Gindara Miso-ni: Simmered Black Cod in Miso Sauce

Inside of autumn breezes time, please include simmered dishes of the season

with sweetness of miso paste and luxury texture of local fishes

 

Gindara (Black Cod) Miso-ni

Struggling to decide which recipe to include this week in my class to highlight the nimono cooking technique, it breaks my heart to cut this one – especially after sampling it with my roommate last week. So in place of teaching it to my students, I share it with you and hope you’ll give it a go.

Tender and flavourful, you can’t go wrong with this simmered fish dish. It is impossible to overcook (you can forget about it, leave it simmering, and still have a moist fish – just add a bit of water) and the resulting sauce is uber-tasty. I guarantee you will want to eat every last drop of sauce by scraping it off of your plate onto your rice – and then lick your plate clean!

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 2 pieces fish (e.g. mackerel or cod)
• ¾ cup water
• 5 cm piece of dashi kombu (stock kelp) (if you can’t find this, leave it out and continue)
• 2 Tbsp cooking sake
• ½ – 1 Tbsp ginger, julienned
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp miso paste

How to make Gindara Miso-ni:

1. Rinse cut of fish and cut an “X” or a few slices through the skin to allow for flavor to penetrate.
2. In a shallow pot or frying pan (with a lid) pour in water and sake, place in the kombu and bring to a boil.
3. Place in the fish, skin-side up.
4. Once the edges have cooked a little, and the water is boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and add ginger and sugar to the boiling water. Cover with a piece of parchment paper, close the lid, and cook for about 8 minutes.
5. Uncover, and in a small bowl, mix miso with a couple of spoons of the hot liquid from the pot. Add the thinned out miso paste, mix, cover and simmer again for another 7 – 8 minutes, uncovering every once in a while to spoon the sauce over the fish.
6. Continue to cook until the fish is cooked through and the sauce has thickened. Serve hot with a generous spoonful of the sauce and a bowl of steaming hot rice.

Tips and Tricks:

* Use a wide, flat frying pan or shallow pot with a tight-fitting lid.

* Parchment paper should be cut to the same size as the pan you are cooking in, with a few slits in the body of the circle (think Kindergarten paper snowflakes) and laid on top of the fish when simmering. This directs the simmering liquid up over the fish and prevents it from evaporating too quickly, keeping the fish moist.

Bukkake

For hot time during the summer month,

Japanese like bukkake.

It’s spreading the cold liquid on top.

Please enjoy with your favourite noodle!

Bukkake Udon with Chikuwa (steamed fish paste) Tempura

Get your head out of the gutter, it’s not that kind of bukkake. Bukkake udon is a cold version of the popular udon noodle soup dish, where cold noodles are served with a squirt… er… topped… er… well, served with a cool soup. Easy to make, delicious to eat. Let’s try bukkake!

Ingredients for Bukkake (serves 2, naturally)

• 2 portions of udon noodles
• garnish: chopped green onions, grated daikon radish and/or grated ginger

For the bukkake soup:

• 2 and 1/2 cups cold fish stock (water plus about 1/2 tsp of dashi powder)
• 4 Tablespoons of soy sauce
• 4 Tablespoons mirin
• 1 – 2 Tablespoons cooking sake (optional)

1. Make the soup by dissolving the dashi powder into about 2 – 3 Tablespoons of hot (boiling) water. Add 2 1/2 cups of cold water and chill while you prepare the noodles.
2. Boil the noodles until al dente, then strain and immediately run under cold water. Once noodles have cooled down, plunge into a bowl of ice water to thoroughly chill.
3. Drain the noodles, arrange them in a bowl, pour the soup on top and garnish.

Let’s enjoying bukkake forking!