Easy Baked Ling Cod with 3-Ingredient Miso Glaze

Paint this umami-rich, miso-soy glaze onto your lingcod or other white fish fillet.  It is only three ingredients and needs just 15 minutes to marinate.

Lingcod is a Cook's Canvas

Like a blank white canvas, lingcod is particularly neutral in flavor for a white fish and will readily wear whatever outfit you would like.

This miso-soy glaze works adds depth and flavor beyond just salt and pepper, and it does so very quickly.

Darling, you won't miss the breadcrumbs or butter on this easy baked fish recipe.

3 Ingredient Glaze

You will need equal parts:

1. Miso paste - These come in varying colors, red, white and yellow, that range in saltiness and sweetness.  Use the one you have on hand.
2. Soy sauce - Tamari or gluten free soy sauce would work just as well too.
3. Olive oil - Regular or virgin olive oil will do.  Extra virgin olive oil is best saved for raw applications. The fish needs some fat, and olive oil adds a touch of fruitiness too.

Hopefully, you already have these items on hand.  If not, grab the basic Asian pantry checklist to get started.

How to Make Easy Baked Lingcod

Step 1: Mix the glaze

Equal parts of miso paste, soy sauce, and olive oil make this something you can double, triple or quadruple quite easily.

1 Tb of each item mixed together is good for a 1 lb of fish.

Step 2: Score and paint fish

If you have the skin on the fillet, be sure to score the fish with cuts about ½" deep into the flesh.

This will allow the marinade to penetrate through the skin and also keep the fish from buckling when cooked.

Step 3: Bake

It should take about 10-15 minutes to cook through, depending on how thick your fillet is.  A tail end fillet would quick more quickly, since it is much thinner.

If using a thermometer, it should register at least 145 degrees in the thickest part of the fillet.

This fish will dry out if overcooked, so take care to just cook the fish through for maximum juiciness.

If you start seeing white cream oozing out of the fish crevices, it is starting to overcook.  Remove from the oven immediately.

Step 4: Serve hot

Serve with a side of sauteed spinach, make ahead Chinese broccoli, or easiest ever Korean sesame spinach.

Remove Fish Odor from your Oven

Some of you may be averse to baking fish in the oven due to the lingering odor that wafts through your kitchen and house.

For that reason, a fillet is used in this recipe that keeps the cooking time short, just 10-15 minutes.

If the smell does bother you, try these Kitchn tips:

1. Bake a pan filled with water and either vanilla extract, lemon juice, or vinegar for 1 hour.
2. Bake orange or lemon peels in the oven.

I would bet 325 degrees would be a safe temperature, and I would bake until I started to smell the citrus freshness (rather than leaving in too long to burn).

Easy Baked Cod vs. Miso Marinated Cod

This Japanese ling cod recipe is not to be confused with miso marinated cod made famous by Chef Nobu.

While that recipe is marinated for 2 days, this recipe is a more of a glaze.  Hence, much faster.

Lingcod is Sustainable

Native to North America, over 80% of the lingcod caught in the US is rated as "best choice" or "good alternative" by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program.

Similar to sablefish or "black cod," it is not actually cod.  It is a bottom-dweller, found in ocean depth of 1500 feet or more, often hiding between rocks, cliffs or crevices.

Whether you can find ling cod or not, any white fish fillet will do.  Lingcod, however, is particularly thick, juicy, and has a large flake, which makes it ideal for chewing (and also deep-frying).

These are primarily West Coast predatory fish caught off the coasts from British Columbia, Canada down to Baja California.

Other sustainable seafood recipes

Super Quick, Homemade Ponzu Sauce for Oysters

Fan-Favorite Thai Coconut Curry Mussels

Wine Pairing: Sekt Wine

Yes, the default food pairing with Asian food strikes again, but this time it's a sparkling wine.  It may be a bit more challenging to find but worth the effort.

The Gebrüder Simon Riesling Brut ($27) is from Mosel, Germany where sparkling riesling is known as Sekt wine.

What makes this Sekt wine unique is that the residual sugar added to the bottle is from grape juice rather than regular sugar.  The winery sources it from nearby Auslese grapes used to make ice wines.

As an alternative, a Chablis would work nicely with this baked lingcod recipe as it does with these other Japanese foods.

Easily Digestible Tips

1. If you have a skin-on fillet, score it with a few slashes, so the fillet won't curl while cooking.
2. Use whichever color miso you have on hand - red, white or yellow will do.
3. Marinate with the glaze from 15 minutes to overnight.
4. Check for doneness when you can easily pierce through the thickest part of the fillet with a fork or a thermometer reads 145 degrees.
5. If the fish starts to ooze white cream, it is turning well done and should be removed from the oven immediately.
6. To remove fish odors from your oven, bake lemon or orange peels in the oven at 325 degrees until you start to smell citrus freshness.

What else you can make with Miso:

Quickie Miso-Mirin Manila Clams

Foolproof 2-Day Miso Marinated Black Cod a la Nobu

Miso Padron Peppers + Kurayoshi Whisky

Recipe

Do you love easy fish recipes?  Please spread the Asian ♥ and share!