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Marinated in saikyo miso and baked to perfection, Black Cod with Miso is a beautiful seafood dish you can pull off at home. With its delicate and buttery texture, the Miso Cod simply melts in your mouth.
A classic Japanese dish, Black Cod with Miso (or simply Miso Cod 銀だらの西京焼き), is served at many formal Japanese restaurants. These days you may have heard of the dish after it’s made famous worldwide by the acclaimed fine Japanese restaurant chain Nobu. Luckily, the miso-glazed black cod recipe is simple enough that you can enjoy this wonderfully seasoned fish at home.
Watch How to Make Miso Cod
Marinated in saikyo miso and baked to perfection, Black Cod with Miso is a beautiful seafood dish you can pull off at home.
Choose the Right Miso for Miso Cod
To enjoy the succulent texture, we prepare the fish by marinating it in sweet miso for at least 2-3 days until the sweet & salty flavor is completely absorbed before it is cooked. Traditionally the fish fillet is soaked in the marinade for even up to 5-7 days. In Japan, we refer this marinade as Saikyozuke (西京漬け), and once it’s grilled, it’s Saikyo Yaki (西京焼き).
Saikyo in Japanese means “west city”, which is the former name for Kyoto. This specific cooking method is named Saikyo because the recipe utilizes Saikyo Miso (sweet white miso) originated from the Kyoto area. The traditional Saikyo Yaki recipes include just three ingredients: Saikyo miso, mirin, and sake.
The sharpness of the miso and sweetness of the mirin work wonderfully to cut the fish’s fattiness. When it’s baked to perfection, the deep flavor of the marinade comes through and the buttery flesh simply melts in your mouth. It’s so good that my young children can easily finish one fillet of the fish on their own.
Substitute for Saikyo Miso
Miso may be still a relatively new ingredient for many of you. You can purchase Saikyo Miso on Amazon or local Japanese/Asian grocery stores. If you are not able to find Saikyo Miso at your local Asian grocery stores, the best miso to substitute is white miso and increase the amount of mirin in the recipe.
If you want to learn more about different types of miso, click here.
Other Fish Choices besides “Black Cod”
Despite Nobu’s popular menu “Black Cod with Miso”, the fish used in this recipe is actually not related to a cod at all. “Black cod” is a common name for sablefish (Gindara 銀ダラ) or butterfish. It’s known for its silky and tender rich texture and flavor. High in omega-3 fats, it is the preferred fish choice since it doesn’t have the strong taste of fatty fish like tuna or mackerel. The creamy white flesh pairs extremely well with miso paste that is sweet, savory and salty.
If you couldn’t find sablefish, you can also use other fish to enjoy with the versatile miso marinade. I like alternating between black cod, sea bass, or salmon and my family enjoy them equally. If you go to a Japanese supermarket, you should be able to find black cod in the fresh fish section.
In the US, you can also find sustainable caught Alaskan black cod from online seafood companies. It’s rather pricey but it is still a much better deal to enjoy the fish at home than ordering at a fancy restaurant. With some simple advanced preparation, this Black Cod with Miso recipe is so easy to pull off and the results are irresistible.
If you are looking for a classic Japanese recipe for serving dinner guests, this Miso Cod will make a pretty impressive main dish. Prep it ahead, bake in the oven, and dinner is ready. Easy but no lack of elegance.
Baking vs. Broiling Fish
Although I use a broiler in my oven to cook different types of fish often, I recommend using baking for this miso cod recipe. If you have cooked ingredients with miso before, you know miso burns really easily. You can’t avoid burning miso completely; however, you can minimize the burns by baking this fish.
Here I summarized the difference in broiling and baking fish, and which type of fish is suitable for broiling or baking for your future reference.
Broiling:
When you broil fish, it’s placed closer to the element at the top of your oven. It’s not hot air that cooks the fish, but the infrared energy radiating from the element itself. Broiling is a much faster cooking method and fish will brown beautifully, but it burns miso, fresh herbs, and many other garnishes and requires constant attention.
Baking:
When you bake fish, the heat is carried through your oven by slow-moving natural currents of hot air, which is why baking takes a relatively long time to cook. But it can be relaxing as you do not need to constantly pay attention.
Choose Based on a Kind of Fish
- Fatty fish (such as salmon, mackerel, and swordfish) can be broiled or baked at higher temperatures like a broiler, ranging from 400-450 ºF.
- Moderately lean fish (such as cod and haddock) need to be brushed with oil before broiling.
- Whole fish, large fillets, or lean and fragile fish (such as sole) can be baked at temperatures between 300-350 ºF to preserve their moisture and delicate texture and avoid broiling because it’ll be overcooked too fast.
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
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Marinated in saikyo miso and baked to perfection, Black Cod with Miso is a beautiful seafood dish you can pull off at home. With its delicate and buttery texture, the Miso Cod simply melts in your mouth.
- 4 fillets sablefish (gindara) (you can also use salmon, sea bass, etc.)
- 2 tsp kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; Use half for table salt)
- 2 Tbsp sake (For cleaning and removing unwanted odor of the fish.)
- 6 Tbsp miso Traditionally we use saikyo miso (西京味噌); however, if you can't find it, you can use white miso (白味噌) instead.
- 3 Tbsp mirin (if you use white miso, use 4 Tbsp mirin or use 3 Tbsp mirin + 1/2 Tbsp sugar)
- 3 Tbsp sake (Sometimes we can replace sake with water; however, this recipe requires longer marination and water is not a suitable sub.)
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Gather all the ingredients. As you will be marinating this fish for a few days, select the freshest fish possible.
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Sprinkle salt over the fish and set aside for 30 minutes. Salt will draw excess moisture and any fishy smell from the fish.
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Put 6 Tbsp miso, 3 Tbsp mirin, and 3 Tbsp sake for the Miso Marinade in a bowl.
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Mix all together and pour the marinade into a flat bottom airtight container.
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Pour 2 Tbsp sake over the fish to rinse off the salt. Gently pat dry with paper towel to remove the moisture. Do not wash the fish under water.
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Place the fish in the container and coat both sides with the marinade.
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Slather the fillets with the marinade. Cover the lid and keep in the fridge for 2-3 days. You can freeze up to 2-3 weeks.
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With your fingers, remove the marinade off the fish completely. Do not leave excess miso on the fish; otherwise, the fish will burn easily.
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Place the fish skin side up on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper/silicone mat (for baking) or foil (for broiling).
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Preheat the broiler* with a rack placed about 6" (15 cm) away from the top heating element (in the middle) for 3 minutes. Broil medium/high for 8-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish, until the surface is blistered and brown a bit. You do not need to flip it. *Typical broiler setting: Low/450ºF/232ºC, Medium/500ºF/260ºC, and High/550ºF/288ºC. I use medium or high.
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Preheat the oven to 425°F/218ºC with a rack placed in the middle and bake the fish on parchment paper until the surface is blistered and brown a bit, about 15-20 minutes. You do not need to flip.
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Carefully remove the fish with a spatula, and remove any burnt miso around the fish. Serve immediately. I serve the fish with thinly sliced red radish and a small green leaf from my backyard for additional color.
Sake: Sake is used to clean and remove the unwanted odor of the fish. You can't replace with water even though sometimes water is used as replacement in some recipes. We will marinate the fish for a longer time, and water can go bad and ruin the marinade and fish.
Mirin: Typically mirin can be replaced with water and sugar, but for this recipe, please do not use water. Use sugar only. For 1 Tbsp mirin, use 1 tsp sugar.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
Editor’s Note: The post is originally published on Sep 21, 2011. The photos and content were updated in November 2013 and July 2017. The video and new step by step pictures were added in August 2018.
Hi Nami, I made this over the weekend and it was sooo delicious! It definitely doesn’t need the added sugar that other recipes have. Thanks!
Hi Janice! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. My family and I love this dish. So happy it turned out well! 🙂
I made this for a dinner a few days ago, it was soooooo good! 🙂 love your blog! 🙂
Hi Rach! Thank you so much for trying this recipe. I’m so happy to hear you liked it! 🙂 Thanks for following my blog!
If we do not have access to Sake what do you suggest as a substitute?
Hi Jay! I would suggest dry sherry or Chinese rice wine as substitute. Read more about sake here:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry/sake/
Hope that helps. 🙂
Hi Nami! Can I use regular miso instead of white miso and sweet white wine instead of sake/mirin? Or will this transform the taste entirely? Thank you!
Hi Soko! What is “regular” miso for you? Are you using red miso? White miso or at least Awase miso (a combination of red and white) is ideal for this dish. Red miso could be a little too strong/salty. However, if you like red miso and used to eating it all the time, it may not bother you much. Um… sweet white wine may not work. My recommendation is to use dry white wine (dry sherry) and sugar to replace sake + mirin. Again, with red miso, you may need to adjust the sweetness as it’s much saltier than white or awase miso. Hope this helps. 🙂
I am lazy so I skipped the step of coating with salt. But it tastes great anyway. Thanks for the great recipe.
Hi Ju! Thank you so much for letting me know! I’m glad you liked the recipe! 🙂
Dear Nami,
I took your advice, trying miso cod recipe 🙂
As cod is not available in my country, I’m using gindara.
It’s now marinating in my fridge, I really hope it will come out as delicious as your other recipes.
One question, I’m using gas oven, do I need to turn on the broil? Or just fire from below part is enough?
Thanks in advance. Will let you know the result 🙂
Cheers!
Hi Jayne! Gindara is great! If you have a toaster oven, that works great too (which I use it all the time). If the fish is cooked but doesn’t have a nice char on the surface, you can use broil to brown a little bit on the top (so that it looks delicious and tastes better). Otherwise, you should use your oven as you normally use to cook fish/meat. Hope this helps and you enjoy this dish! 🙂
I hardly find white miso here.., but i have korean doenjang (korean soybean paste) in hand. Can i subtitute the white miso with doenjang? Thx.
Hi Melss! Unfortunately, Korean doenjang doesn’t work for this recipe as miso plays an important role in flavoring, and the basic flavor of miso is completely different. Ideally this recipe requires Saikyo Miso, but white miso is an already the best substitute for this recipe. Hope you can find white miso online. I’m not sure where you live, but these days American stores like Whole Foods also carry a variety of miso, including white miso. You can find white miso on Amazon as well. Good luck! 🙂
Hello, this seems to be a wonderful recipe. I have yet to try this. I was wondering if it would be alright to substitute the 3 tablespoons of saikyo/white miso with 1 tablespoon red miso? Other recipes make use of 2 tablespoons yellow miso. I am aware that akamiso has a strong flavor. All I have at home at the moment is akamiso.
Thank you. 😀
Hi Hana! If you don’t consider it’s “saikyo yaki”, and it’s miso marinated fish, aka miso is okay especially if that’s your favorite type of miso. However, it’s salty, so do not let the fish marinated for a long period of time. Let me know if you recommend not to use aka miso. Personally I haven’t tried this dish with aka miso and I won’nt be able to tell 1000% sure if it’ll work… 🙂
Thank you so much. I have been obsessed with this dish in restaurants and could never replicate it at home. Many thanks! I really appreciate your website.
Hi Olivia! I hope you will like this dish! It’s very easy to make at home and now you can enjoy it at home! 🙂
Just made this recipe. Marinated the fish for two days and served along side the broccoli gommae. The fish was AMAZING. My husband loved it. It tasted exactly like the cod they serve at the fancy japanese izakaya in our city (only much cheaper!!).
Hi Olivia! Awesome! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. I’m really happy to hear you and your husband enjoyed this dish. Right, it’s cheaper and you can control the flavor (plus quality of fish!). 🙂 Thank you again! xo
Hi Nami,
Thanks for sharing your recipes! I have tried several of yours and they all turned out great!
One question regarding this recipe – how long can the fish be stored in the refrigerator from the time we started marinating? You noted there marinate for 2-3 days (at least overnight; traditionally 1 week).
I bought whole fish, cut it to pieces and marinated it, and planning to cook and eat the fish over several days. Just want to make sure they do not go bad before I finish them.
Hi Audrey! Thank you for trying my recipes! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed them. 🙂
Traditionally, people keep it for a week in the fridge. Depends on the salt level of miso, I think it can become salty toward as marinating time goes on. Since you’ll be cooking it over several days, you can probably figure out how many days of marinating is the best result (with the particular miso you’re using – each one can be different). Just make sure – when you take out the fish from the container, your hands are washed and dried (no water goes in). You don’t want to contaminate. Make sure it’s air-tight and keep in the fridge all the time. No temp difference (like keep on the counter for a long time and put back in fridge etc). With the proper care, it should be okay! 🙂
Hi Nami,
I love the grilled black cod that’s served in Japanese restaurants. I can’t seem to be able to get to that soft texture. I think my heat is too high and I cook it too long.. Can you give some pointers on the marinade and how to cook it (eg, right heat (medium?)
Vivian
Hi Vivian! My recipe is to use oven at 400F (200C) for 20-25 minutes and I don’t have any issue. Are you cooking on the frying pan (since you mentioned medium heat). Miso burns easily so I recommend using a toaster oven or oven or fish griller if you have.
Hi Nami,
I have recently follow your miso code recipe. I have marinated more than I could finish in one meal. I’m wondering if there’ s a way to save uncooked code for later use.
Thanks!
Hi Lillian! Sorry for my late response. If it’s less than a week, you can keep in the fridge (make sure it’s in an air-tight container). It is saltier toward the end of the week, so you might want to use it before.
I went to your link for Miso and did not see Yellow there.
Hi Lori! In Japan, we have white miso (Shiro Miso) and red miso (Aka Miso) but we do not have direct translation for yellow miso. I wonder if you mean Awase miso – the combination between white and red? Each miso company makes miso slightly different. If you are looking for miso for this recipe, I recommend Saikyo Miso (it’s the right miso for this recipe) or white miso as substitute. 🙂
HELP IN FINDING BLACK COD
Black cod has a “beautiful and buttery texture” because it is not a cod … it is sable fish. Cod has a firm texture, sable fish has a soft, buttery flesh.
About that “buttery texture”, in the US, sable fish is sold as ‘butter fish’ more often than sold as ‘black cod’.
In the north-pacific region where sable fish are caught, the local fisherman call it ‘black cod’. Cod is from the Atlantic Ocean. There is no cod in the Pacific Ocean. This is why the FDA rule.
In the US, the federal government, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) REQUIRES all sable fish to be sold only as ‘sable fish’, not as ‘butter fish’ and not as ‘black cod’. Not all fish mongers (sellers) comply. Local to me, in Alameda, I can buy (black cod) sable fish fresh as ‘butter fish’. The fish monger does not call it ‘cod’ because it is not a cod.
If you are looking for ‘black cod’, also be on the lookout for ‘butter fish’ and ‘sable fish’. They are all the same fish. Rarely used in the US, but, sable fish is also sold as ‘blue cod’ or ‘gray cod’.
Btw, black cod nabe … just saying …
(*^_^*)
Hi Joe! I’m glad you mentioned that black cod is not a “cod”. I talked about sablefish but didn’t mention it has nothing to do with a cod (so I edited the post) and “black cod” is used just for marketing. However, I did not know that FDA requires them to be sold as “sablefish”! I have witnessed that sablefish was sold as “black cod” more than once… Maybe it sounds / seems better? You’re right that they don’t always label correctly. Thanks for the feedback! I appreciate it!
Konnichiwa Nami-San !
Very delicious dish !
Instead of miso, I use “Sake-Kasu”.
Which do you prefer ?
Konnichiwa Doug! I like Mizo zuke more than Kasu zuke, partially because I don’t drink sake (I’m not much of a drinker and only use sake for cooking). 🙂 Glad you liked it!
Oooh, another recipe I must try. My husband loves miso butterfish, and eats it whenever and wherever he can. I have a miso butterfish recipe that is robust — it uses inaka miso. Mahalo for this recipe!
Hi Debbie! Happy to hear your husband enjoy the dish! Thank you for reading my blog!
i cooked this tonight after two days marinating and it came out soooo salty that i’m afraid i’m going to have to throw the rest out. i followed the recipe exactly but instead of black cod i used both coho salmon and regular cod. should the type of fish have much such a difference? i’m wondering if it’s because the black cod has a higher fat content than the salmon and cod i used?
Hi Lili! I think it’s more of the type of miso you used. Each miso is different, flavors, salt content, etc. Could be the type of miso you used. White miso and Saikyo miso are sweeter in taste compared to red miso etc, so it shouldn’t be too salty. And yes on higher fat content on black cod. But I still believe it’s the type of miso… Oh! And you also removed the miso when you are baking, right? We don’t eat the marinated miso that’s on the fish. We completely remove it and bake… Let me know what you think. 🙂
thanks for your help! i used white miso and scraped all of the marinade off before baking. however, i was thinking that maybe it was the thickness of the fillets I used. they weren’t super-thin, but they were thinner than the fillets shown in your photographs. next time i will also try saikyo miso instead of regular white miso; white is just what I keep in my fridge. thanks for your help, i love your website, nami.
Hi Lili! Thank you for getting back to me. Maybe reduce the marinate time next time. Everyone is different in terms of how salty they feel. We always eat steamed rice with fish, and for Japanese people, maybe acceptance of “salty” fish can be different. We know saltiness of fish, pickles, miso soup, etc but maybe that can be too much for some people. 🙂 Thank you for trying my recipe! I’m happy to hear you enjoy my site! 🙂
Hi Lili,
I had the same problem, it was way too salty. Used white miso, marinaded for 2 days, and removed marinade for oven.
It is too salty for me too. I already used half the portion of marinade. I kept in the fridge for 2 days and removed the marinate before baking in the oven. I used Marubuki milder miso. I would try again if I can get Saikyo miso next time.
I retried with Saikyo Miso and still was not very good. I then tried again (3rd time) by following other recipes that used white miso and 1/3 cup sugar, and heated in a small saucepan the marinade before adding to the baking dish and fridge for 2 days. Much better.
The recipe on this website really needs to be corrected/updated because as is, is way too salty and inedible.
Hi Sara! Thanks for your update! I make this recipe myself all the time and I don’t correct/update my recipe based on one person’s review (especially when this recipe has been on the blog for a long time with good reviews).
If anyone is reading this, please know that adding 1/3 cup sugar is a lot for this marinade, and saikyozuke (marinade) should not be so sweet.
Sara, I’m glad you found a good recipe that works for you, and thank you again for your feedback!
Hi CK! And try marinading for a shorter time. A lot of fish dishes in Japan can be salty because of seasonings, whether it’s salted, miso-marinated, or sun-dried (salted, too), so we always eat with steamed rice. But again, please adjust the marinating time and type/brand of miso-based on your preference. 🙂
What did you put on top of the fish?
Hi Kenny! Oh… that’s a chive I think… 🙂 Something green for the food photography, but no need to put it for home use. 😀
Can i just marinate the fish for 6-8 hours?
Hi Patricia! Sure! 🙂
Hi! I just discovered your website and it’s amazing! I had a question about this recipe vs the miso salmon. Why is this one baked and the salmon one broiled, does it matter which you do?
Hi Aprille! Thank you for finding my site! You can use broil for this recipe but you have to be very careful not to burn. It’s thinner and has miso coating, so it gets burnt easily.
Salmon is known for having natural oil/fat. It provides a protection against overcooking under the intense heat of the broiler, and the fish will brown beautifully. Cod is not so much. So it’s easier if you bake but higher temperature (as it’s thin), and cook less time (so it won’t be dry). Hope this help!
It’s unbelievable the number of non-site related ads that run here. This is a Japanese cooking site, right? Why are there repetitive ads featuring disposable adult underwear, cars, colon screenings, banks, insurance companies and on and on! Have you visited your own site? The loading of the ads CONSTANTLY causes the site to have to be reloaded. Pretty hard to deal with when you are cooking old school, from the written recipe, not the video. All the above referenced ads have run just while I write this comment. I’ve seen you address this issue recently too, claiming that these ads provide revenue that keeps the site open. You must be very well off by now. I’m considering ending my subscription because the site has become practically unusable. Very Sincerely, Sue Aida
Hi Sue! I sincerely apologize for the experience. If you don’t mind, could you please send me screenshots of what you see (hello @ justonecookbook.com)?
I do need to run ads but if they severely impact the user experience I can work with my advertisers to improve, but need screen shot of the problem to explain.
The ads you see are not controlled by Just One Cookbook. For example, if someone searched cameras online, he/she will see ads related to cameras on my site (or any sites, Facebook, pretty much everywhere) because that’s how it works – ad companies use your browsing history.
I use my site all the time to cook, give recipe links to my readers who ask me questions, etc. Mr. JOC and I are on our site ALL THE TIME from desktop or iphone. We value your feedback and thank you for letting us know.
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My family loves this miso cod recipe! It’s better than most restaurants!
Hi David! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. So happy to hear that you enjoy this simple, yet classic dish!
This is one of my favorite types of fish. I often order it when at a restaurant, Can you please let me know grilling instructions? Thanks
Hi Lyn! Grilling as in BBQ? Miso gets EASILY burnt so I don’t recommend cooking on an open fire as it’s hard to control the heat. Plus the fish is very flakey so it becomes pieces if you try to flip to avoid getting burnt.
It’s me again. Can you also suggest a good online fish supplier? I think you have in the past…I can’t find it…thanks
I’m sorry but I don’t use the online fish supplier anymore. We sold the business as we became so busy with this blog.
Reading your recipe for Miso Cod, as I live in Australia and cod is not available, what type of fish can I substitute? It looks so delicious I could just dive into the photo! Cheers Angie
Hi Angela! You can use salmon or some buttery fish for this recipe. Hope you enjoy!
Hi! This looks delicious! Can this type of marinade be used for other protein, like chicken or beef?
Love your recipes!!
Hi Theresa! Sure, you can! I haven’t tried it with this particular recipe, so I’m not sure if it’s best to adjust the marinade for beef or chicken though… Let us know if you try! 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
I bought the Hikari Miso – Koji Miso, because you mentioned that is your favorite miso. Would that work on this recipe or does it have to be white miso? What other recipes would the koji miso be good for?
Hi Bo! Ohh you got my favorite miso! Isn’t it delicious? I use this miso for a lot of things – many miso recipes and almost daily miso soup. 🙂
Saikyo Yaki is usually with Saikyo Miso or white miso, but you “could” use this miso instead. But please know that it’s saltier and stronger…. so you don’t want to marinate for a longer time…
I’ve been making this with salmon..but I use Hikari Red Miso..still turned out great 🙂
Hi Jos! Sure, you can use all types of miso as miso marinated fish. However, for Saikyozuke (if grilled, Saikyoyaki) is the one using Saikyo Miso.
Thank you for this recipe, I am using it right now. I made the mistake of washing my fish before hand. Does that affect the taste?
Hi Mina! If it’s a quick rinse, it is ok, but we “rinse” with sake so the fish doesn’t get watery. 🙂
This recipe will remain my absolute favourite, forever. It’s. So. Damn. Good!
Thank you so much for your kind feedback, Melanie!
Hi, I was living in the Bay Area and am now currently living in Japan and can’t wait to make your Miso Cod recipe. I don’t have an oven, but do have a fish grill. Any suggestions for cooking it? Thank you!
Hi Becky! Yeah fish grill is perfect! Until you get used to it, you need to be careful with your fish because the heat source is much closer than oven. It cooks faster too. And having miso, it burns easily, so do remove all the miso (I would use paper towel to completely scrape off but DO NOT WASH). Not sure your fish grill brand and I can’t give you the cooking time needed, but keep an eye on it at least for the first few trials. Hope you enjoy!
Love the sound of this recipe!
May I ask, how long would this keep?
Hi Jade! After you cook? I’d say overnight to 24 hours at max. 🙂
Hi Nami! I’ve started marinating the fish 2 days ago and was going to have it soon, but I have a change of plans that will require me to marinate the fish for a total of 6 days… is that okay? Thanks so much! I’ve made this before and it is amazing and so elegant! <3
Hi Viola! Ahhh I’m so sorry for not being able to respond sooner. 🙁 How was the fish? With this recipe, ideally it should be eaten within a few days but if the fish is fresh it should be okay.
It worked out beautifully! We ended up cooking it on the 7th day 😉 I was nervous about it but it was all good, and we ended up with a very delicious buttery black cod. Thank you as always for your amazing recipes, Nami! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. <3
Hi Viola! Thank you so much for taking your time to write back, and I’m so happy!!! Glad your fish came out well! Nice! Happy Thanksgiving to you too! xo
hi can i use the leftover miso marinade for anything else?
thank you,
jasmin
Hi Jasmin! It’s usually not recommended to reuse as you don’t want to contaminate new ingredient from something left from the previous one.
Hi,
I am wondering if I can freeze the marinated fillet. If so, how long can I keep it in the freezer for?
Thanks in advance!
Hi Christina! 2-3 weeks is best at pre-cook stage. If you cook, it can last 1 month. 🙂
Hi, can I steam it in foil instead for this recipe? Or is there a way to make sure that the fish isn’t overcooked / remain soft instead of dry? I don’t have toaster oven/fanned oven just normal American oven and I think the heat is too aggressive. Thank you so much. Your recipes have helped me cook for my partner and his family a lot. 🙂
Hi Bambi! Cod is pretty fatty/oily fish (See step 4, oil coming out from fish?) so it will less likely that it will be dry unless you overcook it. You can make a tent over the fish to avoid direct heating and that should help you control the “aggressive” oven heat. You can steam it, but you won’t be able to see the fish while cooking and this kind of fatty food is nice to get some char. Hope that helps!
Hi Nami, love this recipe – makes cod so much softer!! Do you think it’s worth reducing the marinade time if I found it slightly too salty? I used white miso and marinaded for 2.5 days.
Hi Laura! Thank you for your kind words. Yes, you can definitely adjust the marinade time. 🙂
I made this with salmon and couldn’t be happier with the results! It has become my preferred way to eat salmon.
Hi Jane! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe with Salmon! Thank you for your kind feedback and trying this recipe! 🙂 It’s one of our family favorites too!
This was excellent! I have tried many versions of this recipe, but yours will be my go to recipe. I love that it has no added sugar. Thank you for sharing these great recipes with us.
Hi Sally! Wonderful! I’m so glad you liked this recipe. Yeah, sugar is not necessary but some of the Japanese recipes include both mirin and sugar rather than just mirin. Thank you for your kind feedback!
Hi Nami. Great website!
I’m a beginner and your site is making me really enthusiastic to try these recipes.
So anyway, I just made some miso cod, using actual cod fillets, and white miso. It was marinated in the miso/mirin/sake mixture for 2 days. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out too well. The fish was extremely salty. Not sure what I’m doing wrong. Is it because of the white miso?
Thanks.
Hi Michael! Thank you for trying this recipe! White miso is less sweet in general, but Saikyo Miso is much sweeter than white miso. But each miso brand makes the miso differently, so some have saltier miso than others or vice versa. I also want to mention that this dish or miso dish, in general, is considered “salty” to go with steamed rice. We don’t eat it by itself. It’s to accompany the bland steamed rice. Miso is used to preserve the food (keep the fish for a long time), so saltiness is used for preservation. I thought I should mention as you might be expecting a different result. 🙂 Hope this helps a little. 🙂
Made this for family dinner and everyone loved it. Even my cousin who usually doesn’t like seafood. Was hoping to have some leftovers for lunch but it was all eaten at once.
It was easy to make ahead of time. Baked when I should have broiled but a last minute flip and switch to the broiler for 5 minute saved it.
Hi Matthew! I’m so glad to hear your family enjoyed it! Thank you so much for trying it and for your kind feedback. 🙂
We followed your recipe and the black cod was delicious! We all enjoyed it very much.
Hi Ann! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed it! Thank you for your kind feedback. xoxo
Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
Do you broil or bake the fish?
Thanks
Hi Anirudh! You “can” use both methods, but miso burns easily so I recommend baking.:)
I just made this and it turned out AMAZING! Thank you so much for all of your delicious recipes! ありがとうございます！いただきます！
Hi Brittany! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for your kind feedback! うれしかった！ありがとう！！
Just made this last night, it was wonderful. I can only manage to find the frozen gindara (no fresh ones here in Australia), I know you said to use fresh fish. But I tried the recipe anyway.
So, I marinaded the fish while it was still frozen, then I put it in the fridge for 24 hours. Since my fish was a bit thinner than yours I guess the marinade was penetrating. And it was buttery and perfect! My husband loved it (and my toddler too!).
Hi Steph! I’m glad you and your family enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for trying it! xoxo
Thank you for all of your great recipes. My Japanese cooking has gotten a lot better with your help. I have gindara in my freezer. Your recipe says to use fresh fish. What happens if I use the frozen fish? Thank you in advance!
Hi Aileen! You can use it but please defrost and use it immediately. 🙂 I’m so glad you’re enjoying cooking Japanese food! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. xo
I just had this tonight and it was amazing! I’ve been trying a lot of your recipes lately and this is now my favorite. BTW, I normally don’t like cooked fish, but this miso black cod is so yummy. My husband and I were craving more after we finished our meal.
Hi Mimi! I’m so glad to hear you and your husband enjoyed this recipe! Thank you very much for taking your precious time to write your kind feedback! 🙂
I made this, but it was very salty and there wasn’t sweetness. I used white miso, marinaded for two days, and made sure to remove the marinade before putting it in the oven. After researching other black cod recipes online, I think it was missing sugar. This recipe says saikyo miso or white miso, but saikyo miso is sweeter therefore if not using it, and using white miso instead, then sugar should be added to the recipe.
Hi Sara! Thanks for trying this recipe! If you use white miso, you have to increase the amount of mirin (I mentioned 4 Tbsp mirin in the recipe instead of 3). I also mentioned in the post that Japanese traditional/classic recipe does not include sugar in the marinade. But of course, everyone can arrange the marinade however you like, which is why some people add sugar or other ingredients.
Hi Nami! If I don’t have sake is it okay to substitute with Chinese rice wine instead?
Thank you in advance!
Hi Johanna! Sure, Chinese rice wine works. 🙂
Very delicious and easy recipe!
I used black cod and followed the recipe with the exception of using white miso.
My fish was on the thin side so it cooked quickly. I broiled for the last 3-4 minutes as I like a crispy skin… which I eat! So good!
Hi Grace! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for your kind feedback. xoxo
Only marinated two days the first time. Delicious! Putting in the fridge for a Saturday dinner, the full 3 day marinade. Question: Is it ok to put the entire thing in a ziploc and marinade that way?
Hi Tamar! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thank you for your kind feedback. Yes, you can use a Ziploc. 🙂
Hi Nami,
Thanks for a great recipe. I tried it tonight using your miso but with halibut. I marinated for 2 days, using a vacuum sealed marinade canister (Foodsaver). I also used the salt to dry the fish beforehand for 30 minutes.
I placed the fillets in the oven, middle rack, at 350°F for 20 minutes, however the fish was way overcooked. In fact, before I placed it in the oven, when I wiped off the miso, I found that the flesh was very firm already.
Any ideas? The fillets were about 3/4” thick.
Hi Waldo! Thank you for trying this recipe! The thickness of your fish seems similar to mine. The fish gets firm from being marinated in miso, and we consider it’s a good thing. The only difference I can see is our oven setting (is your oven smaller than typical American size oven?). It’s hard to tell if your fish was over-cooked. Did you use a convection oven (with a fan)? All my recipes are in a conventional oven (although I have both options).
My oven is a gas oven, conventional (Canadian) size. Yes – the convection setting was on.
I say it was overcooked as it was really tough and dry.
Hi Waldo! Ah I see – with convection (fan) on, it’s 375 ºF for 20 minutes and that can be a bit too hot/long to cook. Most recipes say bake, it’s usually conventional oven and recipes should specify to use a convection oven (fan) when it is used. I follow the same approach on my website (I mentioned in FAQs), so I do not mention convection as I understand many people don’t have one (my oven has options to turn on fan).
I tried this recipe last night using regular cod. I found it very salty too. But, the main disappointment was that it not get a nice char to it. The fish was soggy and the colour was a bit off-putting. How do you manage to get that lovely colour with the charred edges by baking?
Hi Beth! Thanks for trying this recipe! Every miso has different salt content, so I can’t help everyone perfecting the salty level as we all use different miso. White miso is sweeter (less salt) and I use Saikyo Miso which is even sweeter. You can always adjust the saltiness by the marinade or the marinate time to fit to your liking. So that’s miso part.
Now the char on the fish. I usually have difficult time NOT having char especially working with miso. I wipe off miso but still, the leftover gets char (as you see in my pictures or video https://youtu.be/uLmhRzBBMa0?t=172).
Oh, was your fish frozen? You described the fish “soggy” and that might be from the moisture in the fish. If you use frozen ones, you have to make sure it’s completely thawed. 🙂
Hi Nami, this is the first time I’m leaving a comment on a food site. I had to do it because I made miso cod with your recipe and it was so delicious. I served it with hiyayakko, sunomono and Japanese rice. It was the perfect meal. Thanks for all your amazing recipes! Greetings from Singapore!
Hi Karen! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. I’m so excited that your miso cod came out well and your meal sounds phenomenal! Thank you for trying this recipe. xo
Had this the second time in a month. First time I marinated it 24h and had it warm for dinner. Second time I marinated 3 days and then served it cold for a bento themed picnic. Both were fabulous!!
Hi afra! Awesome! So good to hear you liked this recipe. What a wonderful bento you’re making!
I sometimes see fresh black cod/sable fish filets at Costco (fresh fish section). I’m not sure if they are seasonal but as with typical Costco items, each package is quite a lot. Thanks for this yummy recipe. Love the make-ahead idea (and freezable too)- oishii desu 😀
Hi Karen! Ohhh let me know how you like the costco’s sablefish filets! 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
I worked so hard for this and was so disappointed. Got all the right ingredients, followed the directions, and it looked nice but very little flavor at all!!!!! I’m not giving up but what do I do?????
Hi Dixie! Thanks for trying this recipe and I’m sorry it wasn’t’ as you expected. Please let me know your condiments (since you mentioned about the flavor) and how long you marinated. I hope I can help!
Hi! This recipe looks amazing! I doubled it as I’m using 2.5 pounds of fish for dinner tomorrow night. I have kind of big fillets, about 8 oz each. I was wondering if the baking time will need to be longer or should I cut them in half or is 8 oz ok?
Hi Sarah! Use this guide – 5 minutes for 1/2 inch thickness (follow the thickest part). 🙂
Great recipe and easy to follow for beginner cooks.
If you’re in Berkeley, CA go to Tokyo Fish Market to source some of the ingredients. I got the cod from there along with the mirin, sake, and miso paste.
Salting the fish definitely helped milden the fish flavor and aroma but the fish was really fresh so that wasn’t an issue. I charred the skin a bit too much and it left an intense flavor but sooooo good! I have a few more cut of fish marinating and can’t wait to see the difference in taste.
This would go well in a traditional Japanese breakfast spread or with rice and sunomono salad.
Hi Mo! Thank you so much for your kind feedback and I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! I live in Peninsula, but I know many people who love going to Tokyo Fish Market and I’m glad they are doing well as there is no Japanese chain grocery stores in the East Bay. 🙁
Thank you again for your kind feedback!
Was super excited because I love miso black cod and finally got my hands on some at my local market. I love your recipes and reference them all the time, but unfortunately although I followed this recipe to the tee, it came out super salty to the point it is inedible as one comment in the reviews has also mentioned. I see some other recipes online with slight modifications and will try those next time.
Hi April! Thank you for trying this recipe and for your feedback. Can you let me know which saikyo miso you used? I’d like to take note (Typically at my local Japanese grocery store, there are 2 popular brands, and I’ve used both to make this recipe all the time, but I don’t notice that salty that’s inedible level… and you added mirin too, right? I know some brand of miso tends to be saltier than others, but saikyo miso is sweet miso. I appreciate it if you can let me know the brand so I can advise others to avoid it. Thank you!
Hi Nami!
This will be my first time making miso fish and I have 2 beautiful Chilean sea bass filets from a local farmers market, and got the Saikyo miso at 99 Ranch (woo Bay Area!). They are roughly an inch thick and have already had the skin removed. Should I make any cooking alterations because the skin won’t be there to provide a good barrier? I don’t want to burn these babies. Thanks!
Hi Kristen!
This time, we recommend not move around too much.
Chilean sea bass filets are flaky, so please be careful handling. Once it’s cooked, pieces can disintegrate and break apart because there is no skin that’s holding. Another note is, please try marinating for a shorter time and make sure to remove the miso completely before you cook. It’s seasoned enough, and you don’t need to leave any miso.
American fillet prefers non-skin, but please try one with the skin next time. It provides natural oil and tastes better with it.
Good luck!😊
In your miso salmon recipe you stated: “Cover and keep in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour. I don’t recommend longer than that as miso is quite salty.” But in this miso black cod recipe you state to marinate at least 2-3 days and that I could substitute salmon for this recipe. Which one is correct or better? Thank you.
Hi Gary! Consider these two recipes are served differently. The longer-marinated fish is to enjoy with steamed rice (We consider it’s the accompaniment for rice ご飯のおかず – the main dish for rice) while Miso Salmon can be served even without rice. It’s just a different type of cooking/dishes. I hope this answers your question.
i accidentally got the black cod cut as steaks instead of cut as a fillet. Should i do anything differently due to the different cut?
Hi Ann,
How thick is your steak cut? If you can cut the steak in half and place the skin side up, we recommend doing that. Otherwise, please try marinating for a shorter time and make sure to remove the miso completely before you cook. Then adjust the cooking time because it will be no skin/barrier on top.
We hope this helps!☺️