Miso-Glazed Cod with Buckwheat & Edamame

Ingredients

• 2 cod fillets, about 180g each, skin on
• 3 tbsp white miso paste
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 180 g buckwheat, rinsed
• 150 g frozen edamame, shelled
• 4 spring onions, sliced
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• 1 lime, juiced
• salt
• Steamed jasmine rice, to serve
• Pickled cucumber, to serve
• Fresh coriander, to serve

Method

1. Whisk the miso, mirin, soy sauce and sesame oil together in a small bowl until smooth and glossy. Pat the cod fillets thoroughly dry — water on the surface means steam, and steam means no caramelisation under the grill. Coat the fillets all over with two-thirds of the glaze and reserve the rest for the bowl. Leave to marinate for at least 10 minutes at room temperature, or up to 2 hours covered in the fridge.
2. Bring a large pan of water to a rolling boil and salt it generously — it should taste like the sea. Tip in the buckwheat and cook for 10 minutes until just tender with a little bite. Drop the edamame in for the final 3 minutes, then drain well and tip into a wide bowl.
3. While the buckwheat cooks, preheat the grill to high and line a baking tray with foil. Lay the cod fillets skin-side down on the tray and grill for 8–10 minutes, until the glaze is deeply caramelised, charred at the edges, and the fish flakes easily under a fork. Watch the last two minutes — miso has sugar in it and goes from lacquered to scorched fast.
4. While the cod rests off the heat, tip the reserved glaze into a small pan with a splash of water, bring to a quick simmer for 20–30 seconds and swirl until glossy and spoonable — this turns the marinade into a proper sauce rather than a paste.
5. Toss the warm buckwheat and edamame with the sliced spring onions, the toasted sesame seeds and the lime juice. Taste — most of the salt comes from the soy in the glaze you'll spoon over, but the grain itself needs a pinch now. Adjust, taste again.
6. Divide the buckwheat between two bowls, lay the miso cod on top, and spoon the warmed glaze over the fish. Scatter with extra toasted sesame seeds, tuck a lime wedge alongside each bowl and squeeze one over the cod just before eating.