(Rosie Hawthorne)
My son came home the other day with a mess o’ mahi mahi and I’m one happy Mama. There are so many ways to prepare mahi – one can bake it, grill it, blacken it, sauté it, fry it, and I’ve done them all. Today, I’m taking the fillets and marinating them in a miso paste-based sauce, then reducing the marinade and using it as a flavor-enhancing glaze for the sautéed fillets. Add a few sides, say some wild rice and a stir-fried vegetable mix, and you’ve got quite a palatable meal.
In case you’re not familiar with the Japanese staple miso paste, it’s a thick, savory paste made from fermented soy beans. The soybeans are inoculated with a type of mold, called koji (which is also used to make sake) and blended with other grains, then it’s allowed to ferment. The longer the fermentation, the darker the paste and the more complex the flavor. Miso gives you a boost of sapidity, namely that fifth basic taste component, along with sweet, sour, salty, and bitter, called umami. Umami is salty, earthy, rich, intense, multi-dimensional, and kinda funky. Basically, it’s what makes your mouth water.
Now, on to some mouth-watering mahi mahi.
