The next best thing is how I can get Mr K to try new things! A couple of weeks ago I got him to try Miso soup for the first time! It was packed with Nori and poached eggs and he couldn’t get enough of it. My dad has always loved miso and as a result we used to have it at home a LOT. I mean too much. I mean so much, that I got sick of it. Having stayed away from it for a few years, I’m loving miso all over again now! 🙂
For those of you who are not familiar with it, Miso is a traditional Japanese seasoning that’s made out of soybeans, sea salt and a fungus known as koji and often mixed with a type of grain like rice or barley and is allowed to ferment for a period of time so that you end up with an enzyme-rich food that’s available (typically in your local Asian grocery store) as a thick paste. And there are two kinds of miso pastes – white miso and red miso. Recently there were some beautiful boneless legs of lamb that were on sale in my local grocery store following Easter. I like a good bargain as much as the next person, but being a Kiwi, I like lamb even more than the next person. Usually I either make a signature Sri Lankan lamb curry or a roast lamb with the usual salt, pepper, tomato sauce and herbs, but this time I wanted something different and tried a marinade with white miso paste. The result was a Spicy Miso Honey Roast Lamb. It was Uh-MAZING!!!
Miso does have a strong fermented, salty flavour to it and it’s a little creamy too. I like eating miso paste on its own and in fact I used to have the paste as a dip for veggies quite often, back when I was a student. The saltiness of miso however can be a little harsh, which is why I used the honey to soften it. I also used white miso instead of red, as the white is a little lighter in flavour and isn’t overpowering. I really wanted a good balance of flavours. I made a sauce/gravy to go with the lamb using extra miso, honey, cayenne pepper and the remaining lamb jus. It was unbelievably delicious. Better than I even imagined! So much so that in the end I was dipping roasted potatoes in it! I actually made a miso and honey sauce separately and it tasted great, but it was the lamb jus that really made that marinade come to life. I would recommend using a good quality beef stock or chicken stock in its place if you want more sauce.
It’s been a while since I’ve had lamb and in the excitement I forgot to take pictures until AFTER the lamb came out of the oven. I promise I wanted to take the “before” shots but all I’ve got today are the “after” ones. My apologies.
The lamb roast was cooked perfectly! It was still pink inside (I prefer lamb roast cooked to a medium), and perfectly juicy. The lamb was seasoned well with the miso, honey and cayenne pepper marinade. The honey had caramelized giving the meat that extra caramelly flavour and the miso actually gives the lamb a hint of creaminess that was both delightful and unexpected! The caramelly sweetness, the saltiness, the creaminess, the hint of spice… and that hard-to-put-your-finger-on umami taste… this lamb roast was wickedly delicious! Have you tried miso marinaded meat before? I’ve tried miso glazed fish before which was great too! I was slightly worried that the lamb (which has a robust flavour of its own) not quite being in balance with the miso flavour, but it did! This is something you should definitely try with your next roast! Would work well with a beef roast too! If you’re like me and usually have leftovers from a Roast… why not make these delicious Miso and Mango Lamb Sliders with these {Almost} No knead Slider buns!
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