Because fish roam the oceans, free of political, ethnic and language barriers, they tend to get many different names in different parts of the world. Like little finned spies, they lurk in the ocean depths, switching aliases as they move from port to port. Take the Sablefish for example. Depending on who you ask, you’ll hear it called anything from butterfish, to black cod, to blue cod, to bluefish, to candlefish, to coal cod, to coalfish. Confused yet?
Since I’ve always known it as Black Cod, I’m just going to keep it simple and use that name from here on. Like Patagonian Toothfish (a.k.a. “Chilean Sea Bass”), Black Cod is a white meat fish that’s extremely moist when cooked because of the amount of fat on it. But unlike “Chilean Sea Bass”, Black Cod from the North Pacific is MSC certified as sustainable. This means that you can enjoy this wondrous fish without any of the guilt you might feel from eating an overfished species. Of course you may feel a guilt of a different kind, when you put the first buttery bite in your mouth.
For this dish, I marinated the fillets in a sweet miso sauce accented with ginger and garlic. The sugar in the marinade absorbs into the skin and flesh and caramelizes as it’s broiling, which gives the meat a deep mahogany hue, and a crisp layer of skin. It’s a nice change to the usual soy marinades you commonly see used with Black Cod, and in my opinion, it works better.
The mustardy bitterness of the sauteed broccoli rabe beneath, offsets the richness of the fish nicely and to compliment the nutty notes in the miso, I added some natto (Japanese fermented soy beans). For those that aren’t familiar with natto, let’s just say it’s an acquired taste… It’s slimy like okra and has a pungent aroma that’s akin to a very ripe cheese. If that’s not for you, feel free to leave it out.
Miso Glazed Black Cod
1 lb black cod fillet cut into 4 pieces
1 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs white miso
1 Tbs mirin
1 Tbs sake
1 large clove garlic grated
1/2″ knob ginger grated1 lbs brocolli rabe chopped up
3 cloves garlic minced
1 package natto (optional)
Mix the sugar, miso, mirin, sake garlic and ginger in a small bowl. Rub this mixture into the cod then cover and refrigerate overnight.
Move the oven rack to the second position from the top and turn the broiler onto the “high” setting. Scrape any extra miso off the fillets and place them on a rack on top of a baking sheet, skin side down. Put the pan under the broiler and broil until the Black Cod is golden brown on the top side. Flip the fillets skin-side up and continue broiling until the skin is lightly charred and crisp. If you have thicker fillets, insert a fork into the thickest part of the fillet to see if it’s cooked. The meat should be opaque and come apart readily.
While the cod is grilling, heat a large pot over medium high heat until hot. Add a splash of olive oil and sauté the garlic until fragrant. Add the brocolli rabe and continue sautéing. Finish by adding the natto and included soy sauce packet (but not the mustard). Taste and add more salt as needed.
To serve, put down a bed of broccoli rabe and top with one miso glazed black cod fillet, with the skin side up.
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{ 41 comments }
i appreciate how simple the marinade is & yet how much it brings to the dish. ive never heard of natto but now i'm curious…if i manage to find it i'd love to give it a try!
i appreciate how simple the marinade is & yet how much it brings to the dish. ive never heard of natto but now i'm curious…if i manage to find it i'd love to give it a try!
For some reason, the name of this dish sounds really familiar – is it because it sounds like an instant classic? I'll try anything once, including natto, but I haven't seen it before. And I insist that it must be served as elegantly as this.
Happy birthday Marc!
Quite often, fish and seafood need little adornment…just complement the flavour of the main ingredient (cod).
hi Marc!!! so nice to be here again… I've been busy for so long and now I appreciate a lot to read my favourite blogs again!!! this dish is WONDERFUL… of course!
bye bye, chiara
This is my favourite fish dish! Made this the other time and it was TO.DIE.FOR, am so glad you featured it!
There is a Japanese market I sometimes go to, I'll have to check next time if they have natto, it's something I've been hearing a lot about lately. Any other suggestions for how to use it?
Love miso black cod – I think I've only had it once, at Nobu I believe. Definitely something I want to try at home.
I've only tried natto once – we bought some in a supermarket while I was in Japan. *definitely* an acquired taste! I did not like it, and haven't tried it since (that was 12 years ago!) . . . maybe my palate has grown and it's worth trying again!
Black cod is, by far, my favorite fish. And I've been wild about miso glazes for seafood ever since I tried a recipe for miso-glazed salmon.
Reminds me that it's about time we hauled out the grill again!
Black cod is such a lovely thing. I recently had the black cod at nobu for the first time, and I'm remembering the flavors and the crisp skin while looking at your photo. The marinade sounds great!
Here, it's usually called Butterfish, and what an excellent way of preparing it. Can you suggest some alternate for the natto? Maybe some grated pecorino?
Is this your birthday dinner? It's beautiful!
I didn't know sable/butterfish is also called black cod. Learned something new today. Regardless, I can't get over how tender and, like you said, buttery its flesh is. This looks so simple to make, healthy, and delicious. I'm definitely making this.
Natto optional? Never.
I'm not as familiar with miso as I would like to be, but I did just purchase some red miso paste to use as a marinade. Would red miso paste work for this recipe or would it be too strong?
I LOVE red miso, I like both really, LOVE the photography… I am having issues with lighting.. any tips?
Hi Marc. Any recommendations on a natto replacement? I was thinking potatoes cubed tiny.
Hello marc,
What a superb looking fish dish!!
MMMMMMMMMMMM,….lovely food!
This preparation for black cod is a marvel. I remember the first time I did it was in awe of the complexity of flavors and textures. Leaving it to marinate overnight is essential, I have even let it sit for a few days which just adds to the luscious texture of the interior! GREG
Love the picture: your fish is flying. =)
I have to warn you that many Japanese people won't even touch it (it's
realllly slimy and stinky). That said, for me there's nothing better
than a tub of whipped natto flavoured with some dashi soy sauce (it's
so sticky you can get a nice froth going) over a bowl of hot rice.
Adding minced green onions cuts through some of the smell.
There are lots of Japanese people that don't even like it, so I can't
blame you. If you want to ease into it (and are okay with the slimy
texture), try adding minced green onion. It also helps to buy a brand
with a good sauce packet (plain soy sauce isn't as good as the ones
that come with dashi flavoured soy sauce).
Honestly, the broccoli rabe and garlic go beautifully together. That
said if you want that nuttiness, percorino sounds like a great choice.
Nope, just a quick weeknight thing:-) The cod was on sale, and if you
have the fish marinated it comes together in about 10 minutes.
Red miso tends to be saltier, so you may need to increase the amount
of sugar a little to compensate. Otherwise it should work just fine.
Daylight is always best, but I use a cheap Ikea lamp with a rice paper
shade and a 40w compact fluorescent bulb that's daylight coloured.
Then to get rid of the shadows, I have someone hold a piece of white
foamcore board opposite the lamp to reflect some light on the other
side. Email me if you need more specific.
I actually just left it out the second day I made this. The broccoli
rabe and garlic do just fine on their own, but potatoes sound good
too.
-Marc
Now I feel guilty, Whole Foods many years ago would not sell chilean sea bass because of sustainability, and now you see it here and there, even WF, so I bought it, but I wonder…
Love your dish, and I loved making Miso marinade, my beginning journey into my Asian cooking!
Miso marinade for my sea bass is the beginning journey into Asian recipes I had not tried before…
WF quite selling certain fish years ago when I lived in Dallas, and now I feel guilty buying my main ingredient without really knowing!
Yours looks gorgeous as usual!
The sea bass they sell at WF is MSC certified. But the problem with it
is that it has an unusually high mercury content.
I'm totally into this. Also, I love the black cod they sell that has been marinated in that sake sediment. Forgetting the name, not the sublime flavor.
Sake kasu:-) I love it too!
Natto…the first time I tried it was in Hawaii, and let's just say it took many mouthfuls of gohan to smother the taste! But this misoyaki cod would require no such dilution. Gorgeous.
Beautiful crispy skin— this fish is exactly what I like to have for dinner!
I love this style of cooking and I love cod fish. I've always felt guilty eating it as I knew it was not sustainable but knowing that black cod is – well this is the best news I've heard today!
Thanks!
Gorgeous dish. Simple yet sublime.
Mmmm…I'm reading this before breakfast and I actually want to chow down on that right now! I love how the bass is teetering on the gorgeous mound of rabe. Adding it to my shopping list!
I spent many too many shopping trips devoted to finding sablefish before I realized it was the black cod I'd so often eaten before. Ah, fish names.
I'm really interested to try natto now, slimy okra-like fermented cheese-ish sounds right up my alley!
First time to this blog. Got stumbled here while I was searching for a recipe for black cod fish. I must say, your blog has georgeous photos and I'm loving how you present your recipes here. And this dish is just so perfect for my menu plan for the coming Holy Week. I’ll be sure to come back to your blog often.
That looks amazing.
ahhhh… love this dish. it's the dish that put nobu on the culinary map and one of the things that made Nobu Matsuhisa famous. look at that skin, marc. damn. sustainable to boot.
We have a holiday weekend come up this weekend. Also my sons birthday, I was looking for something perfect for my menu plan and this looks amazing.
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