Miso chicken with maple and ginger takes every day chicken and turns it into something special. Japanese flavours meets roasted chicken in a sure-fire hit.
For when you need something really tasty but don’t feel like doing a ton of work.
Meet miso – it’s a serious flavour bomb
I’m a miso fan. It’s one of those flavours that works with everything. Doesn’t overpower. Complements flavours. Creeps up on things and makes them better. Think I’m over the top? Maybe. But try it and then decide.
If you don’t know about miso it’s fermented rice and barley. Big in Asian cooking. If nothing else you can jump on a trendy bandwagon. Fermented anything is hot right now. Think kombucha. Or kimchi. All the rage.
There’s different types. Some are stronger tasting than others. I use shiro miso here. White miso. It’s mild. Works really well in miso soup. And in miso chicken.
You can make salad dressings with miso. The recipe is actually pretty close to miso chicken marinade. Swap out the sake and mirin for a little rice vinegar and lime juice.
Or mix it with mayo and use it in sandwiches. Or drizzle miso mayo on a hot dog. Seriously. Hello Japadog.
miso chicken with maple and ginger
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts boneless but with the skin
- 3 tbsp white miso - look for shiro miso
- 2 tbsp sake
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp ginger grated. A micro-plane works well.
- sesame seeds, chives or green onions to garnish
Instructions
- Combine the miso, sake, mirin, maple syrup, sesame oil and ginger. Stir to combine.
- Pour the marinade over the chicken and refrigerate at least one hour. You can go up to 8 hours. There is no acid in the marinade so there’s no issue with the chicken cooking (think ceviche). Reserve the marinade when you are done marinating the chicken. Don’t throw it out. This is important.
- Pre-heat your oven to 375F.
- Remove the chicken from the marinade and place into a dish that can go from the oven to the stove-top. You don’t want a pan that is much bigger than the chicken. A frying pan with heat resistant handles is great for this.
- Roast until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 160F. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
- Place the frying pan (or whatever you are using) over medium heat. When it starts to bubble stir up any browned bits in the pan. Add the reserved marinade and bring to a lively simmer. This kills any bacteria so make sure you see bubbles in the pan.
- If your sauce seems dry add a little drizzle of chicken stock. You don’t get a lot of sauce here. It’s just a drizzle so don’t go crazy.
- To serve, slice the chicken and drizzle the sauce overtop. Garnish with sesame seeds and chives or green onions.
Nutrition
Nadan chicken curry or nadan kohzi is a peppery chicken curry from the Kerala region of India. It’s got all the big South Indian flavours going on. Pepper, green chilies, coconut and curry leaves. Just really tasty.
You see nadan chicken curry on South Indian inspired restaurants. Funkier places. It’s getting more popular. And it’s about time. South Indian cuisine has it going on.
I’m not saying give up on Madras and chicken tikka masala. But I am saying there is more. Way more. And you need to try it.
Nadan chicken curry starts with caramelization of the onions
This is homestyle nadan curry. Traditional. It’s about the caramelization of the onions. That’s always critical in Indian cooking. Take your time doing it. You don’t want them to burn. A nice brown colour. This will take about 20 minutes. But you have to do it. Or it won’t work.
After that it’s easy. Add some garlic and ginger. Spices go in next. Fry that up to bloom the spices. Then it’s just come coconut milk and chicken. Let it simmer until the chicken is done and eat.
