miso paste has a long shelf life because of its high salt content and generally doesn't go bad. Especially unopened miso paste can be stored at room temperature for more than a couple of months because bacteria in the air do not enter.
However, you have to watch out for humidity. If you store it in a hot and humid place after opening, the taste will deteriorate, or you might see mold growing.
Traditional miso paste (without additives) continues to ferment. When the temperature goes above 20C/68F, the koji mold becomes active and speeds up the fermentation process.
Lastly, be careful if you use the low-salt content type or processed variety like the one containing soup stock, as it may spoil at room temperature.
In conclusion, let's recap the main points of storing at room temperature.
- Unopened miso paste can be stored at room temperature
- The best place is a cool and dark place without direct sunlight
- The temperature should be below 20C/68F
- Processed miso paste may not be safe to store at room temperature
Helpful Tips for Storing Miso Paste
- Once opened, the miso paste will oxidize when exposed to the air, but covering the surface of the miso paste with plastic wrap and sealing it tightly will help keep the quality.
- Scoop your miso paste with dry and clean utensils (when you use it for cooking) - moisture creates an environment for bacteria growth.
Airtight Container for Miso Paste
I love this enamel stocker - it's the ideal food container for miso paste!
It has a handle and is very easy to put in and take out of the refrigerator. Plus, store-bought miso paste is typically in a square plastic container in Japan and fits perfectly in this stocker.
If you are looking for a container for your miso paste, I highly recommend this stocker!
By the way, what is Miso Paste?
Miso is fermented soybean paste and preservative food with a long shelf life.
This fermented product is an essential condiment in Japanese cuisine. It's nutritious-rich and great for gut health (see the health benefits here).
The most popular dish with miso paste is miso soup. It adds an umami taste to the soup.
How is it made?
Miso paste's key ingredients are soybeans, salt, and koji (aspergillus oryzae).
How to make it in a nutshell starts with steaming and mashing the soybeans, then adding salt and koji. Place the mixture in a bucket and leave it in a dark, cool place for six months or even longer to ferment.
Different types of miso paste by ingredients
Kome miso is the most common miso paste made from soybeans, salt, and koji rice. 80% of miso production is this type in Japan.
However, there's a variety of miso paste, each made with different koji as below:
- Kome miso paste - white rice miso paste made from soybeans, salt, and koji rice (kome koji).
- Genmai miso paste - brown rice miso paste made from soybeans, salt, and koji brown rice.
- Mugi miso paste - barley miso paste made from soybeans, salt, and barley koji (Mugi koji).
- Mame miso paste - soybean miso paste is only made from soybean and salt without koji.
Click here for more types of miso paste.
Different Types of Miso Paste by Color
Have you ever seen miso with various colors like the image above? Even the same type of kome miso changes its color by the ratio of ingredients and the fermentation period.
In terms of the length of the fermentation, darker miso means aging longer (the Maillard reaction), and the taste is less sweet than light miso.
Here are different types of miso paste by color:
- White miso paste (shiro miso) - Short fermentation (1 to 3 months). It has a low salt content and is sweeter.
- Yellow miso paste (awairo miso) - Medium fermentation (4 to 8 months). It's mainstream miso.
- Red miso paste (aka miso) - Long fermentation (one year or more). Salty taste and is rich in flavor.
I like using yellow for miso soup and red for other dishes. But it's a personal preference, so try red, yellow, and white, and find out which one suits your taste.
Which one should I buy?
- Pick traditional miso (not processed one like containing dashi stock)
- White kome miso is a good choice if you are looking for a light and mild taste
- If you are looking for a complex flavor, pick red kome miso.
It takes time to make miso paste, like six months to a year, but some processed products are much shorter. These contain additives to fake the deep flavor and control the quality, which doesn't have an authentic taste.
I recommend picking genuine products that only contain soybeans, salt, and koji rice on the label, like this miso paste.
Pick kome miso, which is the standard, and white or red would be up to you.
Where to buy
- Japanese grocery stores: Mitsuwa marketplace, Marukai
- Asian grocery stores
- Whole foods market
- Health food stores
- Online stores: Instacart, Walmart
How long does miso paste last?
Does miso paste go bad? If you have leftover miso paste that hasn't been used for a while and are wondering whether to toss or use for cooking...
Miso paste is a fermented food that will last a very long time, even after the expiration date!
Read this post for tips about how long miso paste lasts, signs of spoilage, and everything else you need to know!
Japanese Miso Soup Recipes
Looking for a delicious way to use your miso paste? Check out these Miso Soup Recipes. I share ten easy-to-follow miso soup recipes that you can make at home.
Here are some of them:
Miso soup is the most simple and easy dish in Japanese cooking. I hope you will enjoy the authentic flavor!
The Best Way to Use Old Miso Paste
If your miso paste is not so fresh, but you don't want to toss it, here are the best ways to use up your old miso!
- Miso mayo: Mix miso paste and mayonnaise. Use it as a dipping sauce for vegetable sticks.
- Miso salad dressings: Mix miso paste, vinegar, sugar, and olive oil and make a salad dressing.
- Misozuke (pickle): Make a pickling mixture with miso paste and mirin. Pickle vegetables (carrot, daikon, cucumber, etc.) or tofu overnight.
- Stir fry: Make a sauce with miso paste, soy sauce, and mirin. Use it as stir-fry seasoning.
FAQ
Once opened, miso paste must be kept in an airtight container and refrigerated to preserve its freshness. Storing at room temperature can quickly diminish the taste and overall quality, so I always keep mine in the fridge.
Yes and no. You can keep unopened miso paste at room temperature in a cool and dark place as long as the temperature is below 20C/68F. Otherwise, you want to refrigerate to keep the freshness.
It will last up to a year if you keep it in the fridge.
Yes, you can.
You can make a miso dressing, misozuke (pickling), or use it for stir-frying.
Thanks For Stopping By!
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog♡. If you've tried this recipe (or any other recipe on the blog), please give it a star rating below!
Also, feel free to leave comments if you have any questions. I love hearing from you!
Chef JA Cooks is a Japanese food blog that shares simple and healthy Japanese home cooking recipes, including vegan and vegetarian. From traditional Japanese recipes to modern recipes with step-by-step instructions.
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