Miso-marinated grilled cod たらの味噌焼き

This was the last dish I made from a filet of cod we got the other day. This is miso-marinated cod with miso-based sauce on the top. This was a one-plate dinner one weekday evening. I broiled the cod after I smeared on the miso-based sauce but it did not char much. Maybe I should have used my kitchen torch.



I served the cod with an eclectic assortment of accompaniments; wedge of skinned tomato (seasoned with salt and olive oil), Cauliflower a la Montoparnasse, steamed green beans with sesame sauce, braised cabbage with onion and lemon* and butter-soy-sauce fried rice with parsley.

* recipe from Cook's illustrated.



Miso marinated cod:
Cod filet; four small filets for two
Miso marinade: red miso, mirin, and sake (2:1:1 ratio), mixed and then placed in a Ziploc bag with the fish filets, the miso marinade to coat all surfaces.

I marinated the cod for 2 days (It should be marinated at least 24 hours) in the refrigerator.

Before cooking, I removed the fish and scraped off the excess miso marinade, washed in cold water and then pat dried (to prevent scorching during cooking and to reduce the saltiness from the marinade. I could have gotten the same effect by separating the marinade from the fish by using a layer of cheese cloth).

I baked the marinated cod in the toaster oven preheated for 375F for 10 minutes on a metal grate over an aluminum foil covered drip pan. (The small footed grate raised the fish slightly above the bottom of the pan and prevented the fish from being steamed/boiled instead of baked).

Meanwhile, I made a miso-sauce for the fish by simply heating the remaining miso marinade and added yuzu juice and more mirin to make it a  looser consistency. I heated the sauce while stirring to thicken it just a bit. I added frozen yuzu peels at the end. I spread the miso-sauce over one side of the fish and switched the toaster oven from bake to broil to make the miso sauce slightly browned and fragrant (it did not char/brown as much as I wanted under the broiler of the toaster oven).

The cod had a nice flakey moist texture and the miso marination and miso sauce both added nutty, salty and sweet flavors and a hint of Yuzu citrus.

So this is a rather complete meal with protein, vegetables and starch.