Misoyaki Butterfish

I bought some butterfish from the local grocery store and decided to try the following recipe.
I remember eating butterfish when I was a child. It has big, chunky flakes, with large bones. We often ate it with mayonnaise on the side. It seems to be a good fish for youngsters to eat, as it has bones which are large enough and therefore easy to locate.

I've had a Miso Salmon dish several times at The Cheesecake Factory. It's a bit sweet, but not overpoweringly so. For this recipe, I would suggest using a little less sugar. On my first attempt, so far, it was very sweet, even for me. Also, not sure, but I seemed to taste the alcohol, but that should burn off during the cooking process.



http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/printerfriendly/MISOYAKI-BUTTERFISH-1217934

misoyaki butterfish

The fish I'm using is known locally as butterfish. This name, butterfish, is a bit of a misnomer. You see, the real butterfish is similar to a pompano in size and shape. So what exactly is butterfish? According to some food labels that are actually found on the fish, they are known as black cod, but then that name too is a misnomer because the fish we call butterfish is actually a type of sablefish. Yikes...how confusing! But the real reason why I think we call this butterfish is because of the oily flesh, which melts in your mouth like butter when cooked.

Since this fish is not available locally, it's very hard to get this fish fresh. Most often times, the fish is flash frozen...and that's exactly how I bought this fish, frozen.

(Notice the dark black skin on this fish. It's actually quite thick and leathery.)

Submitted by oboconnor
March 3, 2006

To make the marinade you will need the following ingredients:

1/3 cup sake
(Japanese rice wine)
1/3 cup mirin (SweetJapanese rice wine)
1 cup granulated sugar
(or sugar to taste)
1 cup white miso
(soybean paste)
grated ginger (optional)

Since I'm a firm believer in using local products whenever possible, I use locally made miso. This one is made by Hawaiian Miso & Soy Company. This miso is great for marinades (like this one), for miso soup, or as a base for salad dressings

To prepare the marinade, add the sake and mirin to a heavy bottomed pot and bring to a boil. Boil for approximately 10-15 minutes to burn off the alcohol. Next, turn down the heat and stir in the sugar and miso. Cook until it turns a pale caramel color. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.

Next comes the fish.

To prepare the fish, it first needs to be defrosted. Once that's done, the fish should be rinsed in some cold running water and then patted dry with a clean paper towel. Now the fish is ready for the marinade

Using a filet that's about 6-ounces, I keep the skin intact, then place into a Ziploc® bag. I add the miso marinade and then let this sit in the refrigerator for 48-72 hours.

Now you're ready to cook your misoyaki butterfish. Remove your filet from the Ziploc® bag.

Add about a tablespoon of vegetable oil to a skillet which is on medium-low heat. You don't want the heat to be too high, as the miso will burn and then taste a bit bitter. What you really want to happen is the sugar to slightly carmelize and give it a nice golden brown color. Add your fish to the pan...

Cook for about 4-5 minutes before turning...

After letting it cook for another 4-5 minutes, you're ready to serve.