Hi, this is Kazumi from Master of Japanese Cuisine Academy.
Our master chefs and I are now working on making a new “Kappou” course which includes many a-la-carte Japanese dishes.
One of the signature dishes from this new course is “black cod/salmon miso”.
Grilled cod/salmon marinated with miso paste for a few days taste amazing and became world-famous by restaurant NOBU!!
How Nobu’s Most Famous Dish Helped Launch a Global Restaurant Empire
The recipe is actually very simple.
1. Marinate (black cod or salmon) in the marinade (miso, mirin and sake) for 2-3 days (!)
2. grill the fish (in the oven, but ideally with charcoal)
That’s it. But, easier said than done!
In the process of the new course development, I am always the first student of all courses that our master chefs develop (because I am not a chef).
Yes, I am the lucky one to have a previlage of being the first one to learn their secret recipes & techniques directly from them:)
Based on the recipe and instruction that the master chef gave me, I marinated a few pieces of salmon slice in a miso marinade for 3.5 days, and grilled 10-11 minutes in the 180 °C (360 °F) oven.
And this is the result:
My self-reflection:
Well, I have to admit it doesn’t look amazing (it is cleaved in the middle because I checked the inside after I grilled). The taste was fine, but the miso flavor was weak. The fish was a little bit dry (overcooked?) although it is not browned enough.
I felt ashamed but sent this photo to the master chef to get feedback and he immediately pointed out the things I did wrong.
ー Chef: “The fish is not marinated enough.”
Me: “Well, I marinated for 3.5 days. Is it still not enough?”
ー Chef: “Well, then possibly how you marinated wasn’t quite right.”
Me: “Hmm, you are probably right… The sides of the fillet was not covered well with the marinade…”
ー Chef: “And, the grilling is also not great. Not sufficiently browned.”
Me: “I was too scary to use the grill of the oven because the marinated fish is very easy to get burned. So, I used only conventional heating. But, next time, I will try with the full grilling function.”
ー Chef: “You are right. Thin part gets burned easily even before the thick part gets browned.
I tell you the secret to avoid that: “mirin technique”.
Once some parts start getting browned, brush mirin on the fish. Then it cools down the burning parts while the rest of the fish get browned evenly.”
Next day. My second try.
I had a few more pieces ungrilled from the first try. So, I waited another day and grilled it again.
This time, the pre-grilled fish looked better marinated (so, marinated in total 4.5 days) and I also set the oven at 180 °C (360 °F) with grilling function.
Here is the result.
My self-reflection:
Well, I am happy to see that it is far better than the first try. It browned well and less dry inside. I used the “mirin-coating” technique that the chef told me, and it helped the fillet gets browned evenly.
This technique gave me confidence in dealing with the grilling process. After 8 minutes of grilling at 180 °C (360 °F), it was not browned enough. So, I raised the temperature to 200 °C (390 °F) and moved the grilling plate closer to the grill. I think my decision was good.
It also tasted better this time because it is marinated well.
Of course, I sent this photo to the master chef to ask his feedback.
ー Chef: “Well, this time the result looks better. It would be even better if it is more browned.”
Me: “Oh, even more? This time, I placed the grilling plate in the middle of the oven because I was still scared of burning. But, next time I would place the plate closer to the grill from the beginning.”
ー Chef: “And, how you sliced the fillet is also not good. Slice diagonally. This creates the bigger surface and marinade gets into fish easily.”
Me: “Oh I see! I will do so next time!”
ー Chef: “Good luck. For your information, as the main dish, 120g is a good size. If it is a dish of a course menu, 80g is a good size.”
Me: “Thanks, chef!”
Thanks for reading the post! There are many other super useful feedback I received from him, but it was too many to share all here.
My third & fourth try will continue in the next post🙂
Good news for you!
Now “Master of Japanese Cuisine Academy” offers a 100% online subscription plan where you can learn a variety of Japanese dishes directly from master chefs.
Just like I did.
Click here
Now the first-month free trial is available including the free feedback from master chefs!
What is “Master of Japanese Cuisine Academy“?
It’s a world-first online culinary school where you can learn real techniques & knowledge of authentic Japanese cuisine.
You can get feedback & mentoring from master chef instructors, so you learn the real skills of real master chefs.
The chef-instructors are real master chefs who worked or get trained in the top Japanese restaurants in Japan and worldwide. So, the quality of learning is guaranteed.
To learn more, visit our website.
