Japanese cooking question for all o'you culture experts

[SarahtheBoring]

Comment obnoxiously on any aspect of cooking being one of my hobbies and I shall kill you. Thanks.

I wanted to try out miso soup, since I've never had it. I have a recipe and found all of the ingredients... except miso. Supermarket is messed up; I found tahini and eight kinds of tofu, but no miso. Grr. Anyway,

1. is there anything else I could use instead that I have a better chance of finding in a big supermarket?
or
2. should I just go ahead without it? or... will it be basically water with tofu at that point?

I haven't done much Japanese cooking, so I don't know that much about the properties of miso and what it does (flavoring?). I'm still expanding my horizons.

Thanks.

[kthulhu]

I'd say you definitely want the miso. It adds the salty soy zing.

Do you have any Asian groceries in your city? Even the little ones always seem to have it. Some organic/natural foods stores might have it, too.

Otherwise, you could try to ferment the soybeans yourself .

If all else fails, and you can't find it locally, try <a href="http://www.shopnatural.com">here</a>.

[SarahtheBoring]

Okiedoke. There is an Asian grocery, a pretty good one from what I hear, but it's not close enough that I could just zip out and back for one thing. I may have to make up a list and make a proper run there next time.

Thanks!

[BishounenStalker]

Asian groceries rock. Just so it isn't a wasted trip, here are some items of interest to look at:

Korean-style ramen -- similar to our made-in-the-USA copycats, but beware if you're spice sensitive. The flavoring will burn your lips off.

POCKY! -- What every anime fan should try at one point or another.
Variation: Giant Pocky -- Individually wrapped Pocky sticks as thick as your index finger and about the length of your forearm. I'm not kidding.

Canned coffee -- Exactly what it says. Canned iced coffee.

Crystalized ginger -- Haven't seen it in too many Asian markets, but if you can find it, get it. It's great for settling your stomach (tastes good, too).

Lychee tea -- Really, REALLY good

Gunpowder tea -- No, it isn't tea that explodes It's green tea that's been dried so that the leaves roll up into little pellets, which makes the tea stronger since more can fit in a brew. The pellets look like gunpowder, hence the name.

Lychee pudding -- Another tasty member of 1001 Uses For Lychee Nuts

Pickled ginger -- Even without the sushi, I can eat the stuff like candy.

[kthulhu]

Indeed, the Korean ramen is the bomb. If you're lucky, the store will have the various varieties of Pocky, not just the chocolate and strawberry, too.

Crystallized ginger is very awesome, too.

[Chaos Angel]

I once had mocha-latte pocky from a local comic book/gaming/anime store.

Fucking good.

I should hit up our asian food store some time and get some supplies. I've always wanted to make sushi...

[SarahtheBoring]

*hides* I'm not quite a complete moron; I know what gunpowder tea is.

Thanks though, I didn't know about some of that stuff.

[BishounenStalker]

Sorry about that. My dad got a tin of it from someone at work, and my mom's question was "Gunpowder tea? Does it explode in the bag or taste like burnt paper or what?" It isn't all that common, either. So far Barnie's Coffee and Tea is the only place we've got around my town that carries the stuff. Shame, too.

[Sub0]

kehe the extent of my japanese cooking is that tutorial they got on Princess 9... wait I dun even know if I can do THAT lol... I'll just stick to Ramen.

[Garylisk]

I always just get instant miso from the asian market It's almost as good as home made or restaraunt made...