Roasted Miso Powder

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 170°F (or its lowest setting) with a rack placed in the center position. Line a large baking tray – rimmed or rimless – with a piece of parchment paper or a baking mat. Using a rubber scraper or offset spatula, evenly spread your miso paste into a very thin layer across the paper or mat.

Step 2

Transfer the tray to the preheated oven and bake until the paste has dehydrated enough that it easily comes away from the paper. This can take anywhere from 1 to 3 hours, depending on the temperature of your oven and the thickness of the paste spread, but begin checking at the 1 hour mark.

Step 3

Remove the tray from the oven and carefully flip the hardened miso as one large piece or in smaller pieces. Return the tray to the oven and bake another 1 to 3 hours, until the miso is very dry and easily cracks apart into little bits. (The color will naturally darken with moisture loss, but keep an eye on it toward to the end to avoid burning.)

Step 4

At this point you can skip directly to the next step and blitz. Because we like a very fine powdery grind, I want to ensure as full of a dehydration as possible. To do this I turn off the oven and keep the tray inside, the door propped open with the end of a long wooden spoon, for another 1 to 3 hours. I’ve also had success leaving it in the oven overnight, but remove the spoon before going to bed.

Step 5

Remove the tray from the oven, then carefully remove the parchment or mat with the dehydrated miso paste to the counter to cool completely, at least 30 minutes. When cool, use your hands to crumble the larger pieces into smaller bits. Transfer these to a food processor or spice grinder (see HGN Notes) and blitz until the desired fineness of powder is achieved. If the grind is uneven, you can sift the powder through a mesh sieve to re-blitz the larger pieces.

Step 6

Transfer the miso powder to an airtight glass spice jar, canning jar or other container, and tightly seal. Store in a cool, dark place up to 2 months, in the refrigerator up to 6 months, or in the freezer up to 12 months for best quality.