If you are not sold on the wonders of miso by now... you are not paying attention! It helps in digestion, it appears to help reduce the risk of cancer, it tastes great, it's cheap, it lasts long and it's got isoflavones. What more could you ask of a bean curd paste?

Miso can be found in Asian groceries and some American supermarkets that know what they're doing. Here are a couple of recipes using miso:

Miso soup
1. Boil 1 1/2 cups of water
2. Add 1 tsp. of dashi (pronounced dah-shee) - dried Bonito powder - and boil for 30 seconds
3. Add 1 heavy tablespoon of miso and your favorite "goods"
4. Add chopped green onion

*Tofu and seaweed are traditional "goods" used in miso soup.

Miso stir fry
Sauce ingredients:

1. Finely chop 1 tbsp. of ginger
2. Two finely chopped, dried red pepper - of the Asian variety
3. Three large tbsp. of mirin (pronounced mee-reen) - sweet cooking rice wine
4. Two large tbsp. of tsuyu - a Bonito and soy sauce gravy
5. One large tbsp. of water
6. One large tbsp. of sake - Japanese rice wine 7. One large tbsp. of miso

In a wok (and remember, "Wok before you run!") stir fry nasu, Japanese eggplant, and Shitake mushrooms. In a separate pan, fry slices of pork, and then drain the funky pig fat. Add the other white meat and the sauce mixture and stir that fry! A generous bowl of rice and of course a bowl of miso and you have a meal.

Itadakimasu.