Disclosure: I serve as a Brand Ambassador for the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board helping to share the story of our Arkansas soybean farmers. All opinions are my own. #ARSoyFoods #ARSoyStory #themiraclebean
Sous vide means “under vacuum.” It is a cooking technique that has been used in restaurants for years. “The heart of sous vide cooking is the controlled application of relatively low heat—just hot enough to cook the food properly, no more.” (Harold McGee, Under Pressure by Thomas Keller)
Fairly recently, the ability to sous vide has been made easier for the home cook with the invention of the precision cooker for home use. Food is placed in vacuum sealed bags, preferably, and cooked at a constant temperature for a set amount of time in hot water. By heating the food at a sett temperature, it will be cooked properly throughout. This temperature control ensures against over or under cooking. In addition to control over temperature and texture, sous vide also opens up a wide variety of opportunities for flavor.
I used red miso as a paste on pork chops which I then cooked in the sous vide. I am learning more and more how miso is used as a flavor enhancer in so many foods, and I am adapting some of those ideas into my home cooking. Miso is a paste made primarily from fermented and add an incredibly com flavor to soups, stews, salad dressings, vegetables and as a paste marinade for meats and fish.
There are, basically, two kinds of miso. White miso tends to be the milder of the two while red miso is much more robust. I debated which of the two to use and finally just decided to experiment with the red. Red miso’s deep unami flavor can overwhelm mild dishes, but is perfect for hearty soups, braises, and glazes. Certainly, the white would work as well if you prefer. In addition to the miso, I added a sprig of fresh rosemary and a few sprigs of thyme. Once finished in the sous vide, the chops were given a quick sear on the grill just to add color and those nice grill marks we all love to see. These chops were delicious, and I know we’ll be making this way again.
Miso is almost always refrigerated. Sometimes, it is simply labeled as “soybean paste.” You can probably find it in most groceries, but always in markets such as Whole Foods. It can also be ordered online.
How Is Miso Made?
As authors William Shurtleff and Akiko Aoyagi explain in The Book of Miso (1977), the first step in making miso is cultivating a mold called koji (Aspergillus oryzae), which is also a crucial component of soy sauce, sake, and fermented black bean paste. (It’s not unlike the unique molds used to make blue cheese and Camembert.) Tiny spores of koji are typically sprinkled over cooked rice and spread across special trays in a carefully controlled environment. There, they incubate for two or three days as the rice ferments and the koji germinates.
Next, the koji is mixed with cooked soybeans, salt, and sometimes water. Here, different varieties of miso paste diverge; producers can adjust the ratio of koji to soybeans to alter the flavor profile. The mixture is left to ferment as the koji produces enzymes that break down the proteins, carbohydrates, and fats in the soybeans. One type of enzyme, called protease, converts the main protein in soybeans to amino acids, including glutamic acid, the source of miso’s trademark umami flavor. At the same time, other enzymes break down the starches into simple sugars, which adds sweetness. Though some kinds of miso ferment and age for as long as two years, white miso is ready for packaging in just a few weeks or months. (https://www.americastestkitchen.com/taste_tests/1904-white-miso-paste)
My Anova Precision Cooker offers guides through its mobile app and web site. I chose to cook the chops to 130 degrees for 1 hour which would leave them slightly pink and juicy. I knew I would then toss them on the grill for a quick sear since they would not have browned in the sous vide.
Cooking sous vide cooker requires 3 things: a heating element, a temperature control and a circulator pump. The pump attaches to a container of water in which the food is to be cooked. Once plugged in the temperature and time are set and the food bags are added. That’s it!
Why Sous Vide?
Sous vide (sue veed). It sounds really complicated, doesn’t it? I’m here to tell you that this is the most UNcomplicated cooking method you can use! While I do vacuum pack the foods I prepare for the sous vide, it’s not absolutely necessary. Plenty of people simply use zipper plastic bags from which the aid has been extracted. Since I have a vacuum sealer, I put it to use here since vacuumed sealed bags do not float. It is important that the food bags stay submerged during the cooking. Essentially, you are cooking food to the temperature you want it to reach. Once set at that temperature, the food can remain in the cooker (for the most part) as long as needed since it will never go above or below that set temperature. It takes all the guesswork out of cooking.
An excellent resource for experienced cooks is Thomas Keller’s book, Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide. For less experienced cooks, I can recommend The Complete Sous Vide Cookbook by Chris McDonald.
So, how about it? Think you might give sous vide a try? I highly recommend that you do AND that you give these Miso Marinated Pork Chops a try when you do.
More ideas for you:
Miso Sauce Two Ways
Miso and Ginger Marinated and Glazed Salmon
