April 24, 2011

My Father's Temae Miso/父の手前味噌

The word temae (lit. hand + before/in front of) has a number of meanings. It can be used to refer to the first person (and even the second person in some situations). Thus, temae miso literally means my/our miso, but it actually means self-praise, because almost everyone wants to boast of the miso they make themselves.
(The theme of episode 2 of the TV drama, Osen, is miso.)

手前という言葉には色々な意味があるますが、一人称を(状況によっては二人称も)指すのにも使われます。したがって、手前味噌とは元々は自分の味噌のことですが、実際は自慢という意味です。誰でも自分で作った味噌を自慢したくなるからです。
テレビドラマ「おせん」の第二話のテーマは味噌です。)

Today, I got 13-kg of home-made miso from my father.
今日、父から自家製の味噌を13キロもらいました。
I tried to put all the miso in the fridge and the freezer.
味噌を全部、冷蔵庫と冷凍庫に入れようとしました。
But, I gave up the attempt halfway through. I think I'll store the rest (more than half) in a cool, dark place.
でも、途中で諦めました。残り(半分以上)は冷暗所に保管しようと思います。

It's not true that miso can never go bad. It may be true of traditional, very salty miso, but modern less salty miso can go bad if not properly stored.
味噌は決して腐らないというのは間違いです。昔ながらのとても塩辛い味噌はそうかも知れませんが、現代風のあまり塩辛くない味噌は、正しく保存しないと腐ってしまうことがあります。

I think I'll use my father's temae miso in a variety of dishes!
父の手前味噌を色んな料理に使おうと思います!

4 comments:

Sissi said...

Hiroyuki, I remember so well the recently watched second episode of Osen... It made me dream about tasting a home-made miso and made me realise how difficult it is to prepare a home-made miso. How lucky you are to have your father's miso!
You make me crave for a miso dish! I think I'll go and prepare a mackerel simmered in miso!
By the way, I have been experimenting with bean sprouts tempura... I must admit I still have to master the difficult art of tempura batter first. The lumps, the thickness etc... (Mackerel in miso is much much easier ;-) )

Hiroyuki said...

Sissi: My father started making miso around 2008. His first miso was just terrible, although he boasted of it, saying it was made from koji (rice malt), soy beans, and salt only. His present miso has very much improved! A little bit saltier than most store-bought kinds.

Making decent tempura is difficult even for native Japanese! Keep trying!

Sissi said...

Hiroyuki, thank you for this encouragement. Yesterday I tried tempura with small thin bits of fish fillets (whiting) and it looked almost like tempura. Bean sprouts were a tragedy though (soggy, even though the taste was not bad), but maybe they were not crisp and fresh enough). Today I will try maybe with thin green asparagus.
I imagine your father's miso gets better every year... I wonder how they do the "low-salt" miso. I bought it once and it was very good. And I could put much much more of it in my miso soup.

Hiroyuki said...

Sissi: I will post about tempura when I have more free time.

"Low-salt" miso? Just reduce the amount of salt added, that's all. And, you have to be very careful not to let it go bad.

The same is true of umeboshi (pickled plums). Traditional umeboshi contains 20% or more salt, and won't go bad at room temperature, but comtemporary, less salty umeboshi must be stored in the fridge.

Anyway, be careful not to increase your intake of salt!