Miso Glazed Sea Bass Recipe: Crispy Japanese-style Fillets (2024)

If you are a fan of Japanese cuisine, this dish is for you. Our miso-glazed sea bass recipe features pan-seared fillets bathed in a thick miso soy sauce, offering a wholesome seafood feast. This one-pan recipe requires minimal time and skill to put together—perfect for home cooks.

What Is Miso Paste?

Traditionally, Japanese chefs ferment soybeans and grains with salt, sugar, Koji, and yeast to make miso paste. During the fermenting process, the salt and a fungus called Koji help break down the plant-based proteins into amino acids to create a smooth paste. Japanese chefs often use miso for soups, stews, and light dressings due to its deeply salty and sweet taste.

What Does Miso Taste Like?

The flavor differs depending on the variety—light or dark miso paste.

Light miso possesses a slightly sweet taste, whereas dark miso has a more noticeably umami flavor. In fact, the longer the fermentation and aging process last, the bolder the flavor will be.

Ingredients You Will Need

For any Japanese signature, the required ingredients may be easier to find at Asian markets rather than in your local grocery store. If this isn’t an option, you can also place an order online and have the items delivered to your door.

Here’s what you’ll need for today’s recipe:

• Sea bass fillets: The flaky texture and mild fishy flavor of sea bass have turned many into seafood-lovers—even picky eaters. Whether baked, grilled, air-fried, or pan-seared, this incredible fish guarantees an outstanding dining experience every time.
• Green beans: The muted taste of green beans goes perfectly with our miso glaze. These legumes also give a contrasting texture—adding snap and crunch.
• Aromatics: Once the garlic and ginger hit the hot oil, your kitchen will be filled with an irresistible aroma. To prevent burnt and bitter garlic, you should sauté it for less than 1 minute.
• Canola oil: This high smoke point oil ensures the cooking temperature is sustained throughout, while its neutral taste won’t affect the flavor of the sea bass.
• Japanese-style sauce: The concoction of soy sauce, sesame oil, cooking mirin, red miso paste, and brown sugar imparts more depth to our dish. Together, these condiments create the joy for your taste buds that is umami flavor.

Is Miso Glazed Sea Bass Healthy?

Our miso glazed sea bass provides tons of nutrients: protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

For each serving, you will gain approximately 26 g of protein from the sea bass and 1.3 g of plant-based protein from the green beans. Increasing protein intake may help promote muscle mass, bone health, and weight control. Additionally, sea bass also contains a considerable amount of omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to be beneficial for your physical and mental performance.

In total, our main course yields 501 calories with the amount of sodium and saturated fat kept strictly within healthy limits.

Side Dishes

For a full-on Asian-style dinner, we suggest serving this sea bass creation with a steamy bowl of soup or a quick vegetable stir fry dish—or maybe both. Here are some great recommendations from our chefs:

• Cabbage Soup
• Cabbage Potato Soup
• Air Fryer Tofu
• Sautéed Cauliflower
• Miso soup