eating in

My husband has a knack for winning contests.  He enlisted my help for a BBQ recipe to enter in a contest for Chill Magazine, and as a result, we won a new BBQ!  It was an upgrade from our last BBQ, which was actually also won by him in a previous contest.

I started playing around with miso glazed fish recipes after tasting delicious, melt-on-your-tongue miso glazed cod dishes at Japanese restaurants.  The recipe is so easy and flexible, so play around.  I’ve made it with cod, arctic char, trout and salmon.  I’ve used different types of sugars and substituted Shaoxing wine for sake and Shaoxing wine with sugar for mirin when I ran out of sake and mirin one time.  For the award-winning recipe, my husband decided to swap the sugar with maple syrup, and went with wild B.C. salmon (he added a Canadian spin).  The recipe below is the same as the one that won us the BBQ, but baked in an oven instead, seeing as it’s no longer grilling season.

Maple Miso Glazed Salmon

3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1/3 cup mirin
4 tablespoons white miso paste
A 1.5-2 lb wild B.C. salmon fillet

In a small saucepan over low heat, combine maple syrup, rice vinegar, mirin, and miso paste.  Whisk until just combined, and then remove from heat (marinade should only be slightly warm to the touch).  Place marinade in a large resealable plastic bag and then add the fish fillet.  Seal the bag and ensure the fish is well coated with marinade.  Leave in the refrigerator for at least two hours, but preferably overnight.

Pre-heat your oven to 375° F.  Line a baking sheet with foil, or lightly oil the sheet.  Gently remove any excess marinade from the fish with your fingers or by gently shaking it and then place on the baking sheet (excess marinade may burn in the oven).  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the desired level of doneness is reached.