Miso Black Cod and Mushrooms

Saturday, June 21, 2025

Black cod (or Sablefish), with its succulent texture and buttery flavor, ranks high on my favorite types of fish. In particular, miso-marinated black cod is a classic Japanese dish with many recipes online. My spin on it, like my Crispy Salmon recipe, aims to improve on the skin, which in many other preparations either burns too easily or doesn’t crisp up. I choose to separate the skin from the fillet before marinating, which lets me air-fry the skin separately, and also allows the marinade to penetrate all sides of the fillet.

I also pair the fish with Japanese mushrooms sauteed in butter, miso, and mirin, for a double punch of miso flavor. Serve them with rice, soup, and side dishes like pickles or seasonal fruit for a complete Teishoku-style Japanese meal.

Note that the black cod requires 2 days of marination!

Miso Black Cod and Mushrooms

Ingredients

Miso Black Cod

  • 2 4-6oz black cod fillets, with skin

  • 4 tbsp miso

  • 4 tbsp mirin

  • 2 tbsp sake

  • 2 tbsp soy sauce

  • 1 tbsp maple syrup

  • Salt

Miso Sauteed Mushrooms

  • 3.5oz maitake mushrooms

  • 3.5oz (buna-)shimeji mushrooms

  • 1 bunch green onions, chopped and separated into whites and greens

  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced

  • 2 tbsp butter

  • 1 tbsp miso

  • 1 tbsp mirin

(Optional) To Serve

  • 1 lime, quartered

  • Nori strips

  • Steamed rice

  • Soup

  • Additional side dishes such as simmered vegetables, pickles, and/or seasonal fruit

Directions

Miso Black Cod

  1. Place the black cod fillets on a cutting board skin-side down. With a sharp knife, make a small incision on one side of a fillet between the skin and the flesh. Gripping onto the skin with one hand, run the blade along the skin and down entire length of the fillet, separating the skin from the flesh. Repeat for the other fillet. Wrap the skins in paper towels, place in a sealable container, cover, and refrigerate until ready to cook.

  2. Prepare the marinade in a sealable container by whisking together the miso, mirin, sake, soy sauce, and maple syrup, ensuring that miso is well-distributed. Place the fillets in the marinade, cover, and refrigerate for about 2 days.

  3. After 2 days, remove the fillets from the marinade and gently wipe off excess marinade using a paper towel.

  4. Bake at 375 degrees F in with convection (or 400 degrees F without convection) for about 20 minutes. This is a good time to fry the skins and begin cooking the Miso Sauteed Mushrooms. Check that the fillets have reached an internal temperature of at least 140 degrees F.

  5. Lightly salt the black cod skins on both sides. Air-fry or pan-fry them until crispy. If air-frying, make sure the skin side is facing up, and bake at 400 degrees F for about 7-8 minutes. You may need to press down on them with a spatula to keep them from curling too much while cooking. Check that they are crispy by running a fork or spatula across them. Once done, reserve the skins on a dry paper towel until the fillets are done baking.

  6. Plate the fillets and place a skin on top of each fillet. Garnish with lime and nori strips, if using. Serve with Miso Sauteed Mushrooms alongside rice, soup, and additional side dishes.

Miso Sauteed Mushrooms

  1. Put a pan on medium heat and add the butter, garlic, and the white parts of the green onions.

  2. Once the garlic and green onions begin to sizzle, add the mushrooms. Saute until the mushrooms have released most of their moisture, and the moisture has cooked off, stirring occasionally. The sound in the pan should turn from a boil to more of a fry, some fond should begin to build up, and the mushrooms should start to develop color.

  3. Add the mirin and green onions. Stir, scraping the bottom of the pan vigorously to deglaze. After another minute or two, take the pan off the heat and reserve the mushrooms for serving.

Notes

  • Adjust the amounts of soy sauce and maple syrup accordingly if your miso is sweeter or saltier. If you are lucky to have multiple varieties of miso available, you can even use two different kinds for the black cod and for the mushrooms!

  • One disadvantage of frying the skins separately is the skins will likely shrink in size compared to the fillets.

  • Adapted from the following recipes: