Cooking Like a Japanese Grandmother

I was reading one of the many food blogs that I peruse every day and someone mentioned the words miso and stew together in a sentence. And it struck me: wow, what a cool idea! I love miso and I know how to make stew, so how wonderful to combine the two. It’s something I bet a lot of Japanese families grew up with. I’m surprised I’ve never noticed it on menus at Japanese restaurants because I would definitely order it.

In doing research for recipes, I found that most people made miso stew similar to miso soup, just maybe thicker. I decided to use pork as a base for my stew because I feel the flavors of pork and miso go well together. Then I threw in some other Japanese ingredients like daikon and shiitake mushrooms, among other things, to give it more a Japanese flavor. With the current rainy weather we’re experiencing right now, this stew is definitely comforting for these last moments of winter. Enjoy!