Magical miso hummus

My brother is a big fan of Japanese food. He visited me here in the big, beautiful Apple during Christmas and we discovered that there is a Little Tokyo in the East Village! I had no idea, although I can't say I'm surprised. One can travel the world with a NYC Metro card. We had the most amazing vegetarian ramen, and I got inspired and enthusiastic in a way that I only get over food. I had to learn how to make it myself! I went for a shopping spree at my local Japanese shop and came home with both kombu and dried shiitake. Now you might expect me to share the recipe for the ramen I made. Unfortunately that's not going to happen, that recipe is still a diamond in the rough. But one wonderful outcome from making ramen, apart from the ramen itself, is that you might find yourself with a large jar of miso paste in the fridge. You may also not know what to do with it (I didn't, at first), but not want it to go to waste either. If you're like me you see this as an opportunity to be creative. Therefore I have miso in most everything right now, one example being yummy miso hummus! Give it a try!

Note on the miso: I used red miso. White would probably work just as well. It has a milder taste, so you might want to add some more. Choose the larger or smaller amount of miso depending on what you like and what kind of miso you are using. As the miso is quite salty, I didn't add any salt, but you can if you want to.

For a good-sized jar of hummus:

5 dl chickpeas, cooked or from a can

A splash of olive oil

1-2 tbsp sesame oil (to taste)

3-4 tbsp miso paste

2 small cloves of garlic or one very big

¼-½ lemon, juice (to taste)

A small bunch of cilantro

Pepper

Water to desired consistency

Garnishes: Black sesame seeds and thinly sliced scallions

Simply mix all the ingredients but the water and garnishes, using an immersion blender of mixer. Add water a bit at a time until you reach a consistency you like. Transfer to a nice bowl, swirl the surface to make it beautiful and top with garnishes if you want to! Simple stupid and so good!