Burnished miso chicken
Miso butter under high heat. The skin turns to amber glass.
At a Glance
Story
White miso is the young one, fermented briefly, so it reads sweet and mild where aged red miso goes deep and salty. Beaten into softened butter it becomes a compound butter with a career ahead of it. Sam Sifton, who brought this recipe to The New York Times, points out the same butter is brilliant on corn or potatoes. He is not wrong.
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp unsalted buttersoftened
- ½ cup white miso
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp rice vinegarplain, not seasoned
- black pepperto taste
- 8 skin-on bone-in chicken thighsabout 2½ to 3 lb
Method
Four ingredients you already own and one bowl to wash. The oven does the glamour.
- Heat the oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, mash the butter, miso, honey, vinegar and a good grinding of pepper into a smooth paste.
- Add the chicken and massage the miso butter all over it. Every crevice. Be thorough, this is not the moment for restraint.
- Lay the thighs in a single layer in a roasting pan and roast 30 to 40 minutes, turning the pieces once or twice, until the skin is deeply golden and crisp and the meat reads 160 to 165 degrees at the bone.
If you fancy a darker mood, swap in red miso and the whole dish drops an octave. Serve with rice and something green and sharp to cut the richness.
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