Jul 31 2009
Atlantic Cod with Miso – Inspired by Nobu
For those who have ever been to Nobu Restaurant, you might’ve seen the Black Cod with Miso on the menu. Chef Nobu Matsuhisa is famous for this recipe, which has been cloned by restaurants all over the country. We got the opportunity to have this classic dish, minus the hefty restaurant bill, by preparing it ourselves with a few sweet additions, as well as using Atlantic Cod instead of Black Cod. My good friend Jennifer is an avid reader of our blog and had requested for some more easy fish recipes. We hope that you will give this recipe a try, because it’s definitely worth the time and effort!
There are essentially only 4 ingredients that you will need to marinate the fish. Combine 1/4 cup sake, 1/4 cup mirin, 4 tbsp of miso paste, and 3 tbsp of sugar.
Take 4 pieces of cod and put it into a ziploc bag with the miso marinade. Leave it in the fridge overnight (we actually had it in the fridge for 2 days before cooking it which is what Chef Nobu recommends).
When it's ready to be cooked, sear both sides of the cod on a skillet until you see the highlights of sugar caramelization.
The fish goes into a 400-degree oven for about 7-10 minutes.
We wanted to add a side of vegetables with our fish, so we made honey-ginger carrots. Julienne the carrots and blanch them in boiling water for about 5-7 minutes until soft.
Melt 2 tbsp of butter together with 1 tbsp honey and 1 tbsp minced ginger. Then add the carrots and mix together.
Black Box Wines was generous enough to send us this New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc wine in a box. Their motto is to deliver great taste at half the price of bottled wines. The package is portable, resealable, and recyclable! This white wine paired beautifully with our miso cod dish!
Place the cod on a bed of honey-ginger carrots and drizzle with some of the marinade (heat the marinade in the skillet first since it touched raw fish). You will be amazed at how delicate and refreshing the flavors are. This is surely one of my favorite fish recipes!
To view or print-out this recipe, click here: Atlantic Cod with Miso
We’re pulling the Black Box out this weekend!
As for black cod, oh yes, that is good stuff. And your version of the miso marinated fish is great. There’s a good one at the Mondrian hotel too in LA. 
Oh I tried this before. Sometime I even just pan fry the cod till cooked and drizzle some kikkomann soy sauce on it.
Thanks for the tip, anncoo!
The cod looks amazing!
Your fish is caramelized to perfection. I love using miso as a seasoning instead of plain salt. I’m no miso expert. The miso I buy is way darker than the one pictured. Is there a fundamental difference? maybe saltier??
Super post, Need to mark it on Digg
AnnaHopn
I love Black Box wines! I haven’t tried that one though.
Your dinner looks delicious!
Hi Jackie! Thanks for the comment. We are not miso experts either, but the miso we used is the white miso which is the more popular miso used in many of the Japanese dishes. You possibly may have bought the red miso, which is darker and tends to be saltier. Try the white miso next time and see if you prefer the taste of that better. If it’s not salty enough, you can just season it. Hope this helps!!
I love love love cod fish! It looks so nicely seared!
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Thanks, Kirssy! This looks really wonderful and easy to do! I’ll definitely give it a try.
Oh my – looks absolutely fantastic. I love love love miso!
Nobu was one of the first pinky up I visited in NYC when hubby and I began a relationship, and I can see how you were inspired to make this wonderful recipe! Cod is on my list of ‘to make’…
Big question… boil the sake, mirin, sugar, and miso for the marinade or just mix all together uncooked for the marinade? I’ve seen both suggested.
I have made the Nobu recipe with black cod (actually sablefish) and it is oh so good. I think his guidelines are to marinate for 3 days. I actually pulled out a piece and cooked after one day, results not so good. After three days though it was outstanding.
your miso is not white miso
Nobu did not make this dish famous, its a very common way of preparing fish in japan.
[...] are a few recipes for black cod with miso, but I eventually picked something that didn’t call for a pound of miso but still came [...]
Black Box wines? Please. Bloggers who accept freebies (especially crappy ones) and then promote them are sell-outs. I’m not usually one to go the negative route, but it bugs me! And it gives people who blog from an unbiased standpoint a bad name.
I’m glad to have found this recipe- was just amazing and compared very favorably to the Nobu Black Cod dish (have that as much as I can when at Silk Road, the Nobu restaurant on the Crystal Serenity cruise ship).
I followed the advice of two days worth of
marinating time, and I kept all the marinade as a sauce (cooked it for a short while).
I wonder if this would work as well with other kinds of fish.