Be a better human: miso-braised cod with soba salad

I love miso for it’s patience. It’s one of those ingredients that can sit in the back of the fridge and just wait until you remember it’s there. It is quiet and strong all at once and I always feel that when I add it to a dish, I’m becoming a much better person because all of those qualities will be transfered onto me inside of a delicious little bundle of pure wholesome goodness.

Last night I had some cod that needed cookin’ and some soba noodles that needed some spark. I whipped up my go-to stand by for fish but then changed my mind, added in some sugar and dumped the whole mess over the soba noodles instead. By George, this was delicious! Now that I had an instant salad (after adding in some carrots, peas and cilantro), I turned to the fish and figured that it was high time to pull out that ever-patient miso. Using very similar ingredients to a salad dressing I’ve made in the past, I just tightened things up and created a saucy paste to smear on the cod. I broiled it then baked it and placed it on top of the soba noodles for presentation points. The results were incredible. Not only did the fish and noodles look amazing and uber-gourmet, but it was super simple to make (no patience required) and healthy to boot.

Miso turning your crank? Check out some tasty miso recipes from my archives:
vegetable stir fry with lemon-miso sauce
curry & miso udon soup
miso gravy
udon soup with grilled salmon
miso soup with ramen noodles

36 comments to “Be a better human: miso-braised cod with soba salad”

  1. 1
    S.   February 11, 2008 at 2:11 pm

    This looks beyond delicious! I need to eat it RIGHT now. Gonna make it this week fo sho.

  2. 2
    jen   February 11, 2008 at 2:31 pm

    Cor – that looks goooooood! Comforting noodles with fresh flavours. You’ve inspired me to go say hello to the miso in the back of my fridge 🙂

  3. 3
    Bijoux   February 11, 2008 at 6:45 pm

    I, too, have a tub of miso in my fridge. It’s been there for over a year and is still in great shape. I use it occasionally to make salad dressings or gravy but have yet to apply it to fish as a marinade. As I currently do not have any fish or soba noodles on hand, I will have to come back to this recipe…very soon!

  4. 4
    hag   February 11, 2008 at 8:31 pm

    that looks really good! I love how the fish looks BBQ’d, all golden!
    Another great dish with fish! Keep ’em coming!

  5. 5
    Cakespy   February 12, 2008 at 4:48 pm

    That is so damn sexy looking. The nice anchor of the soba salad for the light texture of that fish. Browned to perfection. I bow to you!

  6. 6
    Luisa   February 12, 2008 at 5:10 pm

    I’m sort of embarrassed to admit that I’ve never cooked with miso before, but your dinner looks so completely captivating that I might have to get myself some miso very very soon. And that noodle salad! Gorgeous.

  7. 7
    kickpleat   February 12, 2008 at 8:11 pm

    thanks stefanie, it was really delicious and looked surprisingly impressive to boot!

    jen, it’s a good reason to re-introduce yourself again 😉

    bijoux, i love that it’s something you can have hanging out in the back of the fridge and pull it out when you need to! miso is great.

    thanks hag!

    aw shucks, jennie! thanks so much for the award 🙂

    lydia, i too suffer from miso neglect, but it’s never too late!

    cakespy, you make me blush!

    thanks luisa, i hope this recipe convinces you to pick up a tub of miso!

  8. 8
    eileen   February 12, 2008 at 9:44 pm

    oh man, glazed fish! I bet this would be really good on salmon too. oh yes. salmon.

  9. 9
    S.   February 12, 2008 at 10:13 pm

    i just made this tonight. in fact i’m eating it right now but just had to stop by to say how amazing this tastes. this recipe is a keeper! thanks 🙂

  10. 10
    Jennie   February 12, 2008 at 2:33 pm

    GREAT idea for cod (or other light fish)! Yum! Left something for you on my blog…

  11. 11
    Lydia   February 12, 2008 at 3:34 pm

    Yummmm. I heart soba and also neglect my miso. I will totally make this.

  12. 12
    Judy   February 13, 2008 at 4:30 pm

    Isn’t miso fantastic? I have gone through two bags of it in less than two years, and it makes me wonder what I did before I discovered it. Huh.

  13. 13
    hag   February 13, 2008 at 3:50 pm

    what is ‘French Ginger’? Would regular ginger do?

  14. 14
    Kaman   February 13, 2008 at 5:14 pm

    Absolutely Gorgeous! I wish I could sink my teeth into that.

  15. 15
    kickpleat   February 14, 2008 at 9:04 am

    eileen, i’m sure it would be great on salmon!

    stefanie, so glad you loved it! hooray 🙂

    hag, you caught me with a typo! that is indeed fresh ginger, not french ginger!!

    wow, judy, you are a miso queen! i think i’m going through the second tub of my life!

    thanks kaman.

  16. 16
    Geggie   February 15, 2008 at 3:12 pm

    Wow! I just found your blog and I’ll be back. That fish looks divine!

  17. 17
    Angela   February 16, 2008 at 6:34 pm

    This looks amazing! Thank you for sharing the recipe. I just discovered your blog.

  18. 18
    kickpleat   February 23, 2008 at 10:45 am

    thanks geggie and angela!

  19. 19
    Frances   March 2, 2008 at 1:13 am

    we have just enjoyed this made with salmon (we can’t always get cod from our local fish shop), and it was indeed great. thanks for the recipe and inspiration to get reacquainted with the trusty miso. there’s quite a bit of the marinade left though – do you think it would freeze ok?

    i’ve just recently started following your blog, and am really loving it – i’ll be back too!

  20. 20
    F for Failure   April 24, 2008 at 3:04 pm

    The soba salad was so good that I ended up eating most of it before the fish was even done cooking. Awesome dish!

  21. 21
    Scarlett   June 9, 2008 at 12:50 pm

    Recipe looks great, but you’ve got your “its” and “it’s” mixed up.

    IT’S(with apostrophe) = a contraction for IT IS.

    ITS (no apostrophe) = the possessive form of IT.

    For example:

    Miso tastes great, and its antibacterial properties make it good for you. It’s great in soup.

    Hope that helps.

  22. 22
    kickpleat   June 12, 2008 at 6:17 pm

    scarlett, sorry, i’ve got no patience for grammar. or spelling.

  23. 23
    kickpleat   March 2, 2009 at 5:05 pm

    My grandmother’s granddaughter, so glad you love this recipe! it’s a favorite and i should make it more often. Thanks for the reminder!

  24. 24
    My grandmother's granddaughter   March 2, 2009 at 4:10 pm

    I found your miso-glazed cod recipe maybe a year ago and printed it off without including the url. After making it a good half-dozen times since for ourselves, we served it to guests this weekend. Their praise made me go searching so proper attribution could be made. Google has over 40k returns for “miso-glazed cod” but your recipe used the semi-distinctive term “schmear,” which led me to the right blog! Am so glad to find you and thank you.

  25. 25
    My grandmother's granddaughter   March 2, 2009 at 4:10 pm

    I found your miso-glazed cod recipe maybe a year ago and printed it off without including the url. After making it a good half-dozen times since for ourselves, we served it to guests this weekend. Their praise made me go searching so proper attribution could be made. Google has over 40k returns for “miso-glazed cod” but your recipe used the semi-distinctive term “schmear,” which led me to the right blog! Am so glad to find you and thank you.

  26. 26
    My grandmother's granddaughter   March 2, 2009 at 4:10 pm

    I found your miso-glazed cod recipe maybe a year ago and printed it off without including the url. After making it a good half-dozen times since for ourselves, we served it to guests this weekend. Their praise made me go searching so proper attribution could be made. Google has over 40k returns for “miso-glazed cod” but your recipe used the semi-distinctive term “schmear,” which led me to the right blog! Am so glad to find you and thank you.

  27. 27
    My grandmother's granddaughter   March 2, 2009 at 4:10 pm

    I found your miso-glazed cod recipe maybe a year ago and printed it off without including the url. After making it a good half-dozen times since for ourselves, we served it to guests this weekend. Their praise made me go searching so proper attribution could be made. Google has over 40k returns for “miso-glazed cod” but your recipe used the semi-distinctive term “schmear,” which led me to the right blog! Am so glad to find you and thank you.

  28. 28
    My grandmother's granddaughter   March 2, 2009 at 4:10 pm

    I found your miso-glazed cod recipe maybe a year ago and printed it off without including the url. After making it a good half-dozen times since for ourselves, we served it to guests this weekend. Their praise made me go searching so proper attribution could be made. Google has over 40k returns for “miso-glazed cod” but your recipe used the semi-distinctive term “schmear,” which led me to the right blog! Am so glad to find you and thank you.

  29. 29
    My grandmother's granddaughter   March 2, 2009 at 4:10 pm

    I found your miso-glazed cod recipe maybe a year ago and printed it off without including the url. After making it a good half-dozen times since for ourselves, we served it to guests this weekend. Their praise made me go searching so proper attribution could be made. Google has over 40k returns for “miso-glazed cod” but your recipe used the semi-distinctive term “schmear,” which led me to the right blog! Am so glad to find you and thank you.

  30. 30
    My grandmother's granddaughter   March 2, 2009 at 4:10 pm

    I found your miso-glazed cod recipe maybe a year ago and printed it off without including the url. After making it a good half-dozen times since for ourselves, we served it to guests this weekend. Their praise made me go searching so proper attribution could be made. Google has over 40k returns for “miso-glazed cod” but your recipe used the semi-distinctive term “schmear,” which led me to the right blog! Am so glad to find you and thank you.

  31. 31
    My grandmother's granddaughter   March 2, 2009 at 4:10 pm

    I found your miso-glazed cod recipe maybe a year ago and printed it off without including the url. After making it a good half-dozen times since for ourselves, we served it to guests this weekend. Their praise made me go searching so proper attribution could be made. Google has over 40k returns for “miso-glazed cod” but your recipe used the semi-distinctive term “schmear,” which led me to the right blog! Am so glad to find you and thank you.

  32. 32
    My grandmother's granddaughter   March 2, 2009 at 4:10 pm

    I found your miso-glazed cod recipe maybe a year ago and printed it off without including the url. After making it a good half-dozen times since for ourselves, we served it to guests this weekend. Their praise made me go searching so proper attribution could be made. Google has over 40k returns for “miso-glazed cod” but your recipe used the semi-distinctive term “schmear,” which led me to the right blog! Am so glad to find you and thank you.

  33. 33
    My grandmother's granddaughter   March 2, 2009 at 4:10 pm

    I found your miso-glazed cod recipe maybe a year ago and printed it off without including the url. After making it a good half-dozen times since for ourselves, we served it to guests this weekend. Their praise made me go searching so proper attribution could be made. Google has over 40k returns for “miso-glazed cod” but your recipe used the semi-distinctive term “schmear,” which led me to the right blog! Am so glad to find you and thank you.

  34. 34
    My grandmother's granddaughter   March 2, 2009 at 4:10 pm

    I found your miso-glazed cod recipe maybe a year ago and printed it off without including the url. After making it a good half-dozen times since for ourselves, we served it to guests this weekend. Their praise made me go searching so proper attribution could be made. Google has over 40k returns for “miso-glazed cod” but your recipe used the semi-distinctive term “schmear,” which led me to the right blog! Am so glad to find you and thank you.

  35. 35
    My grandmother's granddaughter   March 2, 2009 at 4:10 pm

    I found your miso-glazed cod recipe maybe a year ago and printed it off without including the url. After making it a good half-dozen times since for ourselves, we served it to guests this weekend. Their praise made me go searching so proper attribution could be made. Google has over 40k returns for “miso-glazed cod” but your recipe used the semi-distinctive term “schmear,” which led me to the right blog! Am so glad to find you and thank you.

  36. 36
    Dawn Weber   May 7, 2023 at 5:57 pm

    I love ginger, but I would halve the ginger in both components of the recipe next time. Otherwise, great.

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