The Umami-Rich Ingredient Your Beer Cheese Needs
Beer cheese is the ultimate intersection between bar snacks and comfort food. For an old reliable foodie friend who works hard for you, show them some love and do a little more work in return. But not too much extra work. Taking your beer cheese game to the next level is as simple as incorporating a spoonful of an extra ingredient, but it’s no less impactful because of its ease of inclusion. Next time you’re in the beer cheese area (a great place), break out the miso.
This traditional beer cheese flavor, tangy and savory, is made more dimensional with a tantalizing depth from a dollop of miso, especially red miso paste (one of three types of miso). This umami-dominant taste with sweet, salty, nutty, and spicy undertones can instantly elevate any dish—or in this case, a dip. The addition of miso highlights the flavor of the beer because both ingredients are produced through natural fermentation. You can opt for a dark beer and stout to further darken that soy sauce profile or enhance the fermented taste and use a strong, hoppy IPA for a bolder beer flavor. To incorporate miso paste into your homemade beer cheese recipe, simply use your regular recipe (perhaps our Kentucky Beer Cheese recipe) and stir in a spoonful. That’s it. Two tablespoons of miso paste per pound of cubed cheese is a good starting point, but feel free to adjust to taste from there. Miso bang can be as bold or nuanced as you want.
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Put the miso in the cheese-o
To really bring out the flavor of the miso paste, opt for a cheese that will complement the condiment. A mix of sharp cheddar and blue cheese would enhance the fermented funk. Or you can balance the dark depth of miso with the taste of sharp white cheddar. Alternatively, let the miso be the star of the show with a milder fontina. This luscious and flavorful miso beer cheese can also be made totally vegan by replacing the cheese with dairy-free cheese, thick cashew cream, or silken tofu.
This fancy beer cheese is easy to make on the stovetop and can please a crowd in a flash. If you’re entertaining or grazing leisurely, you can keep your snack evenly warmed over low, slow heat by preparing it in a ceramic fondue pot. Avoid metal fondue pots for this one, as they can burn this silky smooth miso beer cheese. From there, all that’s left to do is top it with buttery crackers, slices of baguette, pieces of rye or sourdough bread, chips, celery or cauliflower. You can also dip soft or hard pretzels into your miso beer cheese, but keep in mind that miso dough will already contain a decent amount of saltiness. You can even top it with furikake flakes or roasted garlic cloves for an umami home run.
Read the original article on the tasting table.
