Non-typical Food Options

I too have looked long and hard for Japanese miso but have only ever found Korean miso, very different flavour but still makes a lovely soup or dressing.

There are two Asian variety stores that I've come across that are good for different reasons. I'll direct you because I don't know the names of these places.

Coming in to Managua from the south on the Carretera Masaya, before you get to the Metrocentro you'll see the Hilton on the left. Turn left there. Take your first left (you'll see Piratas bar on the right). The first store on the left on that corner is a clothing store with a Korean sign on the outside. Go through to the back of the store and you'll find a little restaurant and counter where you can buy amazing, fresh tofu (closer to silken than firm) for 40 cord/pound plus a few other bits like rice vinegar, pickled ginger etc. Not a huge selection here but worth the trip for the tofu.

The other Asian Variety Store (I believe that's the name on the sign) is in the same vicinity. The road you turned onto with Piratas on the right (Avenidas Gabriel Cardenal), take your first left and then an immediate right. Follow this street down about 100m and you'll see the store on your right. Here you can find Korean miso, nori, buckwheat noodles, rice noodles, dehydrated mushrooms, sesame oil, vermicelli, jasmine rice, black sesame, etc. It's not cheap but the selection is good. Happy hunting!

Amaranth is most places in Mexico, and after a bit of a hiatus courtesy of Spain (it was a sacred herb of the Aztecs and is used as a food known as "huautli"; in a key Aztec ceremony it was mixed with a special honey and, on occasion, human blood and shaped into statues of Aztec gods, Huitzilopochtli, which were cut up and passed out by priest and the body pieces consumed by the faithful; the Spanish Catholic overseers got one look at this and quickly decreed one simple punishment for either the ceremony or possession of the herb: death) but is also readily available there and in Guatemala, Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The European Commission funded a couple year long project a while back. The agricultural test sites were Mexico, Nicaragua and maybe Argentina (or Paraguay?). In Nicaragua the production was via a couple women's food coops (perhaps La Tejana and La Bolsa, or Bolsita?). I think the base testing was done to see if it could take the place of the former cotton-producing lands. The women were given several plant species to try. I think the plant is tough (like all "weeds") and there weren't soil-climate issues. They were also asked to experiment and make the results consistent with the Nicaraguan diet / cooking-food preferences. Some sort of crude cookbook or record of their ventures must be out there somewhere. I don't know if USAID was in any way connected to this work, but at the same time I think they had projects near Chinandega based on incorporating indigenous plants back into the diet – especially in the outlying areas here which are particularly known for malnutrition. The red Amaranth (based on the color alone – I am unsure if it is an official name, and there appear to be countless plant species) can be found in Nicaragua and I have seen it many places, usually from the window of a bus going through the middle of nowhere in particular. The only Nica name I recall from the project is this, and although they are agri-related, I don’t see the project on their website, but they must know if the crops are being grown: http://www.chinantlan.org/