[FOOD CULTURE]How prescious making miso is with community!

As I mentioned in my previous post that Great Cold[大寒],one of seasons of the 24 seasonal divisions of the Japanese calendar is a good times to prepare preserved foods, then I made two kinds of miso in a last week!

Before I get into the details of making miso, I'd like to share with you that I used to give miso making workshops as LIFE sampling.

2year-old miso[left] and fresh batch miso[right] ©︎MASA

As an editor and coordinator, I've done a lot of city tours for people from Japan. One of the things that Japanese people love to do is to go to the homes of Portland locals and cook with them, and exchange ideas about the recycling situation and lifestyle preferences etc. Many people find it most exciting to experience what it is like to live in Portland. We felt that people who come to Portland especially tend to have this kind of preference.

Ready to open our 1y/o Miso by a 3y/o girl from 2018.

This is one of the reasons why my friend,Yuri and I started LIFE sampling, a service that provides Japanese tourists with "living experiences".

In the process, we began to wonder what we could do to give back to the people of Portland as Japanese living in Portland. It's not so special for us Japanese, but it's a way of life that gives us a little taste of Japan. So we decided to pass on the custom of making miso at home for our Portland community.

Fresh organic Koji From Jorinji Miso! Koji is mold-inoculated grains that is a key to ferment miso, soy sauce, sake, mirin, and a host of other ingredients.

Fortunately, there is a miso maker in Portland, Jorinji Miso, who makes miso[and variouse kinds of fermentation food] from homemade koji.

And in Oregon, there are lots of growers of beans.

We believed that this is the best preserved food that combines Japanese tradition with Oregon ingredients!

back in 2019 when no one believed masks worked at our community miso.

For a few years now, we've been hosting a gathering called Community Miso with Lola from Umi Organic (who always comes up with the craziest and most exciting projects:)). It's simply a way for the local food-conscious community to get together and prepare one big batch of miso. Also,it is a project that not only creates a new miso, but also creates a more invisible connection between the bacteria that live in everyone's hands, by packing them into a single miso, letting them mature, and creating a chemical reaction of harmony between them.

The venue is Vibrant Valley Farm, a group of empowered women who run a farm on Sauvie Island in the far north of Portland, where we made our own miso under the blue sky, surrounded by beautiful organic vegetables and flowers including Japanese indigo, is a quite precious experience that I would never have had the chance to experience in Japan.

Japanese Indigo has been VVF ‘S signature plants!

Since March 2020, we have been forced to live a life of avoiding and sterilizing viruses.

But at the same time, we are also creatures that cannot live without bacteria. When making miso, we have to be more mindful of how to adapt and coexist with bacteria while avoiding viruses.

It is thanks to bacteria that food ferments and brings out its umami flavor, and it is because of bacteria that we are able to overcome other bacteria and stay healthy.

Miso gathering under the clear blue sky at Vibrant Valley Farm

For the first time in the past few years, I have made miso for 2020 and 2021[so far] by myself. It feels a little lonely, but that makes the days when we all sit shoulder to shoulder, laughing and making miso without masks, seem miraculous and precious!!

With a great sense of gratitude, I am super looking forward to that day, which will surely come.

Soy Miso made by myself at home. looked great but I wished I could make with friends sooner than later!