Lemon Verbena Poached White Peaches with Red Miso Sauce

Hakuto No Dengaku

I saw Elizabeth's recipe for "Poached Peaches in Lemon-Ginger Miso Sauce" in her published cookbook, Washoku, and decided I needed to investigate her improbable pairing of white peaches with red miso sauce.

In this recipe, the white peaches are simmered in a syrup flavored with ginger and lemon. Elizabeth's recipe calls for lemon zest and lemon juice, but I decided to substitute lemon verbena since I thought the lemon verbena would better accentuate the perfume of the white peaches.

Tree-ripened white peaches are wonderfully fragrant, but I often find this low-acid fruit to be one-dimensionally sweet. In this recipe, the ginger and contrasting miso sauce provide some structure to the fruit.

The red miso sauce is softened by adding the poaching syrup to it, but it's still quite assertive - pungent and salty. Just a smear of the red miso sauce is enough to create an interesting contrast with the fruit, emphasizing its sugar and fragrance.