I was driving home from the gym, when BAM it hit me. MISO BROWN BUTTER NOODLES. That’s how a lot of my recipes come to be. I’ll have a taste for something and use that as the inspiration I need to develop a recipe for it. I knew I wanted to use miso to make something full of umami with a warm nutty flavor and rich tasting sauce. But then it was summer, and in summer big bowls of pasta with rich sauces don’t sound as appetizing to me as something on the lighter side. So, I chose to use zucchini noodles to lighten this dish up. I did a quick u-turn and headed to the store to get all the things I would need to put this together.
If you aren’t cooking with miso, you are missing out. Miso isn’t just for soup. Miso is for everything! Miso adds a punch of umami and gives a delicious depth of flavor and savoriness to dishes that may taste a little blah. Miso is an elevator. Miso adds interest. Miso adds funk. And in this recipe, it brings all the simple ingredients and preparation to another level. Anyone you serve it to will ask you, “What’s in this!?!?!”
There are thousands of types of miso, but let’s start with the two basic varieties that you can most commonly find in the super market: sweet light miso and dark miso. Sweet light miso is mellower and more refreshing of the two. Dark miso has a longer fermentation time and more salt making it more intense and pungent. For this recipe, we are going to use light miso. I like Marukome Boy brand miso paste. You can probably find this at your favorite Asian grocery store. Here in Chicago I go to Joong Boo market which is right off of the highway at Kimball. You can also find miso at Whole Foods.
I made the zucchini noodles using my spiralizer. If you don’t have one, get one. They’re super affordable and make easy work of turning veggies into noodles. If you don’t want to buy a spiralizer, they also sell zucchini noodles at Trader Joe’s in the frozen section and at Whole Foods.
Tip: If you aren’t a huge mushroom fan these noodles are delicious by themselves without the mushrooms or with other protein. Try making the recipe with shrimp or chicken. If you are going to use other protein, do a quick marinade in some soy sauce and ginger prior to cooking.
Let’s get started. Miso excited.
Step 1: Spiralize. Spiralize your zucchini. It took me 3 medium sized zucchini to make 5 cups of spiraled noodles. If you are using normal pasta or Trader Joe’s frozen Zucchini noodles. Follow the directions for cooking those and stop cooking them after about 5 minutes to finish with our sauce. 
Step 2: Shrooms. Slice your mushrooms. I used shiitake, maitake, and king oyster mushrooms to make this. If you don’t have access to those at your grocery store, just use all shiitake. Heat sesame oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add mushrooms. Add salt. Cook and stir mushrooms over medium heat for 5 minutes. Remove mushrooms from heat.
Step 2: It’s betta with butta. Once your mushrooms are cooked start on your brown butter sauce. Add unsalted butter to a pan over medium heat. Allow the butter to melt, stirring often, and cook until its nutty and brown about 5 minutes. Add your miso paste. Stir to combine. Lower the heat and cook an additional 1-2 minutes.
Step 3: Combine. Add your zucchini noodles and mushrooms to the miso brown butter sauce. Stir to combine. Try to make sure all the noodles and mushrooms are covered in the sauce.
Step 4: Plate. Garnish with black sesame seeds.
Miso Happy {Miso Brown Butter Zucchini Noodles with Shiitake}
Ingredients
- 5 cups zucchini noodles
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons white miso
- 4-8 oz shiitake mushrooms, sliced (I also add 1 king oyster mushroom and a pack of maitake mushrooms, use any combo you like. If you want this to have quite a bit of mushroom in it, use 8 oz total, if you only want a little mushroom just use 4 oz)
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds (optional)
Instructions
- Spiralize your zucchini. It took me 3 medium sized zucchini to make 5 cups of spiraled noodles. If you are using normal pasta or Trader Joe's frozen Zucchini noodles. Follow the directions for cooking those and stop cooking them after about 5 minutes to finish with our sauce.
- Slice your mushrooms. I used shiitake, maitake, and king oyster mushrooms to make this. If you don't have access to those at your grocery store, just use all shiitake. Heat sesame oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add mushrooms. Add salt. Cook and stir mushrooms over medium heat for 5 minutes. Remove mushrooms from heat.
- Once your mushrooms are cooked start on your brown butter sauce. Add unsalted butter to a pan over medium heat. Allow the butter to melt, stirring often, and cook until its nutty and brown about 5 minutes. Add your miso paste. Stir to combine. Lower the heat and cook an additional 1-2 minutes.
- Combine. Add your zucchini noodles and mushrooms to the miso brown butter sauce. Stir to combine. Try to make sure all the noodles and mushrooms are covered in the sauce.
- Garnish with black sesame seeds.
86