Saikyo Yaki Miso Marinade (2024)

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This is a basic marinade for Saikyo Yaki Fish which are served at many great Japanese restaurants. Saikyo Yaki Miso Marinade is a sweet miso marinade that is so quick to make. Simply marinate fish or meat and grill it. You will be surprised how flavoursome it can be.

Saikyo Yaki Miso Marinade (1)

Saikyo Yaki(西京焼き) is a dish of grilled fish or meat marinated in sweetened miso. Once you master Saikyo Yaki Miso Marinade, you can make so many different dishes by simply changing the ingredients to marinate.

WHAT’S IN SAIKYO YAKI MISO MARINADE

The basic marinade consists of only four ingredients – Saikyo miso, Sake, Mirin and sugar. The proportion of these ingredients are:

  • 
300g/10.1oz Saikyo miso
  • 
1½ tbsp sake
  • 
1½ tbsp mirin
  • 
1 tbsp sugar

The above quantity is plentyto marinate 6 x 130g/4.6oz fillet.

Saikyo Yaki Miso Marinade (2)

You need to use the particular miso called Saikyo miso(西京味噌) to make an authentic Saikyo Yaki Miso Marinade. It has sweet and very subtle miso flavour.

However, if it is not easy to obtain Saikyo Miso, you can substitute it with shiro miso(white miso), which should be close to Saikyo miso. If your shiro misois not as pale as Saikyo miso, you may need to add extra sugar to make the marinade sweeter.

ABOUT SAIKYO MISO

Saikyo miso is made in Kansai (the western region of Japan), particularly in Kyoto. The name “Saikyo” (西京) came from the name of the miso production company that started making this miso about 200 years ago to serve to the Kyoto Imperial Palace.

Since then, the capital of Japan has moved from Kyoto to Tokyo. Hence, Kyoto became the western capital, ie. “Saikyo” and the miso company adopted it as the name of the miso. But nowadays, the term Saikyo miso is used generically for cream coloured sweet miso. It is also called shiro miso(白味噌, white miso) because of the colour.

Saikyo Yaki Miso Marinade (3)

A pack of Saikyo miso and cream coloured Saikyo miso (top right) as well as typical brownmiso (top left) as comparison.

Standard brown miso contains about 12% salt while Saikyo miso contains about 5% salt. Sometimes, Saikyo miso even contains syrup to make it a bit sweet.

You might find miso labelled as “shiro miso” in supermarkets or Asian grocery stores but often they are not as pale as Saikyo miso nor as sweet.

In Sydney, I can buy Saikyo miso only at Japanese grocery stores. It is usually stored in the freezer and looks like the photo above. You can see the brand name in the vertical kanji characters “西京”.

ALTERNATIVE TO SAIKYO MISO MARINADE

You can also make a miso marinade similar to Saikyo Miso Marinade using normal brown miso. It is not exactly the same as the marinade using Saikyo miso, as the marinade is much darker to start with, but you can still enjoy the sweetness of the miso flavour.

The ingredients to make miso marinade using brown miso are the same as Saikyo Miso Marinade except the type of miso used. But the quantity needs to be adjusted to compensate for the lack of sweetness in miso. Here is the proportion of these ingredients:

  • 
300g/10.1oz brown miso
  • 
1½ tbsp sake
  • 
1½ tbsp mirin
  • 
30g/1oz sugar

Saikyo Yaki Miso Marinade (4)

VARIATIONS TO SAIKYO MISO MARINADE

The sweetness of the marinade can vary depending on your palette. Some people might find my recipe too sweet. Others might want the marinade to be sweeter. You can adjust the amount of mirin/sugar to your liking.

Some recipes don’t use sugar but add more mirin to the miso. It will make the miso marinade a bit loose but that’s OK.

If you are an Aussie, you might have watched the SBS food program where the award-winning chef Tetsuya demonstrated how to make his version of Saikyo Yaki recipe. In his recipe, he adds grated ginger, garlic and grapeseed oil to the miso mixture. This is certainly not the traditional Saikyo miso marinade but it’s still pretty tasty, of course.

MARINATING FISH OR MEAT

Just like any other thick marinades, simply smudge the miso marinade over the fish or meat pieces (see the example below using salmon fillets). Depending on the ingredients, the marinating time varies, too.

Saikyo Yaki Miso Marinade (5)

Most well known dish using Saikyo Yaki Miso Marinade is black cod Saikyo yaki which I will post some day. But as a starter, please see the postSaikyo Yaki Fish (Saikyo Miso Marinated Grilled Fish) for how to marinate fish using Saikyo Yaki Miso Marinade.

YumikoSaikyo Yaki Miso Marinade (6)

Saikyo Yaki Miso Marinade (7)

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Saikyo Yaki Miso Marinade

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

0 mins

Total Time

10 mins

This is a basic marinade for Saikyo Yaki Fish, which is served at many great Japanese restaurants. Saikyo Yaki Miso Marinade is a sweet miso marinade that is so quick to make. Simply marinate fish or meat and grill it.

Recipe Type:Pantry

Cuisine:Japanese

Keyword:miso marinade, Saikyo Miso, Saikyo Yaki

Serves: 6 fillets (130g/4.6oz each)

Author: Yumiko

Ingredients (tbsp=15ml, cup=250ml)

Makes enough to marinate 6 x 130g/4.6oz fillet

  • 300g/10.1ozSaikyo miso(note 1)
  • tbspsake
  • tbspmirin
  • 1tbspsugar

Instructions

  1. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well ensuring that the miso paste is smooth with no lumps, sugar dissolved.

  2. To store in the fridge, place the marinade in an airtight container, cover the surface of the miso marinade with cling wrap (note 2), then place the lid on.

    Alternatively, place the marinade in a zip lock bag, remove air as much as possible (note 2) and seal. Keeps 4 weeks+.

Recipe Notes

1. Saikyo miso (西京味噌) is a particular kind of miso that is very sweet and has a creamy pale colour (see the photo in the post). It might also be sold as “sweet shiro miso” (白味噌, white miso) due to its colour.

If you cannot find Saikyo miso or sweet shiro miso, you can substitute it with brown miso. If you do, increase the amount of sugar to 30g/1.1oz.

2. Miso marinade can keep a long time in the fridge as long as it is not mixed with water. Covering the surface of the miso marinade prevents the dew that might form on the lid or inside the bag from touching marinade.

3. Please see the postSaikyo Yaki Fish (Saikyo Miso Marinated Grilled Fish) for how to marinate fish using Saikyo Yaki Miso Marinade.

4. Saikyo Yaki Miso Marinade can be reused 2-3 times. A small amount of water might come up due to the moisture from the fish/meat. Absorb the water using kitchen paper.

5. Nutrition of the marinade used for one fillet, i.e. 1/6 of the total quantity. However, the values below do not mean much as majority of the marinade will be discarded before cooking marinated fish or meat.

serving: 59g calories: 121kcal fat: 3g (5%) saturated fat: 0.5g (3%) trans fat: 0g polyunsaturated fat: 1.4g monounsaturated fat: 0.6g cholesterol: 0mg (0%) sodium: 1864mg (78%) potassium: 106mg (3%) carbohydrates: 17g (6%) dietary fibre: 2.7g (11%) sugar: 6.8g protein: 6.4g vitamin a: 0.9% vitamin c: 0% calcium: 2.2% iron: 7%

Originally published in November 2016. Rewritten in July 2019, split into two posts with recipes – this post (new) and Saikyo Yaki Fish (Saikyo Miso Marinated Grilled Fish).

Saikyo Yaki Miso Marinade (2024)
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