Miso Marinated Cod with Beurre Blanc

A girlfriend and I have started a new tradition of making Sunday dinner for a group of friends. The idea is clearly not a new one. Sunday dinner has been a tradition in many families for years. However, for those of us who do not live close enough to relatives to share meals regularly, making a point of spending time with friends is both relaxing and fun. Plus Sundays are perfect – no one has plans to party, there is plenty of time to cook a meal, and by dinnertime everyone has recovered from Saturday night. 

So Anna and I started small. The two of us, her roommate, and her brother + girlfriend. We both prepped a few things separately, but then met at her place around 5:00 pm to start with the entrée. I haven’t hosted any parties in a while and I had forgotten two things:

1. How much I love to entertain
2. How much fun it is to prepare food with others

If you haven’t ever tried group cooking, find a foodie friend and start your own dinner club. It is distinctly different from a potluck. Having company alone is nice, but when two people work together for a goal which ends up with something as delicious as this, well, you can’t beat it.

Anyway, for our first dinner together we decided for Asian fusion and I came across a recipe for miso marinated cod with beurre blanc. Paired with jasmine rice and a side of steamed baby bok choy, this is a delicious and filling meal. To start we made warm tofu with a spicy garlic sauce and finished with mango panna cotta with mango sauce.

Note: The panna cotta was too firm so I’m working on proportions before posting it. But either way it was tasty!

This is fairly quick to make, but if you plan on traveling with this dish, beforehand you will have to marinate the fish. That’s pretty much it. Otherwise it’s surprisingly fast. 

Start by finding some miso. I haven’t ever looked for it in my local grocery store but I’m fortunate that there are so many diverse places to shop in Chicago.  There were at least 5 kinds in a local Korean market so I picked up the smallest container and brought it home. 

Time to cook. 

When you’re ready with your apron, time to tackle the fish. In a medium glass container with a tight fitting lid, mix together mirin, miso, sake and sugar. Its best to mix this together before adding the fish because the miso takes a bit of time to combine. 

Remove fresh cod fillets from packaging and gently lower into the marinade. Cover with a lid and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

Note: as usual, it’s best to get fillets which are roughly the same size so they cook at an equal rate. No one likes one piece that’s raw next to a burnt one…

When you’re ready for dinner, throw jasmine rice in a rice cooker (I also added some lemon grass for flavor although to be fair, I don’t think it added much…)

Clean the baby bok choy and get ready to steam – this should be done last when the fish is in the oven because it’s super fast. 

Preheat the oven to 450F.

Prepare the beurre blanc.

In a medium sauce pan, add white wine, shallots, garlic, bay leaf and peppercorns. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 7-10 minutes until reduced by 25%. Add whipping cream and continue to simmer for an additional 5-7 minutes until total volume is about 1 cup. 

If you taste it at this point, you may be disappointed by the lack of balance. But wait! Please trust me that this will be divine.

Strain the contents into a small sauce pan and whisk in butter, 1 tablespoon at a time until completely added. Remove from heat and add lemon juice and season with salt. 

You will be shocked at how amazing this is – try not to eat it all before the fish is done!

Line a baking sheet with silicone mat or aluminum foil. Remove the fish from the marinade and arrange on baking sheet, evenly spaced. Bake for 10 minutes until almost opaque in center. Then switch to the broiler on high for 3 minutes until fish is golden brown and perfectly cooked. 

While the fish cooks, steam the bok choy.

Arrange jasmine rice in the center of your plate topped with cod and drizzled with beurre blanc. Add the bok choy on the side with a drizzle of oyster sauce. 

Enjoy!

Miso Marinate Cod with Beurre Blanc

Adapted from Bon Appetit
Published December 2001

Ingredients

Marinade

• 1 cup mirin
• 3/4 cup white miso
• 1/2 cup sake
• 1/4 granulated sugar
• 6 6oz fillets cod, evenly sized

Beurre Blanc

• 1 cup dry white wine
• 2 medium shallots, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon whole peppercorns
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 of a lemon

Instructions

1. In a medium glass dish with a lid, whisk together mirin, white miso, sake and sugar until miso is completely combined. Add cod fillets, making sure all sides are coated with marinade. Cover tightly and refrigerate 2-3 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 450. Line a baking sheet with silicone mat or aluminum foil and set aside.
3. In a medium saucepan, boil wine, shallots, garlic, bay leaf and whole peppercorns until reduced to 3/4 cup, 7-10 minutes. Add whipping cream and continue to boil until reduced to 1 cup, 6-7 minutes.
4. Strain sauce into small sauce pan, pressing on soilds to remove all liquid. Over low heat, add butter 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and squeeze in lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and keep warm.
5. Remove fish from marinade and place on baking sheet, evenly spaced. Bake 9-11 minutes until almost opaque in center. Turn broiler on high and broil 2-3 minutes until brown on top and opaque in center.
6. Serve fish over rice, topped with beurre blanc.

Yield: 6 portions