Yellowtail with Miso Sauce, Shiso Butter, Grilled Radishes and Onions

By Andrew Zimmern

Yellowtail is one of the most forgiving fish you can throw on a grill. It’s a great fish for anyone new to grilling seafood: it has enough fat to stay moist, but a cleaner, flakier texture than salmon. Here, it’s paired with a sweet-savory blond miso sauce, a bright compound shiso butter, and charred onions and radishes for a dish that feels elegant but cooks with surprising ease.

Andrew Zimmern grills yellowtail with miso sauce on wild game kitchen.

Grilled Yellowtail with Miso Sauce

Ingredients

For the miso sauce

1 cup Japanese blond miso
1 teaspoon instant dashi powder
1/2 cup sake
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar

For the shiso butter

2 sticks salted butter, softened
1 large shallot, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, sliced
1 cup shiso leaves
1/4 cup garlic chives or chives, chopped, plus more for garnish
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

For the vegetables

2 medium white onions, peeled and halved crosswise
12 red radishes, trimmed
Neutral oil, for brushing
Kosher salt

For the fish

4 yellowtail fillets or portions, skin removed
Neutral oil
Kosher salt

Instructions

Make the miso sauce

In a heatproof bowl set over barely simmering water, combine the miso, instant dashi, sake, egg yolks, and sugar. Whisk continuously until the sauce thickens, 8 to 12 minutes. The sauce should become glossy and thick enough that you can see the bottom of the bowl briefly when dragging a whisk through it. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Tip: This is an unusually stable egg-thickened sauce because of the protein in the miso, so it is very forgiving and difficult to curdle. It also reheats well.

Make the shiso butter

In a food processor or blending cup, combine the softened butter, shallot, garlic, shiso, chopped garlic chives, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and black pepper. Blend until smooth and fluffy, scraping down the sides as needed.

Transfer to a bowl or roll into a log in plastic wrap and chill until needed.

Tip: Andrew’s ratio for compound butter is about 2 tablespoons of acid per stick of butter. That balance keeps the butter bright instead of heavy.

Grill the onions and radishes

Heat a grill to medium-high direct heat.

Lightly coat the onion halves and radishes with neutral oil. Place the onions cut side down on the grill and cook until well charred. Grill the radishes until charred and just tender, turning as needed.

Set aside.

Grill the yellowtail

Lightly coat the yellowtail with neutral oil and season with salt.

Grill the fish over medium direct heat until just cooked through, about 5 to 8 minutes total depending on thickness, turning carefully as needed.

Yellowtail is harder to overcook than leaner fish, which makes it a great choice for grill cooking. It should be just opaque and flake easily.

Tip: Build every other component before cooking the fish. The fish is the fastest-cooking element, so it should be the last thing to hit the grill.

Plate and serve

Spoon some miso sauce onto each plate. Arrange the grilled fish over or beside the sauce, then immediately top each piece with a dollop of shiso butter so it melts onto the hot fish.

Add the grilled onions and radishes alongside. Garnish with more chopped garlic chives and serve hot.