Miso-Marinated Black Cod

Peruvian-Japanese restaurant chain Nobu is one of the most recognizable brands in the culinary world. At the core of this restaurant powerhouse is Chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa’s elevated take on Peruvian-Japanese cuisine. (The fact that his restaurants are name-dropped in countless songs certainly hasn’t hurt.)

Eatin' crab out in Malibu at Nobu

Introduced back in 1994, the restaurant’s most famous dish involves a surprisingly simple preparation that makes it ideal for busy founders. The approach, known as saikyo yaki, is a method of preparing fish that involves marinating the fish in a white miso-based marinade called saikyo shiro miso. It originated in Kyoto before refrigeration was available as a means to preserve fish.

This particular recipe uses black cod (also known as sablefish), a mild white fish native to the North Pacific Ocean (British Columbia, Washington and Alaska). Black cod is high in omega-3 fatty acids, EPA, and DHA, making it extremely healthy. It’s high fat content also makes it very forgiving when cooking — in other words, it’s really hard to screw this recipe up. Black cod is a year-round fishery, so you can get this fish fresh and wild anytime of the year. It’s also relatively inexpensive (in Vancouver, you can even get fresh black cod at Costco!).

But there is one unusual aspect of this recipe to be aware of: the fish must be allowed to marinate for 2 to 3 days.

The high fat content of black cod makes it take longer for the fish to absorb flavors. If you don’t let this recipe marinate for at least 48 hours, you simply won’t get the deep flavor of the miso for which this dish is famous. For optimal freshness, you should marinate the fish the same day you buy it. So if you buy and marinate your fish on a Monday, you should plan to cook and eat it for dinner on Wednesday or Thursday. And so on.

This recipe specifically uses white miso, which is milder and sweeter than other forms of miso. Most grocery stores will carry at least one brand of white miso, but be aware that taste and quality vary widely by brand. My favorite North American miso producer by far is a small craft producer in San Francisco called Aeden Fermented Foods. In fact, this miso is so good that I regularly bring back 2 or 3 containers when I’m visiting San Francisco.

Miso-Marinated Black Cod

Adapted from Nobu: The Cookbook by Nobuyuki Matsuhisa.

The recipe below is for one full fillet (side) of black cod. To make more, simply increase the recipe accordingly.

• Serves: 2 - 3

• Preparation time: 5 minutes

• Cooking time: 15 minutes (2 - 3 days later)

Ingredients

• 1 full fillet (side) of black cod or 4 x 8oz portions

• ¼ cup sake

• ¼ cup mirin

• ¼ cup white miso paste

• 3 tbsp granulated sugar

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil (for cooking)

Preparation (2 - 3 days before cooking)

In a small saucepan, bring the mirin and sake to a boil over high heat. Let it boil for 20 - 30 seconds to give time for the alcohol to evaporate.

Reduce the heat to low, then add the miso paste and whisk until it has completely dissolved (note: there may still be “chunks” of soybean in the mixture if the miso itself is not smooth).

Turn the heat back up to high, add the granulated sugar and whisk until the sugar has completely dissolved. Make sure to whisk constantly during this part, so that the sugar does not burn at the bottom of the saucepan.

Remove the saucepan from the stove and pour the marinade into a bowl, then let it cool to room temperature.

While the marinade is cooling, remove the black cod from the packaging and pat dry with a paper towel to remove excess moisture.

To marinate, you can either place the fish into a Tupperware container or use Ziplock bags. For full fillets, I find that using quart-sized Ziplock bags with the fillet folded in half yields the best results (as there is very little room for air). Pour the marinade into the container, ensuring that the fish is completely slathered, and then place in the fridge for 2-3 days. If using a Ziplock bag, turn the bag over once per day to make sure the fish gets full coverage from the marinade.

Cooking

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

Remove the container of marinating fish from the fridge and get a large plate. One at a time, remove each fillet or fish portion from the container and use your fingers to remove excess marinade from the fish (you don’t want to rinse the fish…you just want to remove excess marinade so that it doesn’t burn when cooking). After removing the excess marinade, place each fillet or fish portion on the plate.

After 2-3 days, the black cod will take on a dark golden color from the miso marinade

In a large, oven-proof pan, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high until shimmering. Place the fish flesh-side down (skin-side up) in the pan and cook until the marinade starts to caramelize and the flesh begins to brown (or even blacken in a few spots). This should take 2-3 minutes.

If you don’t have really large pans, portion the fillets before marinating

Carefully flip the fish over so that the skin side is down. Cook for 1 more minute to allow the skin to slightly crispen and place the pan into the oven.

Cook for 5 - 10 minutes until the fish is opaque begins to slightly flake.

Serving

I generally serve this with rice and one or two steamed or stir-fried vegetables (bok choy, broccoli, edamame and gai lan are all favorites in the Neumann household).

(The fish on the left is slightly over-cooked — there should not be that much flaking 😉)