White Miso-Cured Wild Alaskan Black Cod

Makes 20 Servings

Ingredients

  • 1½ lbs wild Alaskan black cod
  • 1 cup kosher salt
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup fresh herbs, packed (parsley, basil, cilantro)
  • ½ cup yuzu juice
  • ½ cup orange juice
  • 1 orange, zest
  • 1 tbsp szechuan peppercorns, toasted/cracked
  • 1 tbsp fennel seed, toasted/cracked
  • 1 tbsp white miso paste

Crab Meat Salad

  • 8 oz fresh crab meat, picked through

* Use the following measurements or add them to taste:

  • 1 tsp preserved Meyer lemon*, brunoise (small dice), or lemon zest
  • 1 tsp roasted shallots, diced
  • 2 tbsp crème fraîche
  • salt & fresh cracked white pepper

How-to

Assemble the Crab Meat Salad

  1. Gently pick through crab for shells or cartilage, careful not to break up crab lumps
  2. Add roasted shallots, lemon peel*, crème fraîche, salt and pepper
  3. Gently fold ingredients

*Preserved Meyer Lemon -You can buy preserved Meyer lemon, but it's easy to prepare your own:

  1. Make two cuts in each lemon you want to prepare
  2. Place kosher salt into the crevices
  3. Wedge salted lemons tightly into a glass jar
  4. Store the jar in the refrigerator
  5. As long as the brine covers the lemons, lemons will keep about a year refrigerated

Roast Shallots - View the Crab Meat Salad Video which demonstrates roasting 3 shallots but prepare as many as you like - this recipe only requires about 1 tsp of roasted shallots.

  1. Preheat oven to 300º
  2. Place unpeeled shallots in an air-tight foil wrap and roast for 50-60 minutes, or until soft
  3. Trim root end, squeeze out roasted shallot, and dice

Prepare the Cod

  1. Wash/rinse/spin/dry herbs
  2. Blend all ingredients in food processor until combined
  3. Pat down fish to ensure dryness
  4. Place fish skin-side down on plastic wrap
  5. Evenly spread miso onto flesh-side
  6. Lather mix thoroughly on top of miso
  7. Wrap tightly / Place in fridge weighted
  8. Let sit for 24-36 hours / Flip halfway
  9. Rinse completely with very cold water / Pat until completely dry
  10. Cut thin, even slices on the bias
  11. Lay overlapping on top of plastic wrap
  12. Cover with plastic wrap
  13. Use rolling pin to gently even out & meld slices
  14. Remove top layer of plastic wrap
  15. Lay straight line of crab meat along edge of fish
  16. Use bottom plastic wrap to wrap fish around crab meat
  17. Slice fish allowing enough space for fish to overlap
  18. Rest in fridge for 1 hour before slicing & serving

Garnishes - View Peter Ungár's videos for suggested garnishes: