My bestie came for lunch a few weeks ago and bought me a jar of misomite. This is a miso-based product, which you can use as a spread, or as a flavouring in dishes. It’s gorgeous and I’ve been having it every morning on my toast with poached eggs. Anyhow, I wanted to find another use for it…. and I came up with this marinade for a roast chook (spatchcock style, of course). It was utterly delicious and worthy of sharing!
Ingredients
1 whole chicken, spatchcocked (check out this blog post for how to spatchcock a chook – I promise, it takes 2 minutes if you have a good pair of kitchen scissors!)
2 1/2 Tbsps misomite or ‘normal’ miso paste (available at the refrigerated section of an oriental market)
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine)
1 tbsp cooking oil
1 tbsp minced/grated ginger
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp soy sauce (optional)
1/2 tsp sesame oil
Step 1: In a bowl, combine miso paste, honey, mirin, cooking oil, sesame oil, ginger and garlic, mix well. Miso paste is a soy-based mixture that’s quite salty, but if you want to add a bit more salt add some soy sauce too (My tastebuds enjoy well seasoned food!)
Step 2: Place the chicken in a large plastic bag, a glad bag is ideal. Pour the mixture over the chicken. Seal, then massage the marinade into the chicken. Put the bagged chicken in the fridge and let it sit for at least 30 minutes to marinade.
Step 3: Preheat oven to 180 degrees (normal bake). Place the chicken in an appropriate sized roasting dish (eg a pyrex – you want to keep that delicious marinade close to the chook so as to intensify the flavour). Lay it flat, e.g. skin side up.
Step 4: Roast the chook uncovered for 30 minutes, then remove from oven and baste the chook with the marinade. Loosely cover the chicken with tin foil and roast for another 30 minutes or until cooked through (this will obviously depend on the size of your bird). If you don’t have one, consider getting a meat thermometer – mine is highly regarded, no more dry chook for us!
Serve with steamed rice, salad, or a selection of your favourite stir fried veges*
Never-fail-perfectly-cooked-steamed- basmati rice: Jamie Oliver taught me how to make this, it’s quicker than my rice cooker! Four four people: Fill your jug and bring it to the boil. Meanwhile, dump 2 cups of basmati rice in a sieve and give it a good wash. Drain well. Pour four cups of boiling water in a medium sized saucepan, add the rice. Set the timer for ten minutes. Done.
My stir fried vege recipe that even my fussy child eats: Chop whatever veges you like (I did a mix of carrot, spring onion and mushroom as that was all I had in the fridge). Heat 1 tlb of rice bran oil in a wok. When almost smoking chuck in all of the veges at the same time. Cook veges over a medium to high heat, stirring constantly. When the veges are almost cooked (2 mins approx) add 1/3 cup teriyaki sauce and 1/3 cup of warm water. Heat through quickly (I added three handfuls of spinach leaves at this point) and serve, drizzling some of the delicious teriyaki sauce over the rice and chicken.
