Spicy Miso Marinated Chicken is a flavoursome pan-fried chicken dish made with a combination of traditional Japanese misozuke and a little spicy kick from gochujang – a Korean fermented condiment.
Compared to the misozuke marinade that I introduced in Pork Misozuke, today’s marinade has a slightly stronger flavour, which works very well with chicken.
You will need to marinate the chicken fillets overnight to allow for the flavour to penetrate the flesh. You can even freeze the chicken while it is marinating.
Once the chicken is marinated it takes only 10 minutes to cook the chicken in a frying pan. Spicy Miso Marinated Chicken is a very simple dish, but it is full of flavour.
What’s in My Spicy Miso Marinated Chicken
- Chicken thigh fillets
- Oil.
Thigh fillets can be either skin-on or skinless. I think fillets with skin on are visually more attractive because of the way skin gets charred. However, skin adds extra calories, of course.
Left: Chicken with the skin on. right: Skinless chicken.
Marinade
- Miso
- Gochujang
- Cooking sake
- Mirin
- Grated garlic.
Gochujang is a spicy fermented Korean condiment (red chilli paste). It is sold at Asian grocery stores and in the international aisle of supermarkets. See the sample photo in my post Korean Beef Soup with Rice.
How to Make Spicy Miso Marinated Chicken
- Mix the Marinade ingredients well in a bowl.
- Butterfly the thick part of each thigh fillet so that the fillet cooks through evenly.
- If you are using fillets with the skin on, prick the skin in several places with the tip of a knife.
- Marinate the chicken fillets overnight or for up to 1 day.
- Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat and pan-fry the marinated chicken until the bottom of the chicken pieces have chard patches.
- Turn them over and cook for a few minutes, then turn the heat off.
- Leave the frying pan with the chicken pieces on the cooktop for another minute to allow them to cook further with the residual heat.
- Cut each fillet into 1½-2cm/⅝-¾” thick pieces.
The minimum marinating time is 2 hours, but I recommend marinating the chicken overnight. If you only have a short time to marinate it, poke the flesh of the chicken fillets with a fork before marinating, so that the flavour penetrates the flesh faster.
This is a very simple recipe. The only challenge is the spattering of the miso marinade while pan-frying the chicken. If you are concerned about the spattering, you can grill the chicken in the oven. I have included the instructions in the recipe card. I personally think pan-frying is the best way of cooking today’s dish because the chicken is juicier and gets a nicely charred surface, which adds a great flavour. It is also much faster to cook.
If you are serving a large number of people, the oven is the way to go. The photo below is the Spicy Miso Marinated Chicken that I recently served to 22 people for the social event at my home. It was well-received by my friends.
Screenshot
Yumiko
Spicy Miso Marinated Chicken is a flavoursome pan-fried chicken dish made with a combination of traditional Japanese misozuke with a little spicy kick from gochujang – a Korean fermented condiment. Once marinated, it takes less than 10 minutes to cook.
- 4 chicken thigh fillets (650-680g/1.4-1.5lb, note 1)
- 1 tbsp oil
- Fresh salad leaves for serving
- 2 tbsp miso (about 40g/1.4oz)
- 2 tsp gochujang (Korean chilli paste) (about 14g/0.5oz, note 2)
- 1 tbsp cooking sake
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 tsp garlic , grated
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Put all the Marinade ingredients in a small bowl and mix well until there are no lumps of miso or gochujang.
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If part of the chicken fillet is very thick, butterfly it to even out the thickness.
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If you are using fillets with the skin on, prick the skin in several places using the tip of a knife.
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Put the marinade and the chicken fillets in a plastic bag and gently massage the bag, ensuring that the marinade covers the entire surface of the chicken pieces.
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Remove as much air from the bag as possible and seal it. Marinate in the fridge overnight or for up to 1 day (note 3).
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Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat (see note 4 if you are cooking in the oven).
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Place the marinated chicken pieces in the pan, skin side down. Place a lid on and cook for about 5-6 minutes if your fillets have the skin on, 4-5 minutes if they are skinless.
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Remove the lid and turn the pieces over. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the chicken is almost cooked through (the internal temperature reaches close to 75°C/167°F).
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Turn the heat off and leave it for another minute to cook further with the residual heat.
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Place the chicken fillets on a cutting board and slice each fillet into 1½-2cm/⅝-¾” thick pieces.
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Serve the chicken pieces on a plate with fresh salad leaves on the side.
1. You can use the fillet with skin on or skinless. I think fillets with skin on are visually more attractive because of the way skin gets charred. However, skin adds extra calories.
2. Gochujang is a spicy fermented Korean condiment (red chilli paste). It is sold at Asian grocery stores and in the international isle of supermarkets. See the sample photo in my post Korean Beef Soup with Rice.
3. The minimum marinating time is 2 hours, but I strongly recommend marinating the chicken overnight. If you don’t have enough time to marinate it, poke the chicken fillets with a fork to help the marinade penetrate the flesh faster.
You can also freeze the chicken coated with the marinade. Thaw the chicken in the fridge.
4. Cooking the Marinated Chicken (skinless) in the Oven:
- Set the grill with fan to 200°C/392°F (fan-forced oven).
- Place the marinated chicken pieces on a tray lined with baking paper.
- Place the tray on the middle rack and cook for 18 minutes.
Meal Ideas
A typical Japanese meal consists of a main dish, a couple of side dishes, a soup and rice. I try to come up with a combination of dishes with a variety of flavours, colours, textures and make-ahead dishes.
Spicy Miso Marinated Chicken has a strong, rich flavour for a Japanese dish. I think the tangy spiciness and richness of miso go well with refreshing side dishes and soups.
When the main dish has a rich flavour, I usually serve a light vinegary side dish such as Cucumber and Seaweed Sunomono. Since the main dish comes with fresh salad on the side, I picked goma-ae dish for the second side dish.
Instead of miso soup, a clear soup suits better with the miso flavoured dish.
- Main: Spicy Miso Marinated Chicken – today’s recipe, marinate ahead.
- Side dish 1: Cucumber and Seaweed Sunomono (Vinegar Dressing) – or other vinegary dish.
- Side dish 2: Japanese Spinach Salad Dressed in White Sesame (Spinach Goma-ae) – or another goma-ae dish such as Chrysanthemum Leaves Goma-ae (Sweet Sesame Dressing). Even Tataki Gobō is good too.
- Soup: Japanese Style Egg Drop Soup (Kakitama-jiru) – or other clear soup such as Clear Soup with Wheat Gluten and Wakame Seaweed.
- Rice: Cooked Rice.
Insert photo
What can be used in place of cooking sake? I can’t seem to source it where I live. As there is alcohol in it, only liquor stores can sell it and none seem to carry it.
Hi Leslie, you can substitute cooking sake with dry sherry or Chinese rice wine.
Definitely worth a try next time we have chicken thighs! Thank you for providing oven instructions for meal prepping.
Hi Leisau, please do and let me know how it went.