Miso Alaska Sole & Yuzu Soba Noodle Bowl

It’s easy to see how the ‘bowl’ became such a signature workday lunch. It’s filling enough to power you through the afternoon and features a carb/veggie/protein formula that’s endlessly versatile and customizable. Some of those variations, however, are just too good to only be enjoyed at lunch. The Miso Alaska Sole & Yuzu Noodle Bowl, for instance, deserves to be the centerpiece of an elegant dinner. Just remember to save some leftovers for lunch the next day, since you’ll definitely want to experience this combination of irresistible flavors and fresh ingredients more than once. 

The best bowls start with the protein at the center of the recipe. And you can’t do much better than Alaska sole, a delicate and mild fish that’s perfect for complementing and absorbing the other flavors in the bowl. Sole is also a great choice for group dinners because its subtle flavor will almost certainly appeal to everyone at the table.

Since the Alaska sole isn’t overpowering, that puts extra emphasis on the sauces and marinades you’re bringing into the mix. Taking inspiration from Japanese cuisine, this recipe requires you to coat the Alaska sole in miso-sesame aioli before broiling it. The miso provides the fish with an umami flavor that will be perfectly complemented by the bright citrus and creamy richness of the aioli. 

Once you’ve incorporated those notes of citrus and umami into the bowl, you’ll want to balance it out with some sweetness. This recipe suggests getting that from the vegetable element in the bowl: roasted sweet potatoes. The natural (and nutritious) sweetness of the potatoes keeps the recipe from skewing too tart. Once you tie it all together with soba noodles tossed in a sesame-ginger dressing, you have a fresh and flavorful dinner in which so many unexpected ingredients are elevating one another. It’s the kind of bowl that warrants a leisurely dinner at home, not a rushed lunch in the office. 

All the flavors here work in perfect harmony, but that doesn’t mean you can’t play around with the recipe. In fact, you can even go so far as to swap out the sole for Alaska cod, pollock, salmon, rockfish, surimi, or halibut. As long as you’re using wild Alaska seafood and cooking it well, you can’t really go wrong by using it as the star of this mouthwatering bowl.