Fragrant and sweet-savory Niku Miso (Miso Meat Sauce) is a meal-prep hero. This tasty all-purpose meat sauce provides protein to any dishâwhether or not it’s plain steamed rice, noodles, or lettuce cups. It’s fast, straightforward, and prepared in simply 10 minutes!
Right now, I’m bringing you a preferred and attractive dish referred to as Niku Miso that Japanese dwelling cooks make to accompany plain steamed rice or noodles. On this easy recipe for our Simple School Meal Sequence, I braise floor meat with aromatics in a sweet-and-savory miso sauce. I’ll present you learn how to whip collectively this meal-prep marvel in 10 minutes!
For extra in style fast and simple pork principal dishes, strive my 10 Minute Meal â Mapo Tofu, Ginger Pork (Shogayaki), and Mabo Eggplant (Mabo Nasu)!
Why I Love This Recipe
- Cooks in a single pot and is prepared in 10 minutes! It’s good for busy professionals, faculty college students, or anybody who wants a straightforward and attractive weeknight meal.
- Protein-packed principal dish. Niku miso is nutrient dense and boosts the protein element of any meal.
- Ideally suited for weekly meal-prep. Closely seasoned niku miso retains effectively within the fridge for as much as 7 days. I’ll make it on the weekend and serve it all through the week at school bentos or for my work-from-home lunch. It’s a lifesaver on busy weekdays!
- Adaptable for vegetarians. I used floor pork for this recipe, however you’ll be able to simply substitute it with meatless choices.
- Versatile for a lot of dishes. I serve it with plain rice, on noodles, or in lettuce cups. Lacking some spice? Drizzle in chili oil. See extra concepts under!
Elements for Niku Miso
- Floor pork
- Ginger
- Geen onions/scallions
- Toasted sesame oil
- Seasoning:
- Miso
- Sugar
- Mirin
- Soy sauce
- Sake (or water)
- Potato starch (or cornstarch)
Discover the printable recipe with measurements under.
Substitutions
- Floor pork: Pork and beef are the standard decisions in Japan, however be happy to make use of floor hen or floor turkey; for vegan/vegetarian, use cubed agency tofu.
- Miso: You should utilize any miso paste, however I like utilizing pink miso because it has a bolder and deeper taste than delicate white miso.
How To Make Niku Miso
Preparation
Step 1 â Prep the substances earlier than cooking begins. Grate the ginger and thinly slice the inexperienced onions.
Step 2 â Combine the sauce. Stir collectively the miso, sugar, mirin, sake, soy sauce, and potato starch in a bowl till clean and effectively mixed.
Cooking
Step 3 â Prepare dinner the meat with the aromatics. Add the bottom pork to the new sesame oil within the pot and break up the meat with a spatula. Add the grated ginger and inexperienced onions and sauté within the oil.
Step 4 â Add the miso sauce. When the meat is almost now not pink, give the sauce combination a ultimate stir and add it to the pot. Stir to include and thicken the sauce. Prepare dinner and cut back the cooking liquid to the specified thickness.
Step 5 â Serve. Flip off the warmth and serve scorching together with plain steamed rice.
Namiâs Recipe Suggestions
- Break up the bottom meat with a spatula â Separate the chunks of floor pork into small crumbles because it cooks. The meat will prepare dinner extra totally and evenly this manner and higher take up the scrumptious seasonings.
- Dissolve the miso fully â While you combine the sauce substances, stir it till it’s a clean consistency. You don’t need chunks of undissolved miso in your ultimate dish.
- Give the sauce substances a ultimate stir â The potato starch within the sauce can settle, so I at all times give it one final stir simply earlier than including the combination to the pot.
Variations and Customizations
- Attempt a distinct floor meat. You should utilize any floor meat you want for this dish. Whereas I used floor pork at the moment, floor beef is one other in style alternative in Japan. I additionally recommend attempting floor hen and floor turkey, a preferred possibility within the US.
- Bump up the aromatics. So as to add extra depth of taste, you’ll be able to incorporate different widespread aromatics in Japanese cooking. You can positively add garlic, yuzu kosho, or chili paste. For a extra conventional Japanese taste, I like utilizing Tokyo negi (lengthy inexperienced onion) as a substitute of inexperienced onion.
- Bulk up the amount with veggies. When my youngsters have been little, I’d sneak in veggies into this dish as a result of the meat sauce binds effectively with greens. Finely mince carrots, eggplants, zucchini, and/or shiitake mushrooms and prepare dinner them along with the bottom meat. I feel it’s a tasty method to incorporate extra veggies in your weight loss program!
- Make it meatless. As an alternative of floor meat, strive cubed agency tofu or chopped mushrooms for a plant-based model.
What To Serve with Miso Meat Sauce
Niku Miso is a flexible protein add-on for a lot of dishes. Listed here are some scrumptious concepts:
- Rice â Serve it with steamed rice, fried rice, or as a filling for rice balls (Onigiri).
- Noodles âToss into stir-fried noodles or pasta, or use as a topping for udon, soba, or somen noodle soups.
- Sandwiches â Unfold it on sandwiches or onigirazu.
- Low-carb choices â Get pleasure from it in lettuce wraps, in vegetable stir-fries, and extra!
Storage and Reheating Suggestions
To retailer: As soon as the sauce is cooled to room temperature, refrigerate instantly in an hermetic container for as much as every week.
To Freeze: Retailer within the freezer for as much as 3â4 weeks.
To Reheat. Reheat solely the portion you’ll serve within the microwave or a frying pan.
Ceaselessly Requested Questions
Whereas you should use any sort of miso for niku miso, I recommend utilizing one with a bolder taste just like the pink miso that I take advantage of within the recipe. A deeper miso style stands up effectively to the bottom meat within the dish. For those who do use a light miso, remember to modify the sugar and different seasonings for a balanced taste.
I don’t suggest it. Sugar is important to counter steadiness the salty components of the sauce just like the miso and soy sauce.
Extra Scrumptious 10-Minute Recipes
They these in style recipes from our Simple School Meal sequence!
Forestall your display screen from going darkish
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Collect all of the substances. I take advantage of an electric pot for this recipe and others within the 10-Minute Meal sequence. You additionally may use a daily saucepan on the range.
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Thinly slice 2 inexperienced onions/scallions into small rounds. Put aside some for garnish.
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Peel and grate 1 inch ginger (I take advantage of a ceramic grater). Put aside.
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To combine the sauce, add 2 Tbsp miso to a small bowl. Add ½ Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp sugar, 1 Tbsp mirin, 1 Tbsp sugar, 1 Tbsp sake, and 1 tsp potato starch or cornstarch. Stir till clean and effectively mixed.
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Warmth the saucepan over medium-high warmth or on Mode II (600W) for the electrical pot. When it is scorching, add ½ Tbsp toasted sesame oil and 6 oz floor pork.
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Sauté the meat, breaking apart the clumps with a spatula. Add the grated ginger with juices and preserve stirring.
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When the pork is sort of now not pink, add a lot of the inexperienced onions, reserving some for garnish.
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When the inexperienced onions are coated with oil, give the sauce combination a ultimate stir and add it to the pot.
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Stir to include and thicken the sauce. Proceed to sauté and cut back the cooking liquid till it reaches the specified thickness.
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Switch the niku miso to a serving bowl. Sprinkle with inexperienced onions. Get pleasure from!