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Miso Confused
Nov. 9th, 2019 09:03 amSo as most of you know, I live in the middle of nowhere. I like it out here - I like the peace and general quiet, the fact that I don't have a ton of physically close neighbors, and how much of the natural pine forest has been left in place. Having lived in urban and suburban areas, I'm not sure I'd deal well with living cheek to jowl with humans again.
The only actual problem I have is that sometimes the logistics of doing normal errands are tricky. For example, I needed a bag of hemp hearts. (I know that hemp hearts aren't something anyone "needs," but bear with me.) I ordered a bag from Amazon, and found it was now a Prime Pantry item, so I also grabbed some of the vegan protein powder I use to get free shipping on a pantry box. I also picked up some black lentils and stuff like that. Today as I'm making my weekly grocery list, I realize that not only am I low on shiro miso, but that a recipe I wanted to make next week calls for aka (red) miso and toban-jan, which is a Japanese bean and chili paste. These are things I know I will use - I routinely use the white miso in making seitan, and I make a lot of Japanese dishes, so these ingredients never sit around going bad.
Problem is, Middleburg ain't a miso kind of town. I'll need to either take a chance on driving out to Flemming Island to the Fresh Market or going all the way into Jacksonville to Jax Oriental Market. Jax Oriental is an hour each way but I know they'll have what I want, and it'll be cheap. But it's also two hours of travel, so figure in gas and my time. The Fresh Market ... miiiiiight have it, but the whole reason I ordered hemp and shit online was to save myself going there - it's about a thirty minute drive. It'll be more costly because it's The Fresh Market, and they may or may not have both kinds of miso and the chili paste. I mean, I can probably substitute smaller amounts of gochujang but I think we'd miss the earthy flavor broad beans add.
Or I could order all this crap from Amazon, it'll be here Monday, and then I don't have to personally drive any further than the Publix in town. I justify this last choice to myself thusly - I'm not personally having to drive thirty minutes to an hour for a few small items, and the Amazon delivery driver is going to be out here anyway. If she or he is already delivering packages in this area, then it's not like a special trip (gas, time, engine wear) is being made just for me.
I dunno y'all. I really feel strongly about reducing my consumption of resources, but I also feel strongly about tofu stewed in spicy miso broth. With noodles. And I figure if I select the larger amounts - one pound packages of each kind of miso - I can store it in the fridge and have enough to last me six months or so. If you keep miso in an airtight container, it'll last basically forever. And even if air gets to it, it mainly just dried out and you can still use it, though it's hard to carve chunks off the dried block.
UGH #^&**(#&*&*#@##&$ I'm just going to order it. I don't want to spend all that time out driving.
The only actual problem I have is that sometimes the logistics of doing normal errands are tricky. For example, I needed a bag of hemp hearts. (I know that hemp hearts aren't something anyone "needs," but bear with me.) I ordered a bag from Amazon, and found it was now a Prime Pantry item, so I also grabbed some of the vegan protein powder I use to get free shipping on a pantry box. I also picked up some black lentils and stuff like that. Today as I'm making my weekly grocery list, I realize that not only am I low on shiro miso, but that a recipe I wanted to make next week calls for aka (red) miso and toban-jan, which is a Japanese bean and chili paste. These are things I know I will use - I routinely use the white miso in making seitan, and I make a lot of Japanese dishes, so these ingredients never sit around going bad.
Problem is, Middleburg ain't a miso kind of town. I'll need to either take a chance on driving out to Flemming Island to the Fresh Market or going all the way into Jacksonville to Jax Oriental Market. Jax Oriental is an hour each way but I know they'll have what I want, and it'll be cheap. But it's also two hours of travel, so figure in gas and my time. The Fresh Market ... miiiiiight have it, but the whole reason I ordered hemp and shit online was to save myself going there - it's about a thirty minute drive. It'll be more costly because it's The Fresh Market, and they may or may not have both kinds of miso and the chili paste. I mean, I can probably substitute smaller amounts of gochujang but I think we'd miss the earthy flavor broad beans add.
Or I could order all this crap from Amazon, it'll be here Monday, and then I don't have to personally drive any further than the Publix in town. I justify this last choice to myself thusly - I'm not personally having to drive thirty minutes to an hour for a few small items, and the Amazon delivery driver is going to be out here anyway. If she or he is already delivering packages in this area, then it's not like a special trip (gas, time, engine wear) is being made just for me.
I dunno y'all. I really feel strongly about reducing my consumption of resources, but I also feel strongly about tofu stewed in spicy miso broth. With noodles. And I figure if I select the larger amounts - one pound packages of each kind of miso - I can store it in the fridge and have enough to last me six months or so. If you keep miso in an airtight container, it'll last basically forever. And even if air gets to it, it mainly just dried out and you can still use it, though it's hard to carve chunks off the dried block.
UGH #^&**(#&*&*#@##&$ I'm just going to order it. I don't want to spend all that time out driving.
