Black Cod Broiled With Miso

By Mark Bittman

Updated June 24, 2026

  • Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
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Total Time
20 minutes
Rating
5(3,622)
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Black cod with miso was not invented by Nobu Matsuhisa, the chef at Nobu in TriBeCa, but he certainly popularized it. His time-consuming recipe, which calls for soaking the fish in a sweet miso marinade for a couple of days, is a variation on a traditional Japanese process that uses sake lees, the sweet solids that remain after making sake, to marinate fish. If you broil black cod with nothing but salt, you already have a winning dish. If you broil it with miso – the intensely salty paste made from fermented soybeans – along with some mirin and quite a bit of sugar, you create something stunningly delicious. And no long marination is necessary.

Featured in: THE MINIMALIST; Miso Makes A Good Fish Better

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

  • ½ cup sugar

  • 1 cup miso, preferably dark

  • ½ cup mirin, sake or white wine

  • 1 ½ to 2 pounds black cod fillets (skin may be on or off)

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

43 grams carbs; 85 milligrams cholesterol; 420 calories; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 5 grams fat; 4 grams fiber; 2673 milligrams sodium; 44 grams protein; 29 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat broiler; set rack 3 to 4 inches from heat source. Combine first three ingredients in a small saucepan and, over low heat, bring almost to a boil, stirring occasionally just until blended; mixture will be fairly thin. Turn off heat.

  2. Step 2

    Put fillets in an ovenproof baking dish or skillet, preferably nonstick, and spoon half the sauce on top. Broil until sauce bubbles and begins to brown, then spoon remaining amount over fish. Continue to broil, adjusting heat or rack position if sauce or fish is browning too quickly, until fish is just cooked through. Serve immediately.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
3,622 user ratings
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Comments

Joe

For the miso - most miso I have seen is sold in a paste form. Does this mean a whole cup of the miso paste should be added? That sounds like too much since I will often use only a tablespoon or two for a soup or stir-fry.

Elena

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT USE 1 CUP OF MISO PASTE. Completely overpowers the fish. It should be more like 1-2 tablespoons. Please save yourself from having to send in an oil spill cleanup crew to scrape the sauce off of your precious fish. #regrets On a positive note, the broiling method was magical. A+ flakiness.

Suzanne

I have never seen black cod in my market in NorCal...substitutions?

Kat

Subbed maple syrup for sugar and it was delicious!

Buff Crone

Tried this and the sauce wasn’t thin at all so I used much less and it was still gloopy and cooked faster than the fish. I like the flavor but I think it needs thinning with a liquid of some kind. Maybe rice vinegar?

Steve

This recipe way too much of almost every ingredient. I've been making Miso glaze Black Cod (sablefish) since I first had it at Nobu years ago. I have made it this way and the way Nobu makes it and it does benefit great from marinating it for 2-3 days. I use 3 tablespoons brown sugar, not white. Half the amount of miso and white, not red. 1/4 cup of mirin and a 1/4 cup of dry sake. Broil 10 minutes rotating the pan 180 degrees half way through.

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