Miso Tasty: Japanese superfood recipes from grilled black cod to dark fudge chocolate brownie

Known for its healing properties across Asia, miso can be used everyday and is a vital ingredient for health concious food lovers

Despite looking like a show-off meal, the grilled saikyo miso black cod is actually very simple

Made from fermented soybeans, the Japanese paste has long been prized for its rich, complex umami flavours and its healthy properties.

The ingredient has been used by the Japanese for centuries, but has recently found its way to the kitchens of top chefs, cooks and food writers, making it into an everyday ingredient.

Bonnie Chung, founder of the UK’s only dedicated miso brand, is a self-taught, miso expert and brings to us Miso Tasty: The Cookbook, published on Thursday. With 60 recipes covering both non-Japanese and well-loved classic Japanese dishes from miso soup to barbecued steak marinades, the book also includes how to make your own miso at home.

Grilled green bean salad with roast walnut miso dressing

This is a quick dish that’s perfect with fish or chicken, or as a simple but deeply tasty snack. Miso loves nuts, and with walnuts containing so much richly flavoured oil, miso and walnuts are a happy pairing for dressings and dips. It’s one of my most requested miso dishes, so I hope it is as popular with you.

Serves 4–6 as a side dish

50g/ 1¾oz/ ½ cup walnut halves 
2 tbsp white miso 
2 tbsp mirin 
2 tsp caster (superfine) sugar 
1 tsp soy sauce
250g/ 9oz/ 1² ⁄ ³ cups green beans, trimmed
salt
a little olive oil

Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/gas mark 3. Toast the walnuts on a tray in the oven for five minutes until golden, taking care not to burn them. Remove and leave to cool. Mix the miso with the mirin, sugar and soy sauce in a small bowl. Preheat the grill to medium. Cook the green beans in salted boiling water for three minutes until al dente, then brush with olive oil and grill for one minute until slightly charred.

Once the walnuts are cold, pulse in a food processor for 20 seconds; you still want some crumbly texture so be careful they do not become too fine. Mix with the miso sauce, adding a little water to loosen the mixture. When you are ready to serve, toss the green beans and walnut miso in a mixing bowl until the beans are well covered in dressing.

Grilled saikyo miso black cod

This is such a famous dish, based on Nobu’s world-renowned recipe. While it is definitely a show-off meal, it is actually very simple to pull off.

Marinating fish in this way began when the Japanese used miso to preserve their fish, in the same way that salting and pickling is popular in other cuisines. Oily fish such as salmon, mackerel and black cod are especially delicious prepared in this way, as the miso keeps the moisture in and ensures the fish stays succulent. If you cannot get hold of black cod, go for cod loin for impossibly moist flakes of fish.

Serves 4

1 tbsp soy sauce 
200g/ 7 oz/ ¾ cup Saikyo miso 
1 tbsp finely grated unwaxed lemon zest
4 tbsp sake
4 tbsp mirin
3 tbsp caster (superfine) sugar
4 skin-on fillets of black cod

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, miso and lemon zest and mix until smooth. In a small saucepan, heat the sake and mirin over a high heat for 30 seconds to evaporate the alcohol. Then reduce the heat and whisk in the miso mixture until smooth. Increase the heat again and add the sugar; be careful it doesn’t burn. Leave to cool to room temperature. Put the fish in a bowl. Smother both sides of each fillet generously with the miso mixture and cover with cling film. Leave to marinade for at least three hours, or overnight (or up to three days).

When ready to cook, preheat the grill to medium and preheat the oven to 170°C/340°F/gas mark 3. Wipe off any excess miso clinging to the fish. Grill the fish, about 7.5 cm (3 in) from the grill, skin side up first, for three minutes, until you see bubbles and a little charring. Transfer to the oven and bake for 7–10 minutes until the fish is opaque and flakes easily. It will be just cooked and tender on the inside. Serve immediately with rice and simple steamed or stir-fried greens.

Dark miso fudge chocolate brownie

As soon as you bite into the rich density of these, you will be hit with a salty, buttery, powerful chocolate punch: all the hallmarks of a brownie have been taken to extremes. Miso has an incredible ability to enhance the flavours of almost anything it is paired with and that is certainly the case with chocolate. In this recipe, you cannot detect a strong miso flavour, instead the taste of the chocolate is intensified. This brownie is very rich, so is best served with crème fraîche, whipped cream or good-quality vanilla ice cream. You will need a 20 cm (8 in) square baking tin.

Serves 6–8

250 g/9 oz/2 sticks unsalted butter, plus more for the tin
200 g/7 oz good-quality 70% cocoa solids chocolate
100 g/3½ oz/ ⅓ cup white miso 
220 g/8 oz/1 cup golden caster (superfine) sugar
½ tsp baking powder
70 g/2½ oz/½ cup plain (all-purpose) flour
60 g/1 oz/½ cup cocoa powder
3 large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Lightly butter a 20 cm (8 in) square baking tin. Set a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water over a medium heat. Break the chocolate into the bowl and melt it with the butter and miso into a thick sauce.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, baking powder, flour and cocoa power. Gradually whisk the dry ingredients into the melted chocolate mixture. Remove the batter from the heat. Whisk in the eggs and egg yolk. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 30–40 minutes: it will be slightly cracked on top, with a soft fudgy consistency inside. Since miso doesn’t melt, its chew adds a unique texture and prevents the brownie from drying out once cooled. Serve with cream or ice cream.

Miso Tasty by Bonnie Chung published by Pavilion Books. Image credit to Yuki Sugiura