BEST Asian Cod Recipe: Simple, Flaky & Delicious

This is a sheet-pan Asian Cod Recipe that bakes up beautifully in a hot oven with a simple spoon-over cooking sauce rich with Asian-inspired flavor.

I love Asian flavors: the briney tang of soy, a zesty bite of ginger, and the distinctive warmth of sesame oil. 

We plated this easy dinner with a can of Italian green beans and leftover Jasmine rice. 

Done in just a few minutes—beautiful golden brown edges on the cod filets were so eye-catching—and we sat down to eat in a little over half an hour.

Every time I’m cooking up fried rice or a stir fry, I’m putting these Asian seasonings to wok. 

Ahem, work.

So if you are looking for a great fish dinner with a rather light sauce, no batter or breadcrumbs, with the punch-up of popular Asian flavors, this is the right dinner for you.

About the cod

After digging around for something to make, I remembered the frozen cod.

And then I realized I forgot to take it out of the freezer to thaw. 

So about 45 minutes in a bowl of cold water and the two pieces of fish were thawed just enough to make this work. 

That said, the best thawing method is leaving the fish to thaw in the refrigerator the night before.

The trick to a nice oven-baked fish is to dry it very well before it goes into the oven: front, back, and sides. 

If it goes in the oven too wet, it’s just going to steam-cook, and that’s a different eating experience altogether.

About the garlic and ginger

We use minced garlic all the time and minced ginger some of the time. 

It’s very powerful, especially the minced kind you find in jars or in tubes. 

I love ginger so much, our first try at this recipe ended up so ginger-heavy it was almost impossible to eat. 

We had to reduce it by half. Woo. Ginger all day. 

If you don’t have these “wet” minced ingredients, stirring the dry versions of these spices into the marinade works, too:

Substitute ½ t of garlic powder for the 1 T of minced garlic and ¼ t of dry, ground ginger for the 1 t of minced ginger.

About the honey

We happened to have a jug of plain honey in the pantry, but any kind of mostly unflavored honey will do.

In other words, I wouldn’t use truffle honey or lavender honey, but acacia, orange blossom, clover, or wildflower honey works just fine.

What to serve with this Asian Cod recipe

This was a weeknight meal for us, so easy and fairly fast was what we were going for.

So a can of green beans, buttered with a couple of turns of black pepper and heated up in the microwave, plus leftover jasmine rice from the night before with a sprinkle of Everything Bagel seasoning–that’s all we needed.

Here are some other ideas we had for what would go great with an Asian Cod recipe like this one:

• Want a saucy dip with a little zing? Our Bang Bang Sauce is the bomb.
• Easy Air Fryer Green Beans—crisp and tasty. Eat ‘em hot.
• Lemon Rice. Lemon and fish are just meant to be together. 
• Hasselback Potatoes are welcome with almost any cuisine.
• Roasted Butternut Squash. So easy and pretty on the plate, too.
• We cooked up a Rice & Fruit Salad, and it’s so good. Hot or cold, this goes with everything (but these do too).
• One of these arugula salads—arugula is fragile but peppery, perfect greens with fish. 
• You’ll see these on the plate in the photos, but Quick-Pickled Cucumbers are my favorite cold side dish.

Supplies to gather

Tools:

• Oven
• Hot Pads or Silicone Glove
• Baking Sheet
• Parchment Paper
• Non-Stick Spray
• Large Mixing Bowl
• Measuring Spoons
• Whisk
• Pastry Brush
• Tongs
• Cutting Board
• Knife
• Plate

Ingredients:

• Fresh or thawed Cod Filets
• Soy Sauce
• Sesame Oil
• Rice Vinegar
• Honey
• Minced Garlic 
• Minced Ginger 
• Salt & Pepper
• Whole Lemon
• Green Onion