Homemade Miso Using a Pressure Cooker

1. 1

   Rinse the soy beans, and soak them in plenty of water overnight.

2. 2

   They will swell up to twice their size by the next day.

3. 3

   Put the soy beans into twice their volume of water in a pressure cooker and bring to a boil.

4. 4

   Skim off the white scum that rises to the surface.

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   Put the perforated metal plate that comes with the pressure cooker on top.

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   Lock the lid on and cook under pressure for 10 minutes, then leave to cool down naturally.

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   *If you have a small pressure cooker, cook the soy beans in 2 batches.

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   This is the fresh rice koji I ordered by mail and used this time.

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   There are 2 bags containing 1.3 kg each.

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    You can use dried rice koji instead!

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    While the soy beans are cooking, mix the koji and salt together.

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    Drain the cooking liquid from the cooked soy beans, and hold onto it to use later.

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    *If you're cooking the soy beans in several batches, just keep the cooking liquid from the final batch.

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    Let the soy beans cool a bit, and put them in a plastic bag.

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    They'll be hot so wrap the bag in a towel and press down with your hands to mash them.

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    The beans are very soft so this should be easy.

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    Add the combined koji and salt from Step 5 to the mashed soy beans and mix well.

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    Mix in some of the cooking liquid until the paste is about the consistency of hamburger mixture or about as soft as your earlobe.

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    Line a large container or tub with a double layer of plastic bags.

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    Roll the paste into apple sized balls (these are called miso balls) and throw them hard into the container.

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    Press them in firmly to eliminate any air pockets.

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    When all the miso balls have been put into the container, press down hard on the whole mass again while putting your weight into it to remove any air.

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    Sprinkle a handful of salt on top evenly.

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    (This is to prevent the surface from developing mold.)

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    Squeeze the inner plastic bag closed while pushing out any air inside.

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    Press a small lid or plate on top, add a weight on top of that and wrap and close the outer plastic bag over all.

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    Cover with a lid.

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    Wrap the whole container with another plastic bag.

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    Leave it in a dark, cool place out of the sun.

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    Here's the schedule from this point on:

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    Mixing up from the bottom (1st time): Check on the miso after about 2 months to see if it has developed any mold!

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    If it has, just remove the parts with the mold.

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    Mix the whole thing up from the bottom after removing the moldy parts.

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    Mixing up from the bottom (2nd time): Open up the miso 4 months after the first time you mixed it up!

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    Mix it up from the bottom again.

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    If the miso has matured enough when you mix it up the 2nd time you can start eating it, but it will become more delicious if you let it mature for a while longer.

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    I made miso this time on February 3rd, the day of spring (Setsubun no Hi).

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    I'm looking forward to how it will turn out.

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    April 30th: The first mixing up!

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    It's about 3 months after I made the miso.

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    I opened the lid slowly since I was afraid it had developed mold.

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    Looks so good!

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    It's fluffy, and actually starting to smell like miso!

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    It hadn't molded at all as I'd feared, and it's turned into miso.

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    It's not yet edible at this point, though.

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    I mixed it up from the bottom.

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    To do this I took the plastic bag out and squeezed the miso over the bag.

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    This way my hands are not in direct contact with the miso, so no bacteria gets into it.

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    I returned the plastic bag to the container, and levelled out the surface with a wooden spatula.

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    I closed up the plastic bags again as described above.

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    I left it in a cool, dark place.

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    I'll check on it again in September...maybe it will be ready to eat by then...

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    End of August: It's matured into a delicious looking miso.

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    It's ready to eat at this point.

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    The top photo is of the miso at this stage.

* Per serving · 4 servings · Values may vary.

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