Miso Glazed Sea Bass - Another Ellie Krieger Winner!

Wow. I have to say I was skeptical when I looked at this recipe in The Food You Crave by Ellie Krieger. How could so few ingredients create a dish worth talking about? Well, I give Ellie a lot of credit because - holy cow - the few ingredients deliver! The gorgeous caramelized crust tastes as delicious as it looks. There is a subtle sweetness to the fish that is beautifully offset by the slightly fermented saltiness of the miso. In her cookbook, the fish is photographed alongside some lovely baby bok choy that looks as though it has been steamed. However, I was inspired to do a little refrigerator clean up and use a variety of vegetables I had hanging around. I did a basic stir fry of red cabbage, oyster and shiitake mushrooms, bell pepper and carrot. I cooked the vegetables in a small amount of sesame oil with a little of the same marinade used on the fish. I finished them with a dash of low-sodium soy sauce. They made a delicious bed for the fish, which I spiced up with a little pickled ginger.

This recipe is so incredibly simple - and easy to use on any mild, white fish - I definitely recommend trying it as soon as possible!


Miso Glazed Cod
The Food You Crave by Ellie Krieger

6 (6-ounce) black cod fillets, or regular cod fillets (I used Chilean Sea Bass)
1/3 cup low-sodium blond or white miso
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons mirin (Japanese cooking wine)
Toasted sesame seeds and scallions, for garnish, optional

Preheat broiler.
Rinse fish fillets and pat dry with paper towels. Combine miso, brown sugar, sesame oil and mirin and stir well until brown sugar is fully dissolved.
Brush about 2 tablespoons miso glaze on each fish fillet. Marinate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 1 hour. Place fish under broiler for 3 to 4 minutes, or until top is slightly charred and glaze has caramelized. Remove fish from oven and brush with remaining glaze. Lower oven to 375 degrees F. Cook an additional 5 to 6 minutes, until fish is flaky but not overcooked.
If desired, serve with toasted sesame seeds and scallions.
(I cooked my fish on the stove top in a non-stick pan. I tented the fish with foil to allow the fish to cook through on the stove over medium to medium-high heat. I did this in the same pan I cooked my vegetables because I only wanted to dirty one pot.)