There was once a time when all you’d ever hear about was Nobu and that black cod miso dish. That was until “The End of the Line” exposed it to be the bluefin-plundering, money-grabbing, z list hang out it really is. Still, you can see why the dish was such a winner. That deeply savoury rot of the marinade, sweet and salty against oily flesh was and still is pretty genius.
I applied the same treatment to some super fresh mackerel fillets from the Chelsea fishmongers (which were of course a lot cheaper and a tad more sustainable) and they turned out a treat. After an overnight marinade, the fillets blistered to a shiny, burnished caramel in a hot oven and went beautifully with some steamed rice and an emerald mound of stir fried morning glory. Nobu charges £32.75 for a single portion of its black cod with miso. Once I’d bought the marinade ingredients, this cost me less than £1.00 a portion, and the leftovers went into sushi rolls with fresh cucumber strips and lashings of wasabi mayonnaise.
Ingredients
– 6 fl oz/185 ml mirin
-4 fl oz/125 ml sake
– 8oz/225g miso paste (you’re meant to use white but I only had brown)
– 8 oz/225 g sugar
– 4 fresh mackerel fillets
pickled ginger to serve.
Method
- Combine the sugar, sake, mirin and miso well.
- Slather the mackerel fillets in this mixture and marinade overnight.
- When you are ready to eat, pre-heat your oven to 200 C/400 F/Gas mark 6 and wipe any excess marinade from the fillets.
- Bake for around 15 minutes, until just opaque in the centre and nicely caramelised on the surface.
Gastrogeek 
I love miso’d stuff – this looks great. I imagine the oilyness of the mackerel offsets it perfectly.
thanks Lizzie, the mackerel works fantastically. I also wonder if it might work with hilsa or ruhi?
This looks delicious – I guess the stronger flavour of the mackerel would work really well with the miso, like with salmon.
Yum!
Thanks, its definitely a great way of making cheap fish a bit fancier.
Hi Gastrogeek, I’ve only had miso mackerel as a simmered dish. this broiled version looks delicious.
it’s great simmered isn’t it? I do love the word “broiled”.
Yum. I’m definitely going to try this.
cheers Sarah!
Nutritious and delicious! x
thanks Salty – just how we like it! x
Ooh yummers! Sounds really good. I do love a bit of mackerel.
cheers H, me too – good to see it’s not as underrated as it used to be.
Great dish,love mackerel.
One of my favourite fishies and I love the idea of miso with it!
NS – thanks!
Su-Lin – it really does come out a treat.
Great idea. I love the sound of this. Miso mackerel here I come.
That looks fantastic. I imagine it was fairly rich especially with the dark meat that runs through the back against the skin and the sweetness of the marinade. Try sea bass as it works a treat although a lot more expensive. I have tried the Nobu miso recipe with a lot of species and although black cod’s texture does suit best due to its large firm flakes i have found no fails – they all work. Try some of the cheaper cuts of white fish but just make sure they are very fresh as the lower value species are sometimes treated with a lack of respect at source so end up on the slab in poor condition.
thank you- it went very well – it’s become a regular treat at our place 🙂
Delicious, ethical and nutritious too.
On removing all of the excess marinade I actually kept it (I hate waste)and heated the left over marinade on a very low heat for a few minutes.
Was lovely poured over oriental greens and sticky rice!
What a great idea, I must try that next time I make it. Thanks!