What Is Sendai Miso? The Red, Salty Line That Runs From Date Masamune's Oensogura

The miso soup is red. Follow that bowl, met at a table in Kanto or Tohoku, back to its source and you arrive at red miso.

Red miso runs in several lines, and the one that represents Tohoku is Sendai miso. Its history is said to reach back to the age of the warring states.

It begins with Date Masamune's official brewery

The roots of Sendai miso are said to lie in the Oensogura (御塩噌蔵), the official brewery that Lord Date Masamune set up below his castle. That is roughly 400 years ago.

Through long campaigns, so the account goes, Masamune had miso brewed in-house so that good miso as field provisions would never run out. It is a rice miso, made with rice koji (the fermentation culture Aspergillus oryzae), and yet aging it over a long stretch of time concentrated the savoriness of the soybeans into a forceful, red, salty flavor.

A hard climate, and the knowledge of how to age miso a long time. The big-boned character of Sendai miso grew up alongside the history of this ground.

The "name miso" that made its reputation in Edo

Sendai miso carried to Edo under sankin kotai (参勤交代), the required periodic residence there, is said to have startled the people of the city.

Its reputation was that it was good not only stirred into soup but licked straight, and the Date domain's Edo residence began brewing miso of its own. The dense savoriness that long aging produces was enough, in other words, to stand on the table as a dish in itself.

It keeps well, and the flavor is dense. Part of why Sendai miso has been loved for so long is simply that it is useful.

Josen Honba Sendai Miso: from ground tied to the Oensogura

Carrying this on is the brewery of Sendai Miso Shoyu. On ground closely tied to the Oensogura, it is still brewing Sendai miso today.

Honba Sendai Miso (本場仙台みそ) conveys the essence of Sendai miso as it is: long-aged, red, salty. The savoriness of the soybeans is packed in, and it is described as good licked straight. The flavor Masamune honed as field provisions is still on active duty at the table 400 years later.

How to use Sendai miso

• In miso soup packed with ingredients, or tonjiru. The salty savoriness lifts the sweetness of the vegetables
• In fish simmered in miso, such as mackerel
• Spread on an onigiri and grilled, the way Sendai is known for
• On cucumber or daikon, eaten straight in the "name miso" manner

Even blending a little into your usual pale miso deepens the body a step. Start with a single bowl of miso soup and test that force for yourself.

Frequently asked questions

What kind of miso is Sendai miso?

A rice miso made in Miyagi, characterized by long aging that leaves it red and salty. The savoriness of the soybeans is dense, and it is said to be good eaten as it is, which is how it earned its reputation in the Edo period as a "name miso" - miso you lick straight. Its roots are said to go back to the Oensogura (御塩噌蔵), the official brewery Date Masamune set up below his castle.

What is the difference between Sendai miso and Shinshu miso?

Both are rice miso, but Sendai miso is aged longer, comes out as a deeply colored red miso, and is salty with strong depth. Shinshu miso ranges from pale to a golden yellow and is generally lighter on the palate. Same rice miso, different color and different depth of aging.

What dishes suit Sendai miso?

Its depth and savoriness are strong, so it suits dishes that hold up under heat: miso soup packed with ingredients, tonjiru, mackerel simmered in miso. It is also worth using where you grill it and let the aroma rise, as in the grilled miso onigiri that Sendai is known for.