Kurumi Miso, Walnut Miso Spread
Kurumi miso is a walnut and miso paste from the mountains of central Japan, where walnuts grow and the winters are long. It is a condiment more than a dish, smeared on grilled vegetables and rice balls or thinned into a dressing, salty and sweet and rich all at once. The walnuts are toasted and ground coarse, so the paste keeps some texture instead of collapsing into butter. White miso brings the salt and the ferment, dates bring the sweetness that mirin or sugar usually would, and a little water lets the stiff miso fold evenly through the nuts.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Walnuts, toasted
- 2 tbsp White miso
- 2 pieces Medjool dates, pitted, mashed with 1 tbsp (15 ml) hot water into a paste
- 1 tbsp Sesame seeds, toasted
- 1 tsp unseasoned rice vinegar
Method
- Toast the walnuts in a dry pan over medium heat until they smell fragrant, about 5 minutes, then let them cool. Toasting drives off the raw tannic edge and deepens the walnut into something that can stand up to the miso.
- Grind the walnuts and sesame in a mortar, or pulse them in a processor, to a coarse, oily rubble rather than a smooth butter. Kurumi miso is meant to keep its texture, and grinding too far lets the nut oil turn it to paste.
- Work in the white miso, date paste, rice vinegar, and 1 to 2 tbsp (15 to 30 ml) water until you have a thick, spreadable paste. The water lets the stiff miso fold evenly through the nuts, so add it slowly.
- Smear it on cucumber, blanched greens, or warm brown rice. It keeps a week refrigerated and firms up cold, so let it sit out a few minutes before spreading.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 120 calories, 4 g protein, 2 g fiber, 170 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
