Is it strange that I was trying to imagine the aroma of this fermented hazelnut with miso while reading this?!
Loved the nerdy bit about the interaction between the different components within the hazelnut and miso; and the function of salt in all of this.
As a dietitian, I see a lot of recipes modified to reduce or remove salt & salty condiments like soy sauce for health reasons - understandably so - but sometimes without understanding the role of the ingredient within the overall dish itself. Or how it interacts and balances with the other seasonings added, which completely changes the final taste.
Not strange at all! I'd say that's a natural response of someone who loves food.
I'm glad you enjoyed the article. I also keep an eye on the amount of salt I eat, but I do this by not directly seasoning food with salt. Instead I use small amounts of ingredients like this hazelnut paste, miso, shoyu, doubanjiang, garum etc to season. From my perspective, salt is a preservative first and a flavour enhancer second, which is more in keeping with how it has traditionally been used. There's also some evidence that salt digested in certain fermented foods interacts with the body differently to that which is added directly as seasoning. Though I don't know enough about this to make any claims, I'd be interested to know if you've come across this in your line of work?
Having that perspective helps with consuming less salt too and taste the flavours of the food.
Interesting and great question! From my understanding the body doesn’t differentiate salt from fermentation vs. used to enhance flavour - it will still process in the same way. The observation of those who consume it regularly in fermented products may not necessarily have hypertension or cardiovascular issues potentially could be because of the other nutrients of those foods which provide a health benefit - e.g. gut health benefits of kimchi. Or an overall more nutrient dense diet - it’s really dependent on so many factors that are hard to draw conclusions from unless it was done in a controlled study and they standardised what participants ate.
Hi David! I’d use the white miso as the additional sweetness helps provide more digestible sugars that the nuts lack. 10 months is perfectly fine for the miso too! The microbes will be plenty active.
I’m glad your badge arrived safely! Aren’t they beautiful!?
oooh, thanks for this - got into making vegan cheeses about 18 years ago due to dairy sensitivity but have always gone with cashew or macadamia, so very excited to try hazelnuts as they are actually local for me!
Should we bemaking the raw miso from scratch (I got koji from a local mushroom grower for the miso paste recipe you shared recently for fava beans) or can we buy raw miso?
In the process of previously making an aged nut base cheeses, I’ve struggled to flip or prevent the cheese from getting stuck to the metal grate food pan.
I have the cheese is aging in a bread container with full sheet bakers racks I put the metal pan grate and a bunch of fans in there and they still get stuck. I tried cheese cloth…. Daily flipping, but it always seems to never form a rind. Is it most likely due to too much moisture content I’ve been mostly using cashews as my base for aged cheese.
Very interesting and in depth post! Thank you for the explanation of which nuts are good candidates or not. I tend to sub readily otherwise. While not a nut, would seeds like pumpkin or sunflower be able to be used to make a cheese or is that a whole other thing entirely?
Yes! I roast the chestnuts and bash them in a pestle and mortar into a coarse meal, then mix them with rice koji. About 300g chestnuts, 150g rice koji, and 300ml water. Mix it together and store it at 50-50C for 8 hours (stir once or twice during this time). It will go much looser and sweeter. Then store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7-10 days or freeze for longer term.
Is it strange that I was trying to imagine the aroma of this fermented hazelnut with miso while reading this?!
Loved the nerdy bit about the interaction between the different components within the hazelnut and miso; and the function of salt in all of this.
As a dietitian, I see a lot of recipes modified to reduce or remove salt & salty condiments like soy sauce for health reasons - understandably so - but sometimes without understanding the role of the ingredient within the overall dish itself. Or how it interacts and balances with the other seasonings added, which completely changes the final taste.
Not strange at all! I'd say that's a natural response of someone who loves food.
I'm glad you enjoyed the article. I also keep an eye on the amount of salt I eat, but I do this by not directly seasoning food with salt. Instead I use small amounts of ingredients like this hazelnut paste, miso, shoyu, doubanjiang, garum etc to season. From my perspective, salt is a preservative first and a flavour enhancer second, which is more in keeping with how it has traditionally been used. There's also some evidence that salt digested in certain fermented foods interacts with the body differently to that which is added directly as seasoning. Though I don't know enough about this to make any claims, I'd be interested to know if you've come across this in your line of work?
Having that perspective helps with consuming less salt too and taste the flavours of the food.
Interesting and great question! From my understanding the body doesn’t differentiate salt from fermentation vs. used to enhance flavour - it will still process in the same way. The observation of those who consume it regularly in fermented products may not necessarily have hypertension or cardiovascular issues potentially could be because of the other nutrients of those foods which provide a health benefit - e.g. gut health benefits of kimchi. Or an overall more nutrient dense diet - it’s really dependent on so many factors that are hard to draw conclusions from unless it was done in a controlled study and they standardised what participants ate.
Ok I have 3 miso to choose from
red lentils
green lentil
white soy
I also have a red soy on the go but it's a little young. Only been 10 months.
Which do you think would be best with a cashew nut paste?
Also my button badge has arrived and it's very cool!
Best wishes
David
Hi David! I’d use the white miso as the additional sweetness helps provide more digestible sugars that the nuts lack. 10 months is perfectly fine for the miso too! The microbes will be plenty active.
I’m glad your badge arrived safely! Aren’t they beautiful!?
Yes the badges are great.
There's much more detail on them than I expected
There was a lot of back and forth with the company who manufactured them who patiently pushed back every time my designs got too crazy!
Sounds like you had a bit of a struggle. Good outcome in the end though. Makes me feel a part of the club.
Have a good day ☺️
oooh, thanks for this - got into making vegan cheeses about 18 years ago due to dairy sensitivity but have always gone with cashew or macadamia, so very excited to try hazelnuts as they are actually local for me!
Hi Sam,
Should we bemaking the raw miso from scratch (I got koji from a local mushroom grower for the miso paste recipe you shared recently for fava beans) or can we buy raw miso?
Thanks,
Berk.
In the process of previously making an aged nut base cheeses, I’ve struggled to flip or prevent the cheese from getting stuck to the metal grate food pan.
I have the cheese is aging in a bread container with full sheet bakers racks I put the metal pan grate and a bunch of fans in there and they still get stuck. I tried cheese cloth…. Daily flipping, but it always seems to never form a rind. Is it most likely due to too much moisture content I’ve been mostly using cashews as my base for aged cheese.
Sam, This looks wonderful! So well-researched and made with love and care. Thanks so much for this plant-based venture! ❤️
This sounds great. Can you mix nuts for this recipe? I keep my nuts in the freezer, can I use them or buy fresh as suggested? Thank you!
Thanks a lot.
Small question for you: what about using 100% nut butter instead of doing the process with raw nut? maybe water will be missing?
Very interesting and in depth post! Thank you for the explanation of which nuts are good candidates or not. I tend to sub readily otherwise. While not a nut, would seeds like pumpkin or sunflower be able to be used to make a cheese or is that a whole other thing entirely?
Super interesting! Thanks! Any comment on black limes.
Are you able to share any insight on the chestnut amazake you mention? Have a bunch and that sounds like something I’d love to try
Yes! I roast the chestnuts and bash them in a pestle and mortar into a coarse meal, then mix them with rice koji. About 300g chestnuts, 150g rice koji, and 300ml water. Mix it together and store it at 50-50C for 8 hours (stir once or twice during this time). It will go much looser and sweeter. Then store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7-10 days or freeze for longer term.