lisa.w.hsieh Buttery, melt in your mouth miso black cod, a decadent recipe inspired by my favourite dish at Nobu for a fraction of the price! This recipe is super easy but takes a bit of planning since the cod needs to marinate for 2-3 days, so be sure to plan ahead!
With a sushi chef uncle, I was lucky to be exposed to Japanese cuisine and sushi at a very young age. I still have a pretty vivid memory of me doing homework at the sushi bar in Nami, the restaurant where my uncle worked at the time, drinking a coke and waiting for my mom to pick me up. So because of this, even though I was a super picky eater as a child, weirdly, I was totally okay with raw fish!
But one of my fave dishes to order at a Japanese restaurant, actually isn’t sushi, it’s Miso Black Cod! If you’ve never had it, you’re missing out! Black cod is this fatty fish, so the texture is almost buttery and melt in your mouth good. This dish is Nobu’s signature dish and I first had it almost a decade ago when I was lucky enough to be in NYC for a work trip and was able to get a last minute reservation. Since then, if I happen to be travelling in a city with a Nobu, I always make a point to stop by. (Fun fact, there’s a Nobu in Budapest, who knew?? We had no idea when we were there and accidentally stumbled across it because coincidentally, our hotel was right next door. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Budapest, I highly recommend it! It’s such a fun and beautiful history that has this super rich history where I learned about a whole other side of WWII that wasn’t in the history books I read growing up. And it’s one of the most affordable European cities I’ve been to with great food, drinks and baths everywhere!!!)
With travel restrictions, It’s likely going to be awhile before I make my way to a Nobu in awhile and the pandemic has delayed the construction of Nobu Toronto. Double Whammy 🙁 So really, the only thing I can do is learn how to make it! Luckily, this dish is super easy to make and only needs a handful of ingredients. It just takes a bit of planning since the cod needs to marinate for 2-3 days.
What is Black Cod and Where Do I Find it??
The hardest part of this recipe is probably finding the black cod. Black cod (also sometimes known as sablefish or butterfish) is different from white cod, which is pretty much everywhere. Black cod is fattier so it has more of a buttery, velvety texture while white cod is more lean, firm and flaky. You need to use black cod for this recipe, otherwise the texture won’t turn out right. But the great news about both black and regular cod is that they’re both abundant in their habitat, so it’s one of the most sustainable fish to eat.
I usually have to go to a local seafood market to find fresh black cod, which would be my recommended route! This time around, I used frozen black cod from Farm Boy. I like to have some in the freezer if I can’t get my hands on fresh. It’s great quality and reasonably priced! The only thing is the frozen fillets are generally thinner so I would recommend marinading and broiling for less time.
The Miso Marinade
The miso marinade is pretty simple, it’s just a mix of white miso paste, sake and mirin. (You can add some sugar as well if you like it sweeter but I find the mirin is enough for the perfect level of sweetness). The magic comes from marinating the cod for 2-3 days. I wouldn’t recommend any longer than that because it’ll get too salty and if you’re using thinner fillets like I did, I would recommend 2 days max. So unfortunately, this isn’t one of those recipes that you can just whip up whenever you want, it does take a little bit of preplanning. But you can marinate multiple fillets at once and freeze some for later! Just remove the fillets from the marinade and wipe off as much of the miso as possible and wrap it tightly with cling-wrap before freezing. Now, you’ll always have a ready supply of miso black cod whenever you want!
Once the cod is nice and marinaded, all you have to do is wipe as much miso off as possible and broil it skin side up for 8-10 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillet. You want to broil it to the point where the miso starts to caramelize and the skin gets crispy and doesn’t burn. You’ll know it’s done when the cod flakes off easily from the skin and you get yummy, buttery bites that will test your chopstick skills! Serve it with some bok choy and rice for the perfect meal!
Miso Black Cod (Nobu copycat)
Ingredients
- 1 lb black cod with skin on. cut into 2 filets
- 1 cup white miso paste
- 1 cup sake
- 2 tbsp mirin (sweet rice wine)
- 2 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- Sprinkle salt on both sides of fillet and let sit for 30 min
- Meanwhile, heat sake in a medium sized pot and boil for 15 seconds. Lower heat to low and stir in mirin and miso paste until well combined. Remove from heat and let cool completely
- lightly rinse black cod fillets with 2 tbsp of sake to remove salt (this helps remove the fishy taste) and pat dry with paper towel. Don't rinse under running water because you want the filets as dry as possible
- Place fillets in none reactive container (glass or plastic) and cover with miso marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 days.
- Turn on broiler and place rack in the centre of oven. Preheat for 5 minutes
- Remove fillets from container and wipe off as much of the miso marinade as possible. (Anything you leave on will burn in the oven). Place fillets on foil covered baking sheet, skin side up and place in oven.
- Place fish in oven and cook for 8-10 minutes depending on thickness of fillet. Monitor to make sure skin doesn't burn.
- Be careful removing fish off foil so that meat doesn't flake off. Serve with veggies like bok choy and a side of rice!
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