Yes, you can make miso-glazed cod at home, and here is the whole recipe with quantities — but first, the honest part. The fish in this recipe is our Premium French Cod Fish Steak, and its own product page states plainly what it is: Chilean seabass, the Patagonian toothfish, wild-caught and blast frozen at sea. Miss A's Handpick Fine Food is a Singapore premium grocer founded in 2017, online at missa.sg with a store at 421 East Coast Road. We would rather tell you exactly which fish is in the pan than borrow a more famous name.
First, the honest bit: what fish is this?
The restaurant dish that made miso-glazed fish famous is made with black cod, which is not a cod at all — it is sablefish, a deep-water fish so rich it practically bastes itself. Our French cod steak is a different fish again: Chilean seabass, dense, large-flaked and buttery, with the clean ocean taste its page describes. That density is precisely why the miso treatment works on it. A delicate fish would dissolve under a two-day marinade; this one holds its shape, drinks in the sweet-savoury glaze, and flakes into soft, glossy petals under the broiler. Different fish, same logic — and no pretending otherwise. The steaks are sold frozen, blast frozen at sea, so plan a night ahead: thaw them in the fridge overnight before the marinade goes on.
The recipe
Serves 3–4, using one 500g pack of French Cod Fish Steak (3–4 pieces).
For the marinade
- 180g white miso (shiro miso — the pale, sweeter kind)
- 90ml sake
- 90ml mirin
- 50g caster sugar
Method
- Make the marinade. Simmer the sake and mirin together in a small pan for about a minute to cook off the alcohol, lower the heat, stir in the sugar until dissolved, then whisk in the miso until smooth. Let it cool completely — hot marinade on raw fish is not a shortcut; it is a mistake.
- Marinate. Pat the thawed steaks dry. Coat every surface generously, place in a covered container, and refrigerate overnight at minimum; up to 48 hours gives the deeper, restaurant-level result. Turn the pieces once if you remember.
- Wipe — this is the step that decides it. Before cooking, wipe off every visible trace of marinade with your fingers or a paper towel. Miso burns fast under high heat; the flavour is already inside the fish. What is left on the surface should be a thin film, nothing more.
- Broil. Heat the grill/broiler to its highest setting. Place the steaks on a lined tray and broil for 8–10 minutes, until the edges caramelise to a deep amber and the thickest part flakes when pressed gently. No flipping needed. If you use a probe, you are looking for the flesh just turning opaque and flaking — around 52–55°C at the centre, with the carryover heat finishing it as it rests. A pan finish works too: sear in a lightly oiled, ripping-hot pan for 2–3 minutes on the first side, then 1–2 minutes more.
- Rest and serve. Rest 2 minutes. Serve on steamed rice with something sharp and simple alongside — quick-pickled cucumber, blanched greens, a bowl of miso soup if you want the theme complete. The glaze is rich; the sides should be plain.
More fish worth cooking the slow way lives in our Seafood collection.
FAQ
Which fish is in this recipe, really?
Chilean seabass — the Patagonian toothfish — sold at Miss A as Premium French Cod Fish Steak, wild-caught and blast frozen at sea. It is not black cod (sablefish) and not a true cod; its page says so, and so does this recipe. Its dense, buttery flakes are what make it take a miso marinade so well.
Can I use the miso marinade on other fish?
Yes. It is excellent on salmon — our New Zealand king salmon portions take the same marinade beautifully at 24 hours rather than 48 — and on any firm, fatty fish. Reduce the time for thinner or more delicate fillets: 8–12 hours is plenty, or the salt in the miso will cure rather than season them.
How long should I marinate the fish?
Overnight is the minimum for the flavour to get past the surface; up to 48 hours gives the fullest result on a dense fish like Chilean seabass. Beyond 48 hours the texture starts to firm up like a cure, so two days is the ceiling, not a suggestion to exceed.
