Miso mystery: red, white or yellow – how does each paste change your dish? | Kitchen aide
What’s the difference between white and red miso, and which should I use for what? Why do some recipes not specify which miso to use? Ben, by email“I think what recipe writers assume – and I’m sure I’ve written recipes like this – is that either way, you’re not going to get a miso that’s very extreme,” says Tim Anderson, whose latest book, JapanEasy Kitchen: Simple Recipes Using Japanese Pantry Ingredients, is out in April.As Ben points out, the two broadest categories are red and white, and in a lot of situations “you can use one or other to your taste without it having a massive effect on the outcome of the dish”.The Guardian’s journalism is independent.We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link.Learn more.
Salty, savoury miso is (usually) made by steaming soya beans, mashing them with salt and koji, then leaving to ferment.“And the age is what changes the colour,” says Anderson.“White miso is not aged for very long – three to six months – and so it retains that beany, beige/yellow colour and tastes fresher, while red miso is aged for six months or longer, resulting in a darker colour and more funk.” The parallel Anderson often draws is that of a mild cheese and an aged or mature cheese.“Gouda is a good example,” he says.
“It can be quite mellow and salty, but as it ages it develops a buttery, caramelised flavour.”As to which miso to use when, the general rule is: if you want to keep things light, use white; if you’re after something more savoury, something richer, then go red.“There’s a recipe in my new book for misotrone [AKA minestrone seasoned with miso] and that’s a good example of what miso can do to food,” says Anderson.“White miso accents the tomato’s acidity and freshness, but if you use red, you get a richer, more concentrated tomato flavour.”Likewise, Emiko Davies, author of The Japanese Pantry, dollops red miso on top of fried or roasted aubergine, while lighter misos are for soups with clams or other seafood.
Millie Tsukagoshi Lagares, author of Umai, meanwhile, leans on the latter to crank up dressings, marinades for white fish, and bakes or sweet treats (hello, miso caramel).But the other thing you could – and should – do, adds Davies, is mix your misos: “You can customise a more complex flavour – think of it like a blend.”Other misos you might come across include shinshu (yellow) miso, which, happily, can offer the best of both worlds.“It has the right amount of savouriness and nuttiness,” says Tsukagoshi Lagares, and is best used for miso soup and sauces.Then, there’s sweet white miso, or sweet rice miso, which is “fresh and not very salty or funky,” notes Anderson, making it a good call for mild ingredients (think the classic Nobu miso marinated black cod).
At the other end of the spectrum is hatcho miso, which is aged in open barrels for a minimum of 18 months, turning a very dark brown, and “has all these rich flavours, such as cocoa, Marmite and molasses”.And if you can find it, check out Anderson’s favourite category: nama miso, or unpasteurised miso.“It has an interesting, lively aroma that you don’t get from other misos,” he says, and it works like a dream as a marinade.“It’s some of my favourite stuff.” Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.
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Winter Olympics 2026: latest medal table for Milano Cortina
The Winter Olympics returns to Italy for the first time in two decades. From the fashion capital of Milan to the dramatic peaks of Cortina d’Ampezzo, the Milano Cortina Games – the first to be co-hosted by two cities – will stretch across northern Italy blending world-class winter sport with a strong sense of history and ambition.The medal table prioritises the number of gold medals won. If countries have the same number of gold medals, the order is then dictated by which has the most silvers, and finally bronze if the numbers are still identical. Sixteen sports and more than 110 gold medals await, from the raw speed of alpine skiing and bobsleigh to the tactical endurance of biathlon and cross-country
Winter Olympics results from Milano Cortina 2026
The Winter Olympics returns to Italy for the first time in two decades. From the fashion capital of Milan to the dramatic peaks of Cortina d’Ampezzo, the Milano Cortina Games – the first to be co-hosted by two cities – will stretch across northern Italy blending world-class winter sport with a strong sense of history and ambition.Sixteen sports and more than 110 gold medals await, from the raw speed of alpine skiing and bobsleigh to the tactical endurance of biathlon and cross-country. Alpine fans will once again be drawn to Mikaela Shiffrin, still redefining excellence across the technical disciplines.Figure skating returns with its familiar blend of artistry and pressure, led by the American phenomenon Ilia Malinin, whose boundary-pushing jumps continue to reshape the sport, while Team GB hope that Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson grasp their opportunity to win Britain’s first figure skating medal since Jayyne Torvill and Christopher Dean in 1994
Winter Olympics: full schedule for Milano Cortina 2026
The Winter Olympics returns to Italy for the first time in two decades. From the fashion capital of Milan to the dramatic peaks of Cortina d’Ampezzo, the Milano Cortina Games – the first to be co-hosted by two cities – will stretch across northern Italy blending world-class winter sport with a strong sense of history and ambition.Sixteen sports and more than 110 gold medals await, from the raw speed of alpine skiing and bobsleigh to the tactical endurance of biathlon and cross-country. Alpine fans will once again be drawn to Mikaela Shiffrin, still redefining excellence across the technical disciplines.Figure skating returns with its familiar blend of artistry and pressure, led by the American phenomenon Ilia Malinin, whose boundary-pushing jumps continue to reshape the sport, while Team GB hope that Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson grasp their opportunity to win Britain’s first figure skating medal since Jayyne Torvill and Christopher Dean in 1994
Cool Runnings 2.0: Jamaica’s bobsleigh crew want their own Hollywood ending
Chris Stokes, part of the 1988 team that inspired a film, is setting lofty goals as head of Jamaica’s bobsleigh federationIt did not make so much as a ripple outside of its minor sporting niche, but something particularly unusual occurred in the bobsleigh world earlier this year. Upon turning up in the New York outpost of Lake Placid for their final Winter Olympics warm-up competition, Jamaica’s four-man bobsleigh team were informed they were not allowed to take part. A hat-trick of gold medals over the preceding few weeks had seen them rise too high in the world rankings to take their customary place on the second-tier North American Cup circuit. They had simply become too good.In the overwhelming majority of countries, the Winter Olympics is an assortment of sporting oddities held in an alternative climate that might pique attention every four years
The Spin | India’s dominance looms over faster and more furious T20 World Cup
In the immortal words of Brenda from Bristol, not another one. Between 17 October 2021, the start of the tournament in the United Arab Emirates, and 8 March 2026, the date of this year’s final, four T20 World Cups will have been squeezed into four years, four months and 19 days.If they come along more regularly even than British general elections – to which Brenda produced her timeless reaction in 2017 – they at least have more interesting results: the past five have had five different winners and the past three six different finalists. What’s more, though not much time has passed since the last one ended with India beating South Africa in Barbados, it seems to have been long enough for the game to shift into a fresh and exhilarating new gear.It is too soon to be drawing conclusions about the state of the game in 2026, but in 21 T20 internationals in the first month of this year 6,960 runs were scored at 9
Ten athletes from Team USA to watch at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics
Mikaela Shiffrin has surpassed Vonn’s record haul of World Cup wins and staked her claim as the GOAT. But Vonn has a solid claim to be the best ever in the speed events (downhill, super-G), and she has been racing exclusively in those disciplines since returning from retirement, surging to the top of the World Cup downhill standings at age 41. She has a score to settle with the sport’s biggest stage – her lifetime total of three Olympic medals (one gold) would probably be higher if not for a horror crash in practice in 2006 and injuries that either limited or outright excluded her from other Games. After some selection drama in the team combined event in last year’s world championships, it seems inconceivable that Vonn and Shiffrin, both of whom have had some misfortune in the Olympics, would not be paired up to form Alpine skiing’s equivalent of the 1992 basketball Dream Team. Vonn was in a nasty crash last weekend but it seems that she will be fit to take part in Italy
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