A fermented condiment to keep in the fridge - the all-purpose miso sauce that brings all vegetables to life

Three spoons, a jar, ten minutes: this Japanese fermented paste, made with rice vinegar and sesame oil, keeps for two weeks and becomes the sauce next to all the steamed vegetables, salads, marinades, and grain bowls of the summer.

The principle: a fermented base sauce

There are preparations that unlock a cuisine. Tahini vinaigrette is one, confit garlic oil another. This small Japanese fermented sauce - miso-dare (味噌だれ) - belongs to this family: you prepare it once, you keep it in the fridge, and you take it out every time a dish lacks a base.

It has the depth of an old sauce base without having required more than a whisk and a bowl. This is the power of miso: this fermented soy paste, born in Japan more than a thousand years ago, brings on its own what we spend hours looking for in a broth - umami, that fifth taste that makes "there you go, it's good".

The basic recipe (a small jar, about 200 ml)

• 4 tbsp of light miso paste (shiro miso - the sweetest, perfect for beginners)
• 2 tbsp of mirin (or: 1 tbsp of sake + ½ tsp of sugar)
• 2 tbsp of rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp of water (adjust for texture)
• 1 tsp of toasted sesame oil
• 1 clove of garlic finely grated (optional)
• 1 cm of ginger grated (optional)

Whisk everything in a bowl until you get a creamy texture. Pour into a small clean jar. Keep for 2 weeks in the fridge.

How to use it (the real interest)

This is not a sauce for a particular dish - it's a base:

• On steamed vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, green beans): one spoon, everything is awakened
• As a vinaigrette on a cucumber-radish-avocado salad
• As a quick marinade (20 min) for an eggplant before grilling - the paste caramelizes beautifully
• As a dip for raw vegetables (carrot sticks, endive, radish)
• On a bowl of cereals (rice, pearl barley, spelt) with roasted vegetables - the "donburi" of Sunday evening
• In a noodle soup: one spoon at the end of cooking, off the heat (the live paste does not like boiling), and the broth gains depth

Three variations worth the detour

• Peanut version: + 2 tbsp of peanut butter = a satay-type sauce perfect for cold noodles
• Lemon-yuzu version: replace the rice vinegar with yuzu juice (or half lemon, half orange) = more lively, superb on white fish
• Sweet version: + 1 tsp of maple syrup = glaze for salmon or mushrooms in the oven (200°C, 10 min)

The little fermentation tip

Unpasteurized miso paste contains active ferments, like a good cheese. We do not boil it: we add it at the end of cooking to preserve its taste and qualities. Look for a bio paste, without additives, if possible Japanese or French artisan - there are excellent ones in Brittany and Aveyron.

A good miso paste is the same logic as a good olive oil: an ingredient that we pay a little more for, that we use sparingly, but that makes the difference in ten dishes.