Momofuku...MomoFUku...MomoFUKU...MOMOFUKU!!! I just like saying that word, Momofuku. The owner of the eponymous group of restaurants chose it because of another bad word it sounds like, and that word rolls of the tongue too. I like to say it as would a B movie samurrai: short, clipped, strong - MomoFUKU! The restaurants by that name are Momofuku Noodle Bar, Momofuku Ssiam, and Momofuku Ko. Apparently, there are more, but I don't follow that scene closely enough. Those I do follow hold the chef David Chang and his craft in high regard, and on that basis I purchased his cookbook.
On this night, I thought of preparing a meal with his cookbook, hoping to use some cod I had in the fridge. Unfortunately, the name Momofuku was also chosen in honor of Momofuku Ando, the Taiwanese-Japanese inventor of instant Ramen noodles. So, while David Chang's noodle-based recipes are world-class, they offer little hope for my cod filets I want to saute with a nice sauce. And, thus, a common dilemma is confronted. We aspire to fashionable dishes and restaurants, but they may not fit our ingredients list, patience or skill-level.
Still, that is no reason to prepare another chicken breast. Searching further for a way to marry my cod with Asian fusion, I was saved by celebrity chef Nobuyuki "Nobu" Matsuhisa. His signature dish is black cod in miso. Simple, elegant, flavorful, this was a dish I could do. Its zen simplicity relied almost solely on cod, miso and sake. Elegant in the preparation it suggested and I accomplished with ease. Flavorful as I found at a sublime level, savory, unctuous, perhaps even that mystical flavor of unami.
The original recipe from Nobu: The Cookbook displays just the piece of fish and dots of marinade. I needed more than that for my special meal. I chose a side of shiitake mushrooms, simmered in sake, as well as a bed of sauteed leeks, which I already had and needed to use. Again, I also sauteed these in a little sake, and their color expressed well in the overall pallet of this meal. Lastly, I kicked up the cod a little with a top crust of black sesame seeds. Am I guilty of leaving the zen and embracing the bling? I don't know, but that doesn't really matter. I made it my own. I do know that this meal tasted fabulous, the miso marinade reduced provided a perfect complement to the fish. Momofuku will save for another day. Serves 2.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sake
1/4 cup mirin (a sweeter and less alcoholic version of saki available in most Asian sections)
2 packets of miso soup mix
3 tbsp sugar
2 filets cod
1 tbsp black sesame seeds
1 leek, white and light green parts sliced into thin rounds
2 cups shiitake mushrooms
1 garlic clove, minced
4 tbsp butter
2 tbsp vegetable oil
salt/pepper
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Mix 1/4 cup of sake, the mirin, miso soup mix and sugar together to make a marinade. Place it and the cod filets in a plastic Ziploc bag and marinate 30 minutes. Towards the end of the marinating time, warm 2 tbsp of butter in a medium pot over medium-low heat. When melted, add the leak, 2 tbsp of sake and a little salt and pepper. Cover and soften the leeks, taking care not to allow them to brown. Similarly, add the other 2 tbsp of butter to a medium saute pan and melt over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, garlic, remaining 2 tbsp of sake and a little salt and pepper. Cook the mushrooms allowing them to soak up the sake.
Heat an ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Remove the filets and pat dry, reserving the marinade. Sprinkle the sesame seeds over one side and press in to adhere. Add the vegetable oil to the hot pan and when smoking, add the cod filets. Allow the filets to saute for a few minutes and then put into the oven to roast. Meanwhile, add the marinade to a small sauce pan over high heat and reduce to the consistency of a thick sauce. Check the filets in 5 or 10 minutes using a meat thermometer stuck into the fish for a few seconds and then held up to your tongue. If it feels nice and warm, the filets are done. Plate by placing the leeks down first and cod on top. Spoon out the sauce and add the mushrooms on the side.
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