Miso

Roasted chicken stock.

South River Miso, Cornway Massachusetts.

It's like peanut butter except it's bean paste and sometimes grain fermented with it own organisms somewhat like beer and bread. The organisms consume the bean paste and grain changing it, while contributing elements nutritious to people and making the beans more easily digestible and all this is controlled by additions of salt so older more aged types can taste quite salty. It's one reason why Americans prefer the milder younger less challenging versions.