The Umami-Packed Paste You Should Mix Into Ice Cream

Ice cream is universally loved. Rich and creamy, sweet and delicious, and available in so many flavors that everyone can find something they like. The wide variety of choices available never gets boring, and when you make it yourself, you get to enjoy the freedom of creativity, making it with some of the most unexpected ingredients imaginable, like garlic, macaroni and cheese, or corn on the cob. Or for a true umami-packed punch of flavor, give miso paste a whirl.

But what exactly is miso paste? It's a quintessential ingredient in Japanese cuisine, responsible for that umami flavor that makes dishes like miso soup and katsu curry so irresistibly good. Depending on the type, it keeps for a long time in the fridge once opened, and even longer in the pantry if you haven't touched it yet. Just keep in mind that the darker the variety, the longer it will last. It is versatile enough to mix with vegetables, create a delicious marinade for seafood, and even give sweet ice cream the perfect salty companion flavor.

This umami blast works perfectly in ice cream because, simply put, sweet and savory are a classic combination that wake up your taste buds. The flavorful umami of the miso paired with the sweet creaminess of the ice cream offset each other perfectly. Like caramel popcorn, the sweet and salty combination just plain works.

You may not find miso ice cream in the freezer aisle at the grocery store, but you might be lucy enough to find it at a gourmet specialty ice cream shop that experiments with different flavors on their menu. But rather than hunting from parlour to parlour (although that sounds like a pretty sweet way to spend your free time!), you can easily make it at home with some store-bought miso paste. Can't find it at your local shop? It's on Amazon.

Whether you take the easy way out and use an ice cream machine or like to try a more hands-on method like rolling around an old coffee can, busting out the hand mixer, or tossing around an ice cream ball with your friends, ice cream is fun and easy to make at home. And you get to flavor it any way you want.

When it comes to adding miso, go easy. Keep in mind that it contains a lot of salt (1 tablespoon contains 634 milligrams of sodium), and even though sweet and salty are a great combo, too much will be overpowering and render your ice cream inedible. Once you've got a miso flavor you are happy with, you can either stick with this base flavor or add in additional flavors that pair well with it, like peanut butter, warming spices, caramel, chocolate, sweet corn, or simply sprinkle some black sesame seeds on top and enjoy.