Miso-Marinated Black Cod: An Overnight Sablefish Recipe

January 24, 2025

Miso-marinated sablefish for home cooking

White miso, sake, mirin and sugar make a sweet-savory coating for sablefish. This is a home adaptation, not a claim to reproduce a restaurant’s exact recipe. Start with sablefish fillets; smoked sablefish needs a different preparation.

Ingredients for four servings

Four sablefish portions, about 6 oz each
¼ cup white miso
3 tbsp mirin
3 tbsp sake
2 tbsp sugar
A little neutral oil for the baking dish

Prepare and marinate

Warm the miso, mirin, sake and sugar gently in a small saucepan, stirring until smooth. Cool the mixture before adding it to fish. Brief heating does not make an alcohol-free marinade.
Pat the fish dry and place it in a covered, nonreactive container. Coat with the cooled marinade and refrigerate overnight, about 8–12 hours.
Count that time within the fish’s existing refrigerated storage window. Marinating does not extend shelf life; follow any shorter limit on the package. If the fish needs cooking today, choose the short-marinated option in our quick sablefish recipes.

Bake and finish the glaze

Heat the oven to 400°F. Remove excess marinade from each portion, leaving a thin coating. Discard the used marinade.
Place the fish in a lightly oiled baking dish, skin-side down if present. Begin checking after about 10 minutes and continue until the thickest part reaches 145°F.
If you want a more browned surface, finish briefly under the broiler in a broiler-safe dish. Watch continuously and remove the fish if the coating starts scorching. Broiling is optional.
Serve with rice, greens and pickled vegetables. Use clean utensils for the cooked fish.

Why wipe away the excess?

The sweet coating can brown before the fish is cooked. A thin layer is easier to manage than a thick blanket of marinade. Portion thickness and broiler strength affect the finish; neither a dark glaze nor a fixed cooking time proves that the center is ready.

For a recipe without sake or mirin, try baked sablefish with soy, lemon and ginger. For other preparations, explore ginger-steamed sablefish, spicy stew and red curry.

Follow FDA seafood handling guidance: keep fish refrigerated, prevent contact between raw fish and ready-to-eat food, and cook the thickest part to 145°F. Times are estimates; use a thermometer.

Explore Sablefish and the full Fish collection.

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