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I enjoy reading Elizabeth Andoh’s Washoku: Recipes from the Japanese Home Kitchen, which includes a very useful collection of ingredient tips. She provides nearly two dozen sauce and broth recipes, which are fun to improvise on, such as the dashi I wrote about a while back. So today I present my trusty miso marinade, along with some miso-based sauces.

The method for all these, except for the basic marinade and lemon miso one, is to plop all ingredients into a container tall enough to avoid splatters, then whiz with a handheld immersion blender. The amount of dashi or water will vary depending on your desired thickness. I prefer the sauces on the smoother side — and adding more liquid helps with the blending.

Oh, yeah: You can store leftovers in the freezer.

Some definitions:

• White miso (shiro or saikyo) is a yellow to pale beige paste, made from mostly rice and some soy beans. It’s the lightest and sweetest in flavor of the misos. Some varieties are sweet enough to be used in desserts.
• Red miso (aka or sendai) is rusty in color, and has a deeper, more caramel flavor than white miso. It’s made primarily from soy beans, with some rice.

Basic miso marinade

I frequently use this one with broiled fish dishes. In fact, it went very well for some fish in a foil packet I made in a friend’s barbeque! Indeed, this marinade is spectacular with black cod (gindara). For a milder, sweeter taste, use all white miso; for something stronger, add a bit of red miso.

The method is simple: Simmer everything over medium heat for about 2 to 3 minutes, stirring to smoothen it. Remove it from heat, and cool to room temperature; I often hasten this by popping the saucepan in the fridge for 30 minutes. Then I marinate the (typically) fish for 2 to 6 hours, again in the fridge.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup white miso
• (optional) 1 tablespoon red miso
• 1/4 cup sake
• 2 to 4 tablespoons mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine)
• (optional) 1 to 2 teaspoons brown sugar (golden or dark)

Cashew & red miso sauce

This nutty sauce has a bold flavor with a caramel edge. It goes well with strongly flavored foods, such as eggplant, shiitake mushrooms, salmon, etc. In addition, something needing oomph like chicken breast or grilled tofu would be well-partnered with this sauce.

Ingredients

• 1/4 to 1/3 cup cashews, roasted and chopped
• 1/4 cup red miso
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup dashi or water

Pine nut & white miso sauce

Great to toss into vegetables and salads, such as string beans, potatoes and other mild (or bland) vegetables or protein slabs. It’s somewhat lighter than the previous sauce based on cashews.

Ingredients

• 1/4 to 1/3 cup pine nuts, roasted until fragrant
• 2 to 3 tablespoons white miso
• (optional) 1 tablespoon sesame paste, such as tahini
• 3 to 5 tablespoons dashi or water

Lemon miso sauce

Excellent as a marinade for fish, but also a great topping for tofu and vegetables. Place the ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stir and simmer for a couple of minutes to smoothen it out, then it’s ready. Cool to room temperature (at least), if using as a marinade.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup white miso
• 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 3 to 4 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon saké
• 1 tablespoon mirin

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