The usefulness of miso is nearly unlimited, and it can convert the simplest of ingredients into an exotic dish, a secret of much of Japanese cooking. Here the fermented soybean paste is combined with scallops and a little seasoning, then allowed to sit for a while before being grilled or broiled. It’s a traditional dish, in some parts of Japan the home-cooking equivalent of slathering something with barbecue sauce before cooking. For ease of use and strict authenticity, the miso should be thinned—it’s too thick to use straight—with mirin, the sweet, golden-colored wine made from rice (and Japan’s most important sweetener before the introduction of white sugar). Mirin, too, comes in a naturally brewed form called hon-mirin; it’s preferable to aji-mirin, which may be boosted with corn syrup; check the label. But the amount of mirin is so small, and its flavor in this dish so subtle, that you can use a fruity, sweet white wine in its place or even honey. If you can, try this with Asparagus Salad with Soy-Mustard Dressing (page 190) or a plain salad. And a bit of short-grain rice, of course.

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

　　1/2 cup miso

　　2 tablespoons mirin

　　1/2 cup minced onion

　　Salt and cayenne to taste

　　1 1/2 pounds scallops, preferably bay

　　Juice of 1 lime

　　

Step 1

Preheat a broiler (or grill), setting the rack as close as possible to the heat source. Put the miso in a bowl, add the mirin, and whisk until smooth. Stir in the onion, a little bit of salt, and a pinch of cayenne. Add the scallops and marinate while the broiler or grill preheats, or refrigerate for up to a day.

　　

Step 2

Broil until lightly browned, without turning, for 2 to 3 minutes, or grill, turning once after a minute or 2. Sprinkle with the lime juice and serve.

　　

Miso-Broiled Fish

Step 3

You can also marinate sturdy white fillets this way—catfish, blackfish, monkfish, red snapper, and grouper are all good examples—or the old standby, salmon. Like the scallops, they should not be turned if you’re using the broiler. They should, however, be placed about 4 inches from the heat source so that the coating does not burn before the fish cooks through.

　　The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.