Grilled Miso Glazed Salmon (Sake No Misozuke)

Posted by Judy | Bebe Love Okazu on May 27, 2010 in Blog, Family Favorites, Fish & Seafood, Japanese Cuisine Favorites, Popular Posts | 17 comments

Last week we met bebe dada for lunch and I ordered a bento box with miso glazed salmon.  It was the second time I ordered this in three weeks, and I was hoping this time, that my first bite of salmon would be packed full of flavor… but it wasn’t.  I’m not sure why I ordered this again, knowing very well that I would be disappointed once more.  I believe my tummy is to blame.  :)  The tummy has a mind of its own and it craves one thing after another which often directs all of the cooking that I do.  Clearly, the salmon craving wasn’t satisfied with the bento, and it was telling me that it needs miso salmon – make miso salmon!

On Sunday, we took a family trip to  Marukai and I bought beautiful, thick salmon steaks.  I was so excited because I knew if I marinated these for a few days in Nobu’s miso marinade, my tummy would finally get what it’s been craving, and it would be happy.

Happy tummy = Happy me.

I still had a batch of miso glaze in the freezer from the last time I made Nobu’s Miso Black Cod.  I always double or triple the recipe when I make miso glaze because it keeps well in the freezer and it cuts-out one step of the cooking process when making it the next time.  :)  For reference, the miso marinade contains white miso, mirin, sugar and a splash of sake.  Click here for recipe.

When I got home, I patted the fish dry, poured some of the miso marinade on the bottom of a glass tupperware dish (it’s best to use a non-reactive dish, i.e. something that is not aluminum or copper, but stainless steel is ok), then slathered the remaining miso over the fish.  I covered this with saran wrap, placed the lid on the glass tupperware, then placed this in the fridge.  Nobu’s miso marinade is so awesome that there is no need to turn the fish, or spoon the marinade over the fish… no babysitting required.  Just put the fish in the fridge and let the marinade do it’s magic.

Every time I opened the fridge, I would glimpse at my miso drenched salmon steaks through the side of the glass container, and smile.  I couldn’t wait until they were ready to be cooked.  I marinated these for three days, and yesterday, when bebe E and I went to visit my parents, I grabbed the marinating salmon steaks and took them up to Los Angeles for lunch.

After three days, the miso marinade looks a little different but don’t worry, it’s ok.

I gently scraped the excess miso off the salmon steaks using a soft plastic spatula.  Whatever you do, don’t wash the fish!

The fish platter in the above photograph is my favorite childhood “fish plate”.  My mom used this plate often to serve large pieces of grilled fish.  It’s kind of a funny, cheesy and cute plate, all at the same time.  It brings back good memories.  As a child, the only fish I ate was salmon because the bones were large enough to be easily identified and removed.  My parents usually did a good job removing these bones for me but salmon was the only fish that I could eat whole heartedly without the fear of choking on a bone.

As I got older, my fear of fish bones lessened and my mom cooked a variety of different fish for us including albacore, saba (mackerel), buri (yellow tail), sanma (mackerel pike), shishamo (smelt), gindara (black cod).  Growing-up in a bilingual Japanese-English family, I often have difficulty translating the names of fish in Japanese, to their English names.  I actually Googled the Japanese names of several of the fish I just listed so I could figure out what they were in English.  :)  For me, blogging has been very educational!  Oh, and my dad calls albacore, “ah-ba-core” and I actually Googled that.  It’s not a Japanese fish name (just a Japanese accent) at all – it’s Albacore Tuna.

Getting back to the salmon steaks…

When I make Nobu’s miso black cod at home, I bake them in the oven, and likely would have just baked the salmon steaks had I not been up at my parent’s house.  But since I was there,  I asked my dad to grill them.  He is the Iron Chef of grilling/BBQ-ing (don’t tell bebe dada I said that since I like to tell him that HE is the master of grilling/BBQ-ing).  The thick salmon skin blackens but protects the moist, tender flesh on the inside. These were the embodiment of perfection.

Lunch was absolutely delicious!  And in case you’re wondering, I took an extra grilled miso salmon home with me for Bebe Dada to enjoy for dinner.  :)