Miso Cured Cream Cheese

While travelling in Akita, Japan, last year, I came across a combination of miso-cured cream cheese and iburigakko (dried, cured and smoked daikon). It's probably one my favourite new bar snacks and goes well with a beer.

Unfortunately, the cream cheese (Frischkäse) that we normally have here in Germany is far too soft to be submerged in a cure. While visiting friends in France, I came across those individually wrapped, spreadable cream cheese portions from Saint Morêt and Kiri again. They have a thicker consistency, but still taste more like cream cheese and not processed cheese (Schmelzkäse), which is more common to find in those packages here. I wouldn't normally buy them as the individual portions are quite expensive, but they are a good fit for this case. If anyone knows of another cheese that might work, please let me know!

So back home I bought some Kiri and marinated them in a miso cure:

• 1 package of 6 Kiri portions unwrapped
• 100g miso
• 40g shochu
• 40g mirin
• 15g sugar

Heat everything except the cheese briefly to combine and let it cool. Submerge the cheese in the cure and let it cure for at least three days. I would leave it for around a week. Enjoy it with some sliced iburigakko and a beer!