Fishy Tales

Salmon - Nobu-ish style

Nobu was the restaurant of the beautiful people in the 90’s. It now has outposts on most continents and will be packed to the gills any fashion week. Not quite as cutting- edge as it was once considered,  many of its dishes have moved from hip territory into classic territory.  And quite rightly so.  One of these dishes is their Black cod miso.   Unfortunately even in our bling-bling celtic tiger years , Dublin was never hip or rich enough for a Nobu.  So if you wanted to try this dish you had to travel.  

The recipe below is very , very , very, very  distant relative to Nobu’s classic dish.  Firstly in Nobu its made with Black cod ( also called sablefish), not available here   .  I use either salmon or halibut.  You really need to use an oily fish.  

Here I have served it with a salad using the last of the asparagus and sesame seeds.  Its delish.  While the glaze on the fish should definitely should be crisp ,  maybe not quite as crisp as mine,  I got distracted looking for a sieve while it was cooking.  Lesson learned -  always use a timer ;-)

You should get most of the ingredients in an Asian supermarket.   

Salmon Nobu-ish style - Serves 4

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sake ( 1/2 cup of white wine if you are really stuck)
3/4 cup mirin
2 cups white miso paste
1 cup granulated sugar
4 salmon/halibut fillets, about 200g each

Method

1.Boil sake and mirin over high heat for 20 seconds to evaporate alcohol.

2. Reduce heat to low and add miso paste, mixing with a wooden spoon until it has dissolved. Then increase heat to high and add sugar, stirring constantly to ensure bottom of pan does not burn until sugar has dissolved.   Cool to room temperature. Keep 1/2 a cup of sauce for serving with the cooked fish the next day, and use the rest as marinade.  

3. Pat fish thoroughly dry with paper towels. Cover with marinade and place in a glass dish or bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Marinade overnight.

4. Preheat grill to high and preheat oven to 200c

5. Lightly wipe off and excess miso clinging to fillets, but do not rinse it off  Discard marinade. Place fish on grill plate, and grill until surface of fish turns brown, about 2 minutes.

6. Place in oven at 190 c.

7. Move fish to center of oven and bake 10 to 15 minutes depending on thickness

8. Transfer fillets to individual plates. Add a few drops of reserved sauce to each plate.

Asparagus with sesame seeds

Serves 4

Ingredients
400 grams medium asparagus spears
1 tablespoon sesame oil
4 teaspoons light (regular) soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds ( toast on a baking tray)

Method

1. Snap off the woody ends of each asparagus spear. Add the asparagus to boiling, salted water and cook for 1 to 2 minutes depending on thickness.  

2. Drain in a colander, then immediately transfer to the cold bath to cool. This helps the asparagus stop cooking further and also keep its green colour.  Drain again, pat the asparagus dry with paper towel or a clean tea towel.

3. For the dressing, combine the sesame oil, soy sauce and sugar in a bowl, stirring or whisking to dissolve the sugar. The  flavour should be balanced between being rich, salty and sweet. About 2 hours before serving, toss the asparagus in the dressing and to let flavours absorb 

4. Right before serving, transfer to a plate and garnish with a shower of sesame seeds.