Miso-Marinated Grilled Chicken (鶏の味噌漬け焼き, Tori no Misozuke-yaki)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Konro or stovetop fish grill, with an oven broiler as the working stand-in
• •Wire rack set over a rimmed tray
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Bleached cotton cloth (sarashi), or cheesecloth, optional for a cleaner miso cure

Instructions

1. 1

   Trim the chicken

   Trim away only large knobs of fat; leave the skin if you have it, because it protects the thigh meat from the salty cure and gives the glaze something to cling to. Pat the chicken very dry, then make two or three shallow cuts on the meat side of each thigh where it is thickest. Those cuts are not decoration. They even the thickness so the center cooks before the miso sugars darken too far.

2. 2

   Make the marinade

   Put the sake and mirin in a small pan and bring them to a brief boil, about 30 seconds. Stir in the sugar until dissolved, take the pan off the heat, and let it cool until warm, not hot. Whisk this into the red miso with the shōyu and ginger juice, if using. Do not boil the miso itself; its aroma is part of the dish, and flattening it before it ever touches the chicken is poor economy.

   The short boil takes the raw edge off the sake and helps the sugar dissolve. The miso goes in after, because you want its fragrance alive.
3. 3

   Marinate two days

   Spread a thin layer of the miso mixture in a nonreactive container or zip-top bag. Coat the chicken on all sides, using just enough paste to cover it, then refrigerate for 36 to 48 hours, turning once. Red miso has muscle. Two days gives full seasoning; much longer and the surface begins to taste more salted than cured.

   For a cleaner traditional cure, wrap the chicken in sarashi or cheesecloth and spread the miso outside the cloth. Direct contact is easier and works well for chicken; either way, the cure needs contact, not a thick blanket.
4. 4

   Wipe it clean

   About 20 minutes before cooking, take the chicken from the refrigerator. Scrape and wipe off all visible miso with your fingers or a paper towel, but don't rinse it. A faint stain should remain. Miso paste burns before chicken cooks through, and wiping is the difference between mahogany glaze and black bitterness. Discard the used marinade.

5. 5

   Grill gently

   Heat a grill to medium, or heat a broiler with the rack about 6 inches from the element. Oil the grate or rack lightly. On a grill, cook the chicken skin-side down for 4 to 5 minutes, then turn and cook 6 to 8 minutes more, moving it to a cooler spot whenever the glaze darkens too quickly. Under a broiler, set the thighs skin-side up on an oiled rack over a lined tray and broil 10 to 14 minutes, turning once and finishing skin-side up. In either case, cook until the thickest part reaches 165°F/74°C and the surface is glossy, reddish-brown, and only lightly charred.

   Miso wants a patient fire. High heat gives you color too early, then leaves you choosing between raw chicken and burnt seasoning, which is not much of a choice.
6. 6

   Rest and slice

   Rest the chicken for 5 minutes, then slice each thigh across the grain into broad strips. Resting keeps the juices in the meat instead of washing the glaze onto the plate. Arrange three or five pieces slightly overlapping, skin side up, with a sudachi wedge if you have one. Leave it room.

Chef Tips

• •Use boneless thigh with skin if you can get it. Breast can be tidy, but it dries during grilling and has less patience for the two-day cure. Thigh is the sensible cut here, not a consolation.
• •Red miso varies. If yours is very dark Hatchō miso, blend it half and half with a milder rice miso or shorten the cure to one day; straight Hatchō can make the surface severe before the chicken is seasoned through.
• •Wipe thoroughly before the fire. More paste on the surface doesn't mean more flavor; it means scorched miso. The flavor you want is already in the meat.
• •Don't thin this marinade with dashi. Dashi belongs in the soup beside the chicken; here it weakens the paste and makes it run into the fire.

Advance Preparation

• •The miso marinade can be mixed up to 3 days ahead and kept refrigerated.
• •The chicken is best after 36 to 48 hours in the cure. At 24 hours it will be milder; past 48 hours, red miso can make the surface too salty.
• •Cooked misozuke-yaki keeps 2 days refrigerated and is good sliced cold for bento. Rewarm gently under foil, if you rewarm it at all, because hard heat tightens the meat and darkens the glaze.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 155g)