Misoyaki Wild Salmon

Me so hungry for miso salmon.

This is a version of that ubiquitous sushi joint staple, misoyaki black cod, popularized with a vengeance at Matsuhisa restaurant here in LA (and at over thirty other affiliated restaurants internationally) by famed Japanese chef Nobu Matsuhisa. It’s Nobu’s signature dish, and the impact of his influence is felt in nearly every sushi bar in American, where some version of miso-marinated broiled fish is on virtually every menu. And for good reason as it’s damn good — sweet, salty, tender, and rich. It can feel fancy or it can be served very simply, almost rustically. It makes a great lunchtime or dinnertime main course, or it can go alongside other Asian dishes for a larger spread.

I love to make it with black cod, of course, or butterfish or ling cod or Chilean seabass or pretty much any other fish that is either delicate or has a decent fat content. I was initially going to make this with black cod, but I found some beautiful and very fresh wild salmon and decided to go with that instead.

I deviate from Nobu’s original recipe by adding a bit more flavoring to the marinade; if you know me you know that I can’t resist tinkering with classics in the hopes of finding greater complexity and depth of flavor — hence the addition of ginger and garlic and salt and pepper. I recommend marinating the fish for at least six hours, so make the marinade in the morning and drop the fish in. By dinnertime you’ll be good to go. If you really want to plan ahead you could marinate the salmon overnight, although I wouldn’t go for two days as the sodium in the marinade could dry out the fish and make the miso flavor too assertive.

Serve this with steamed white rice and maybe some stir-fried bok choy or other Asian greens. I also recommend having on the side a little soy sauce and something spicy like sambal oelek or sriracha.

What you need:

• 1 pound wild salmon filet, skinned with pin-bones removed
• 3 tablespoons mirin
• 3 tablespoons sake
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup shiro miso paste (very pale yellow “white” miso)
• 2 teaspoons finely minced ginger
• 1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 2/3 cups of chopped scallions (as a garnish)

What you gotta do:

First cut the salmon filets into four evenly-sized pieces. Place the filets in a flat plastic container with a lid or a glass pan that you can cover with plastic wrap; use anything except a metal container that could be potentially reactive (i.e. aluminum). Also, choose your container wisely; you want the fish to be snug in whatever container you choose so that the fish is nestled in and covered fully by the marinade. Refrigerate fish while you make the marinade.

In a small pot mix the mirin, sake, and water. Heat over medium-high heat until boiling and add the sugar, whisking until it dissolves. Turn off the heat and whisk in the miso, ginger, garlic, salt, and white pepper. Transfer the marinade to a bowl and allow it come to room temperature. Pour marinade over the fish and turn pieces to fully coat with the miso. Cover and refrigerate.

Now wait patiently a few hours. To cook turn on your broiler and set the oven rack about six inches away from the heating element, be it flame or electric coil. Remove the fish from the marinade and place on a sheet pain that been very slightly oiled. Any excess marinade you can pour into a small pot and bring quickly to a boil. Turn off heat. Now you can use the marinade to baste the fish.

Put pan with salmon into the oven and broil for about three minutes. Remove fish from oven and, using a pastry brush, baste fish with more marinade. Return the fish to the oven and broil for another two or three minutes, approximately. You want the edges slightly charred, so when that occurs remove the salmon and prod it to check for doneness. I like it cooked through but very tender and a bit rare. Touch it with your finger — the flesh should have some softness to it. If you suspect it’s not cooked enough to your taste, turn the oven off and return the fish to oven. Allow it to cook with the oven’s residual heat until it’s firmer and more to your liking.

Transfer fish to a platter and serve dinner!

Super-succulent salmon served for supper. Say that five times fast!

Miso Hungry

My Favorite Miso

Few things are as satisfying as a simple bowl of excellent miso soup — hot, salty, a touch sweet, a touch sour, and full of soft, tender, and mild tofu. It’s the Japanese equivalent of chicken soup, in a way — healthy, restorative, comforting, culturally imbued with all kinds of emotional significance, and easy-as-all-hell to make. As easy as apple pie. Easier in fact.

Miso soup, like virtually everything in Japanese cuisine, starts with the sea. In this case the foundation is dashi, an infusion of kombu and katsuobushi which is the ubiquitous base stock used in a wide array of sauces, soups, marinades, and dressings. Kombu is a type of kelp that is harvested from the sea and then dried in the sun until stiff like thin cardboard. Katsuobushi is dried and smoked bonito (skipjack tuna) that is shaved into papery ribbons and used in a myriad of applications. Both kombu and katsuobushi contain glutamic acids that are responsible for umami, the “fifth taste” of savoriness that is responsible for such a rich and deeply flavored broth.

Miso & Peanut Noodles

These impromptu noodles were crazzzy delicious

This dish is the result of spontaneity and invention in the moment. This is not to say it’s particularly groundbreaking or inventive. But it is another demonstration of the clever use of  leftovers and “on-hand” ingredients.

Basically I cooked about a half pound of these Japanese yaki-soba noodles (fresh ramen, chow mein noodles, or even spaghetti will work) that I had on hand. In a saucepan I melted a couple of tablespoons of butter and whisked in a tablespoon of shiro miso paste and a tablespoon of hot water. I whisked the miso butter until smooth and then added a half teaspoon of sesame oil, a full teaspoon of minced fresh ginger, a splash of soy sauce, a half teaspoon of sugar, and a pinch of white pepper.

I blanched the noodles about 45 seconds (they were fresh, precooked noodles), drained them well, and added them still hot to the miso butter. I tossed the pasta in the sauce to thoroughly coat and then a quarter cup of minced scallions and about two heaping tablespoons of crushed salted peanuts.

It was delicious!!