hapa bento

Here’s something  for chicken eaters.  Vegans and vegetarians (that’s me) close your eyes until the next post where I’ll have a yummy green recipe for you. 

I  ”discovered” this recipe years ago while craving miso salmon but only had chicken available.  I tinkered with the mixture with each attempt until I settled on this formula.  Go ahead and chuckle… but I believed, for a short while, that I had discovered the most remarkable  dish until months later a quick Google search burst my “big head”!

Sweet Miso Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts or thighs

White Miso

Honey or brown rice syrup

Mirin or sake

Preparation:

Chop the chicken into bite size pieces.  Leave the skins on while roasting. to keep the meat moist.  You can remove the skin before eating if you are watching your fat and calorie intake.  Mix together equal parts of white miso and honey.  For  a pound of chicken, about 2 thighs I mixed 1 tablespoon each of miso and honey.  Add small splash of mirin or sake if you have it. ( the more chicken you cook, the bigger the splash )  Add the chicken into the mixture and coat each piece evenly.  Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour.  Overnight is best.   When ready to cook, heat  your oven at 425 degrees, wipe off excess marinade from the chicken.  Place the chicken as a single layer in a shallow pan and roast* for 20-25  minutes.  Keep an eye out for smoke, if  you start to see it burn then lower the temp slightly.  Cool completely before packing in your bento box.

*you could pan fry or even grill  the chicken, but because January’s “The B.O.M.B.” theme is roasting, I went that route instead.