Miso is a Japanese fermented product that begins with soaked soybean mush into which

they mix either pre-fermented soybeans, rice or barley. The processor inoculates this

conglomeration with mold, and ferments it for a few days. Then he blends, mashes and

pasteurizes the mush, and it is ready for sale in sealed jars or in bulk in health food stores. In

bulk it is like thick porridge. It has a complex, distinctive taste which makes it good for flavoring

and as a soup base. The cost is about the same as a medium-priced meat. The protein content is

around 13 percent (15 grams in a 4-ounce or 113-g serving) depending on what other ingredients

they have added.

The Downside of Legumes

Eating legumes has its downside, at least for some people—they are hard to digest and

cause flatulence. Some people have such strong reaction that they won't even eat them. Part of

the problem for most is not eating them regularly. Our digestive tracts don't support the microbes

and enzymes that we need to break down and to digest legumes, particularly beans. In Latin

America where people eat beans daily, or India where they eat lentils as frequent part of their

diet, people don't have trouble digesting legumes. Why?

Starch, made up of sugar molecules called oligosaccharides, is what causes the problem.

Other plants have similar problem starches, but legumes contain the most. If your digestive tract

doesn't have the microbes and enzymes to break the starch down, it moves into the lower

intestines unaltered, where bacteria take over to work on the undigested legumes. Their busy

work generates plenty of gases that distend the bowels enough to cause discomfort and finally

embarrassment with the escaping gas.

Ben Franklin, who loved beans, went so far as to propose a scientific prize in 1781 to

whoever could come up with a substance to alleviate the result of eating beans. No one yet has

claimed the prize with an appropriate solution to date.

For some reason, individuals differ markedly in the amount of gases that accumulates

with this breakdown of starch. For some people, it could be an occupational hazard. There is a

thorough, careful screening for applicants to be astronauts and high-altitude fliers because the

discomfort caused by the build-up of gases at a lowered atmospheric pressure can be more than

just a little pain in the tummy at high altitudes.

There are many suggestions on how to avoid, or at least reduce, the generation of these

gases. The most frequently given advice is to get rid of the offending starch. Soaking the beans

dissolves some of it, and discarding the soaking water gets rid of any dissolved starch. Some

people go so far as to discard the soaking water, bring the beans to a boil in fresh water, then

discard that water, too, before adding fresh water for cooking. There are two problems with this

method. One is that it doesn't get rid of all the oligosaccharides. The other is that some of the

nutrients also soak out that you toss. Certainly the proteins and most of the carbohydrates are not

affected by soaking.

Here is what the California Dry Bean Advisory Board suggests. Add 10 cups boiling

water to every pound (half kilo) of dry beans, boil 2 minutes. Cover and let stand about 8 hours.

The heat kills potential life in the beans, the cell membranes break down during soaking and

release 75 to 90 percent of the water-soluble indigestible sugars. Drain and replace with fresh

water before cooking. If you skip the step of boiling water and soak it in cold water, the beans

remain alive and start the germinating process. More of the offending sugars remain in solution

because the cell membranes are still intact.

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