If you like salted caramel, you will be satisfied with this miso caramel sauce. Miso has a more complex flavor than regular salt, so your homemade caramel sauce goes to the next level. Drizzling to pancake, ice cream or apple, anything you like.
Feel Less Guilty Than Regular Salt
As you may know, miso offers a great range of health benefits. Miso has full of Vitamin B, E, and K, probiotics, and is rich in essential minerals, etc. On the other hand, miso is typically considered to be a high-sodium food because one teaspoon of miso contains about 200 milligrams of sodium. However, many studies have shown that miso does not appear to affect our cardiovascular system in the way that other high-sodium foods sometimes can. Also, other studies show that miso-containing diets tend to lower the risk of cardiovascular problems despite the high salt content of miso. So that, when I eat miso-contained food, I feel less guilty than eating other salty food, so this miso caramel is perfect.
Which Miso Should I Use for Miso Caramel?
There are many types of miso out there. So, which miso is good for this recipe? I normally use white miso or saikyo(西京) white miso when I use miso for dessert and pastry. Especially, saikyo white miso is less salty and mild and has more sweetness than other miso. For this caramel sauce, white miso and saikyo white miso is great but if you want to have a more strong kick, you can also use the brown miso (shinshyu miso) or red miso.
Do Not Leave Kitchen When You Making Caramel
The NYFD came to my house with a couple of fire engines one night when I was making a caramel. Yes, I left the kitchen. And by the time when I started to hear the sirens from the outside, my caramel was already making a lot of smokes. It takes time (normally 8 to 15 minutes) until the sugar starts getting caramelized. However, please keep eye on your caramel. Because once the sugar starts caramelized, the sugar turns burned so quickly. Even you take the caramel from the heat, it will keep continuously cooking with resisted heat. So better off to take from the heat right before your desired color. I normally take off from the heat when sugar turns into a dark brown. Then add liquid right before the sugar turned black.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (200g) of granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup (79ml) of water
- 1 cup (240 g) of heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons (28g) of unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons (42g) of miso (Sikyo white miso or any miso of your choice)
- 1 tablespoon of mirin
Instructions
- Dilute the miso paste with 2 tablespoons of water and remove any lamps using a small sieve.
- In a deep saucepan, add water and granulated sugar. Heat them up with medium heat without stirring. Cook until it turns a dark brown color.
- Remove from the heat, then add heavy cream and mirin (be careful!! It will really bubble) stir them with a wooden spatula to combine. And cook them for 3 to 5 minutes with low heat.
- Add butter, and loose miso from step 1, stair them well. Keep cooking until it becomes desirable thickness with low heat.
- Allow it to cool down and pour into a storage container.
Notes
- You can use any kind of miso paste. My recommendation is white miso or koji miso.
- Do not stair when you heating up sugar. It takes time, but be patient, otherwise, the sugar will crystalize.
- Please be careful when you adding liquid into caramel. It bubbles a lot, and the temperature of caramel is hotter than boiling water. Deep saucepan the best for making caramel.
