Before I went into a Japanese supermarket for the first time, I assumed it wouldn't be much different than any American supermarket. As I walked down aisles filled with octopus tentacles, fish heads and other assorted unidentifiable goods I thought to myself, "where's the Captain Crunch?" Unable to find anything I recognized, I finally stopped in an entire aisle of red, yellow and brown packages of goo.

After three years in Japan, I feel I am now a goo expert. I now know that this "goo" is actually a paste and that it is called miso (pronounced mee-so). Miso is fermented soybean paste. Although it doesn't sound appealing, miso is an inexpensive, healthy food with a variety of uses and truly impressive healing powers.

There are three kinds of miso: shiro miso (white miso), aka miso (red miso) and awase miso (blended miso). Shiro miso has a sweeter flavor while aka miso has a salty flavor.