Japanese Culture in New York - Chopsticks NY

Grilled Cod with Miso Butter Sauce  by Munemasa Yamada

In this corner, Japanese chefs from restaurants in the Tri-State area share their secret recipes of home-style Japanese dishes with you.

Miso-marinated grilled cod is a scrumptious winter dish in Japan.  Japanese people eat this seasonal fish prepared in various styles during winter, and this particular dish is one of the most popular.  This month, Mr. Munemasa Yamada, executive chef of Sakurabana in Ridgewood, New Jersey, dresses up this authentic Japanese dish with a western twist. With his extensive French culinary background, Chef Yamada creates French-infused new Japanese cuisine.  Adding butter, the secret weapon of this dish, to miso sauce enhances the savory miso flavor while giving it a hollandaise sauce-like smoothness.  “The sauce is so versatile that you can use it for many other dishes.  It would go very well with grilled asparagus,” Chef Yamada advises.

Sakurabana
43 Franklin Ave., Ridgewood, NJ 07450
TEL: 201-447-6525 / www.sakurabana.com

Ingredients (Serves 1 person)
1 piece miso-marinated cod
(If you don’t find marinated cod, just use regular cod.)
20g butter
30-50cc cooking sake

[Miso Sauce Base (Serves 4-5 people)]
100g miso (country style)
50cc cooking sake
25cc mirin*
40g sugar
soy sauce to taste

*Mirin is a condiment often used in Japanese cooking.  Made from rice, it contains about 14% alcohol and 40-50% sugar.  It adds sweetness and a glaze to a dish while reducing a fishy smell.

Steps
1.  Mix all miso sauce base ingredients.

2.  Skewer cod and grill until its surface is seared.

3. Place grilled cod on plate and heat well in microwave.
4. Heat cooking sake in pan and dissolve miso sauce base in sake. (The miso sauce base serves 4-5 people, so use only a quarter of it.)
5.  Dissolve butter little by little in miso sauce base.

6.  Pour miso sauce onto cod.