Broiled Branzino with Roasted Carrots
If you live on the East Coast, branzino is a pretty common fish that doesn’t break the bank and can be easily cooked at home. It gets even easier if you ask your fishmonger (we got ours from Whole Foods) to scale, gut, and butterfly it for you. Butterflying the fish increases the surface area for more charred flavor. Just make sure you ask for the bones for a simple side soup!
On the side I made some roasted carrots with a zataar-honey glaze and sesame yogurt, rice, and the previously mentioned soup. The fish marination takes some time (about an hour) but the total cook time is fairly quick, around 30 minutes!
Ingredients
Broiled Branzino
1 branzino, scaled, gutted and butterflied
Miso Marinade (recipe below)
100g (⅓ cup) white miso
40g (2.5 Tablespoons) sake
40g (2.5 Tablespoons) mirin
15g (1 Tablespoon) sugar
Shio Koji (store bought)
Roasted Carrots
1 bunch carrots, washed and dried
Salt
White Pepper
1 Tablespoon neutral oil
Zataar Honey Glaze
2 Tablespoons honey
1 Tablespoon zataar
1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
1 pinch salt
3 cracks white pepper
Sesame Yogurt
3 Tablespoons yogurt
2 Tablespoons tahini
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons sugar
1 pinch salt
1 dash of yondu
Fish Bone Broth
Bones from 1 branzino
2 half-inch slices of ginger
1 g kombu
1/4 cup katsuobushi
Light Soy Sauce
Salt
Preheat the oven to BROIL with a rack on the highest shelf.
For the miso marinade, combine the sake and mirin and bring to a boil to burn off the alcohol. You can test if all the alcohol has evaporated by wafting your hand over the pot towards your nose: if there is a slight burning sensation, there’s still some alcohol left.
Add the sugar and mix until fully dissolved, then the miso and stir until combined.
Cool the whole mixture to room temperature in a cup container or over a bowl set over ice. Cooling it rapidly will prevent evaporation and loss of flavor but this step is optional. Label the container “Miso Marinade” with the date and store it in the fridge for up to a year.
Combine an equal amount of shio koji and miso marinade (I did about 2 tablespoons each) and brush over both sides of the branzino. Place on a wired baking sheet and leave in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
Remove the branzino from the fridge and broil for 2 minutes, then turn the sheet 180 degrees and cook again for 2 minutes. The fish is done when the skin has dark patches. Keep cooking and turning the fish until it’s done.
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Toss the carrots with the oil, a large pinch of salt, and a couple cracks of white pepper.
Place on a baking sheet in one layer and broil in the oven, checking every 2 minutes and giving the pan a good shake to evenly cook them. You want to time the carrots and the fish so they go into the oven at the same time.
Once the fish is done, lower the heat to 450F and place the carrots on a rack in the middle of the oven. Cook for another 10 minutes or until the carrots are soft in the center. Toss with the zataar honey to finish and plate over the yogurt.
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Combine the honey, zataar, vinegar, salt and white pepper in a small pot and cook over low heat, 1 minute, until the honey is runny and salt has melted.
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Combine the yogurt, tahini, sesame oil, lemon juice, sugar, salt and yondu. It should taste a little acidic, bright, a touch sweet, and refreshing. Adjust the seasoning to taste.
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In a medium pot, cover the bones, ginger and kombu with 3 inches of water.
Bring to a boil, skim off scum, reduce the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes.
Add the katsuobushi and steep for 15 minutes. Season with light soy sauce and salt to taste and strain the broth before serving.