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Muri is an old fermented sauce from medieval Levant cooking: salty, dark, deeply savory, and built from grains rather than soybeans. English-speaking cooks may understand it best as a local, historical cousin to soy sauce or miso, though its ingredients and process belong to a different food tradition.

Surviving muri recipes resemble the way miso is made in East Asia, with a long process of grain fermentation and enzymatic breakdown. This version is adapted from a 14th-century Egyptian cookbook. It is a patient, experimental project: the best time to begin is early spring, when warmth and humidity help the process along, and the sauce takes several months before it is ready.

Ingredients:

For an unglazed clay pot of about 12 quarts (12 liters):

  • 4.4 lb (2 kg) whole barley flour
  • 4.4 lb (2 kg) wheat bran
  • 4.4 lb (2 kg) whole wheat flour
  • 2 lb 3 oz (1 kg) salt, for the second stage
  • 9 oz (250 g) salt, for the fourth stage
  • Water, as needed
  • Olive oil, for oiling the clay pot

Instructions:

Stage One – 40 days

  1. Mix 2 lb 3 oz (1 kg) barley flour with 3 cups (720 ml) water and knead until you have a firm dough that is still relatively dry.
  2. Shape the dough into about 6 fist-size cones. Make a hole in the base of each cone with your thumb.
  3. Scatter the wheat bran over a wooden board, or a piece of plywood, in a layer about 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick.
  4. Lay the cones on their sides, with the holes facing sideways, and place them outside in the shade. Cover with fine netting.
  5. Wait 20 days, turn the cones onto their other side, and wait another 20 days.
  6. At this point, mold should collect inside the hole in each cone. Do not remove it. This is the local equivalent of koji, the mold culture used in miso, and it creates the enzymes needed for the fermentation.

Stage Two – 8 days

  1. Clean off the bran that has stuck to the cones.
  2. Use a hammer to break the cones into a bowl, into small pieces about the size of fava beans.
  3. Add 2 lb 3 oz (1 kg) barley flour and 2 lb 3 oz (1 kg) salt. Transfer the mixture to an unglazed clay pot greased with olive oil.
  4. Pour in enough water to cover the mixture plus a little more, then cover with a lid.
  5. After a few days, the mixture will begin to break down. The texture should become about as thick as pancake batter.
  6. For 8 days, stir with a wooden spoon 4 times a day.

Stage Three – 11 days

  1. Make a dough from 2 lb 3 oz (1 kg) whole wheat flour and 3 cups (720 ml) water. Mix and knead until the dough is firm.
  2. Heat the oven to 400 F (200 C).
  3. Roll the dough into thin cracker-like sheets about 1/8 inch (1/4 cm) thick, and bake for 16 minutes, until dry.
  4. While the sheets are still warm, break them into small pieces and add them to the clay pot.
  5. Let the mixture stand for 3 days.
  6. Reach into the pot with a clean hand and dissolve any remaining lumps.
  7. For 8 days, stir the contents of the pot 4 times a day with a wooden spoon.

Stage Four – 60 days

  1. In a bowl, mix about 2 lb 3 oz (1 kg) whole wheat flour with 9 oz (250 g) salt and 4 cups (1 liter) water, then knead into a dough.
  2. Heat the oven to 250 F (120 C).
  3. Shape the dough into discs the diameter of a small saucer and about 5/8 inch (1.5 cm) thick.
  4. Bake overnight, about 8 hours. The discs should dry out but not burn.
  5. Break the discs into fava-bean-size pieces and add them to the clay pot.
  6. Stir every day for 2 months.

Straining and reusing the solids

  1. The ancient recipe continues, translated closely from Arabic: during this time, keep the jar protected and clean. After 2 months, the muri rises through the liquid and appears at the top. The original instruction is to transfer the contents to a palm-branch basket, hang it, and place a clay vessel beneath it to catch the dripping liquid for 24 hours.
  2. Today, use a large clean muslin cloth. Transfer the full contents of the pot into the cloth, hang it from a hook, and place a wide bowl underneath to catch the liquid.
  3. After 24 hours, transfer the collected liquid to clean bottles or jars.
  4. The old recipe says the remaining solids can be used for another batch, though it is not completely clear how. A reasonable approach is to return the solids to the same clay pot, add water until the mixture is again the texture of pancake batter, stir every day for about 3 months, and strain again.
  5. The sauce from both fermentations should be black, salty, and deeply savory, with a flavor reminiscent of soy sauce. The remaining solids can be used much like miso; they are a little more fibrous, but work well in soups and cooked dishes.

Fermentation note: This is an advanced historical fermentation project that intentionally cultivates mold and ferments for months. Use clean equipment, protect the ferment from insects and debris, and do not taste or bottle anything that seems wrong to you in smell, color, or texture.