Tastey Pastes
 

This seems to be the time of year when I get all ambitious to make some weird stuff. The garden is just getting started and I'm always looking for good recipes to use up later whatever I'm planting now. One thing that I've been wanting to make for some time are Tasty Pastes, especially Shiitake Tasty Paste. https://www.myfermentation.com/grain...e-zmrz19wzwoo/

I keep seeing it in one of my very favorite "cookbooks," Miso, Tempeh, Natto & Other Tasty Ferments: A Step-by-Step Guide to Fermenting Grains and Beans
by Kirsten K. Shockey, Christopher Shockey, David Zilber
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mis...key/1129710652 If you are into fermenting stuff, especially Asian foods, this is a great and informative cookbook.

I looked at your first article and went down a rabbit hole to read about Koji - very interesting ..... What will you use it with/on if you make it??

When I saw the title of your post i thought Pasty (a baked pastry turnover, traditionally filled with meat (like beef) and vegetables (potato, swede/rutabaga, onion) in a folded shortcrust pastry), not paste. I've not heard of such a paste...interesting for sure.

I'm busy making my yearly batch of miso right now, but I really want to make some tasty pastes later on in the year, before it gets too hot. Besides the shiitake tasty paste, I'm going to try Fig tasty paste. We grow a lot of figs and this one is pretty easy to make. I don't have the recipe in front of me, but it's basically fig puree, mixed with some salty miso and fermented for a couple of weeks. Apricot tasty paste sounds good too, but we aren't growing any apricots, so I'd have to buy them dried and sulphured.

Both of those sound good. Could you get fresh apricots at a local farmers market? The will be in season soon here in Cali.

Unfortunately, the farmers' markets around here suck. I think it is because many people grow their own fruits and veggies and don't bother with the markets. I don't have an apricot tree...darn...but I can probably find some fresh, organic apricots in our area when the season comes around. I do have a peach tree though. It's young and just started producing fruit, so that might be my best bet.

I'll keep you posted on how it all turns out.

Koji is very interesting. It's used to ferment a lot of different kinds of foods. I'm into making Amazake with it. It's a sweet and aromatic porridge, or drink that's very popular in Japan. The hot drink is a good replacement for a cup of hot cocoa, or tea in the evening and has probiotics, so it's much healthier.

I saw a recipe online that used Koji to lightly ferment pork chops. They mixed the Koji spores with rice flour and coated the chops with it and let it grow on the meat, then cooked it. It gives of a mushroomy flavor and tenderizes the meat. I know, some of you will be totally grossed out by it. but I might try it. (I can only imagine what my picky eater son will say.)

My first batch of miso for the year is now in its crock and fermenting away. Now I have a pile of dishes and pots to clean up. I'm going to try some other misos before summer comes, maybe some chickpea, or lentil miso.