Black cod with miso is a popular Japanese dish and would stand out as part of a main course a dinner party. The creamy white flesh of the cod is balanced beautifully with the sweet/salty miso paste.
Ingredients
- 4 black cod fillets, about 150–200g/5½–7oz each, pin-boned
- 4 stalks hajikami or 50g/1¾oz pickled ginger, to serve
- 50g/1¾oz lotus root or taro chips, to serve, optional
For the saikyo miso
- 50ml/2fl oz sake
- 100ml/3½fl oz mirin
- 400g/14oz white miso paste
- 125g/4½oz caster sugar
For the sesame spinach
- 200ml/7fl oz dashi stock or fish stock
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 500g/1lb 2oz large leaf spinach
- 50g/1¾oz sesame seeds
Method
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To make the saikyo miso, put the sake, mirin, miso paste and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil over a high heat. Cook for a few minutes, until the sugar has dissolved. Leave to cool to room temperature.
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Put the cod in a bowl and cover with the saikyo miso (reserving a little to garnish). Cover and leave to marinate at room temperature for 2–3 hours.
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When you’re ready to cook the cod, preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7. Heat an ovenproof frying pan over a medium heat. Lift the fish fillets out of the marinade and cook them skin side-down in the pan for 2 minutes. Turn the fish over and roast in the oven for 6–8 minutes, or until cooked through and blackened.
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Meanwhile, for the sesame spinach, bring the dashi stock to the boil in a large saucepan and add the soy sauce and sugar. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the spinach, stir and turn off the heat. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry frying pan until golden, then crush using a mortar and pestle. Drain the spinach, reserving the liquid, and squeeze out any excess moisture. Mix the spinach with almost all the toasted seeds and a little of the cooking liquor.
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To serve, gather the spinach into a ball and top with the remaining sesame seeds. Serve with the cod and hajikami, with a few drops of the reserved saikyo miso on each plate.
Source: BBC
