The cold and cosy season is officially here, and with that comes a plethora of hearty and comforting dishes to warm us up from the inside. A popular choice of side dish comes in any form of potato, and there’s nothing cosier than a pile of steaming mashed potatoes to warm the soul.
While many home cooks use butter or milk to make the smoothest and fluffiest mash, these ingredients can lack the flavour punch needed to bring the spuds alive. Food expert Laura Scherb recently shared her “underrated secret ingredient” for making the perfect mash. And there’s no butter in sight.
Instead, Laura suggested a popular ingredient found in the kitchen cupboard, often used in Japanese and Asian cuisines. Laura wrote for Simply Recipes: “Miso is an underrated secret ingredient for mashed potatoes.
“This fermented soybean paste makes a noticeable difference without overcomplicating the recipe—stir a tablespoon into your spuds for a huge flavour boost! It packs in salty, savory umami flavour, making your mashed potato recipe richer than butter alone ever could.”
How to make mashed potato with miso
When it comes to choosing the right type of miso for the job, Laura recommended either white or yellow miso, over red miso. This is because red miso is aged for longer so has a stronger flavour that could overpower the potatoes.
She also explained that the pale colours of white and yellow miso also compliment the potatoes, so it wouldn’t make much of a difference to their appearance. The expert recommended using one to two tables per pound (approximately 450 grams) of potatoes.
Miso is also a good flavour substitute for anyone who has an allergy or intolerance to dairy, adding an umami taste without the need to use milk or butter.
You don’t want to just add a dollop of miso into the potatoes, as it won’t fully incorporate properly. Instead, you’ll want to add the miso to the liquid you’re using to make the potatoes mashed and smooth, whether that be milk, cream, or starchy potato water.
Simply add the miso to the liquid and whisk it in to dissolve. You want to make sure that the miso has dissolved enough before pouring it into the spuds.
If you plan on seasoning the mashed potatoes, you may need to adjust the amount of salt you add, as miso is naturally salty. Start off by adding a small amount of miso to the liquid, and then slowly add to more to get to the required taste.