Recipe
No Skillet Needed! How to Make the Best Chicken Saikyo Yaki
Ingredients
- 70gSaikyo miso
- 2tsp sugar
- 1/2tbsp light soy sauce
- 300–350gchicken thigh (1 fillet)
About "Chicken Saikyo Yaki"
Marinate prepped chicken thigh overnight in a mixture of 70g Saikyo miso, 2 tsp sugar, and 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce. The next day, simply bake in a toaster oven at 200°C (390°F) for 15 minutes and let it rest for 7 minutes. No skillet needed for this incredibly juicy, flavorful Saikyo Yaki.
Tips for Making "Chicken Saikyo Yaki"
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Marinade
- Using light soy sauce tightens the flavor with the right amount of saltiness, highlighting the miso. Regular soy sauce would overpower it.
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Marinade
- Using 70g of Saikyo miso per batch allows you to use a 300g pack exactly 4 times without waste. Leftover miso can be frozen.
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Prep
- To remove the chicken skin cleanly, pull it with your hands and cut only the connecting membrane with a knife.
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Prep
- Carefully remove yellow fat and blood clots, and shave off any remaining bone fragments with a knife.
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Prep
- Poke and cut the white tendons on the surface of the meat with the tip of a knife to make it easier to eat.
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Marinating
- Rubbing the miso marinade into the meat in a bowl first ensures the flavor penetrates evenly, even with a short marinating time.
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Marinating
- Squeeze out all the air when placing the chicken in the bag to speed up the marination process.
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Baking
- Saikyo miso has about 1/3 the salt of regular miso, so baking without wiping it off won't make it too salty and adds a fragrant aroma.
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Baking
- Bake at 200°C (390°F) for 15 mins, then let it rest inside for 7 mins. This locks the juices inside, making it incredibly juicy.
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Heat Control
- Using a toaster oven prevents the miso from burning (unlike a skillet), resulting in a fragrant exterior and a perfectly juicy interior.
Ingredients for "Chicken Saikyo Yaki"
4 items* Tap ingredient names to find on Amazon
How to Make "Chicken Saikyo Yaki"
- 1
Put 70g of Saikyo miso into a large bowl.
- 2
Add 2 tsp of sugar and 1/2 tbsp of light soy sauce, and mix well to make the marinade.
- 3
Optionally, remove the skin from the chicken thigh by pulling it with your hands and lightly cutting the connecting membrane with a knife.
- 4
Finely chop the removed skin, place it in a plastic bag, and freeze it for later use.
- 5
Carefully remove any excess fat and blood clots from the back of the meat using a knife.
- 6
Feel the meat with your fingertips to check for any remaining bone fragments, and shave them off with a knife if found.
- 7
Poke and cut the white tendons on the surface of the meat with the tip of a knife.
- 8
Place the prepped chicken into the bowl with the marinade and rub the miso mixture thoroughly into the meat by hand.
- 9
Transfer the chicken to a plastic bag, scrape any remaining marinade from the bowl with a spatula, and add it to the bag.
- 10
Squeeze out all the air from the bag, seal it, and marinate in the refrigerator overnight.
- 11
Remove the chicken from the bag and place it on a toaster oven tray without wiping off the miso on the surface.
- 12
Set the toaster oven to 200°C (390°F) and bake for 15 minutes.
- 13
When the timer goes off, do not open the door; let it sit inside for 7 minutes to cook through with residual heat.
- 14
Cut into bite-sized pieces and plate.
Food Science
In addition to the umami synergy between the inosinate in chicken and the glutamate in miso, the enzymes in the miso break down the meat's proteins, making it tender. Furthermore, heating in the toaster oven triggers the Maillard reaction in the miso and soy sauce, creating a savory aroma. Letting the chicken cook gently with residual heat after baking prevents moisture loss, resulting in a juicy finish.
Detailed Commentary on "Chicken Saikyo Yaki"
* Content organized by topics from the video.
Golden Ratio & the Role of Light Soy Sauce
To make the ultimate delicious Chicken Saikyo Yaki, we start by preparing the marinade. Prepare a large bowl and add 70g of Saikyo miso, the star of the dish. Add 2 tsp of sugar for sweetness and 1/2 tbsp of light soy sauce. Mix these together thoroughly. Using light soy sauce is a key point here. It tightens the overall flavor with just the right amount of saltiness. If you use regular dark soy sauce, its flavor becomes too dominant and masks the delicate aroma of the miso. Light soy sauce is the best choice because it keeps the taste clean while highlighting the miso. There is also an important reason for making this marinade in a large bowl, which relates to how we marinate the chicken later.
Choosing & Storing Saikyo Miso
For this recipe, we use a standard 300g pack of Saikyo miso (white miso) commonly found in supermarkets. If you prefer a stronger miso flavor, you can increase the amount of miso to 80g. In that case, omit the light soy sauce to adjust the saltiness. However, to use up a 300g pack efficiently without waste, setting the portion to 70g (or slightly over at 75g) per batch is highly recommended. This allows you to make Saikyo Yaki exactly four times with one pack. If you use 80g, you will be left with an awkward 60g after three uses. If you do have leftover miso, we recommend portioning it into plastic bags and freezing it. It won't freeze rock-hard, making it incredibly convenient to scoop out and use whenever you need it.
Prep: Removing Skin and Fat
For our main ingredient, prepare a slightly large chicken thigh weighing about 300g to 350g. As part of the prep, remove the skin if desired. Chicken thigh skin contains a lot of fat, so removing it significantly cuts down on calories. Once the skin is removed, the fat content of the thigh meat is not much different from breast meat, yet it retains the signature juiciness of thigh meat and won't dry out. Don't throw away the removed skin; finely chop it, place it in a plastic bag, and freeze it. You can use it later for other dishes, such as a topping for soba noodles or frying it until crispy to put in miso soup. To remove the skin cleanly, pull it with your hands and lightly cut the connecting membrane with a knife.
Checking for Bones & Tenderizing
Once the skin is removed, carefully cut away any excess fat and blood clots from the back of the meat. Yellowish clumps of fat can cause an unpleasant odor and are high in fat, so removing them is a secret to making the dish delicious. Even more important is feeling the meat with your fingertips to check for any remaining bones. Chicken thighs often have small bone fragments left near the joints or base. To avoid an unpleasant crunch when eating, shave them off with a knife if you find any. Finally, poke and cut the white tendons on the surface of the meat with the tip of a knife. The chef shared a lighthearted story, smiling as they recalled a previous video where they described this step as 'pusu-pusu' (poking), only for a viewer to comment, 'There is no such Japanese word as "pusu-oku," so please don't use it.'
Pro Tip: Mix in a Bowl First
Place the prepped chicken thigh directly into the large bowl where you made the marinade. Rubing the miso mixture thoroughly into the meat by hand in the bowl before putting it in a bag is a professional technique. If you try to put the meat and miso directly into a bag to massage them together, the high viscosity of the miso prevents it from spreading evenly, resulting in uneven flavor. Mixing it well in the bowl first ensures that the flavor penetrates evenly, even with a short marinating time, making it taste significantly better. Once the chicken is well coated, transfer it to a plastic bag, scrape any remaining marinade from the bowl with a spatula, and add it to the bag. When sealing the bag, it is crucial to squeeze out all the air. Remaining air will slow down the marination process.
No Skillet! Toaster Oven Magic
Today, we are cooking chicken that has been marinated overnight using 'Pattern H,' a recipe perfected through numerous trials. We won't use a skillet at all; instead, we will bake it in a toaster oven. Take the chicken out of the bag and place it directly onto the toaster oven tray without wiping off the miso on the surface. Saikyo miso has about one-third of the salt content of regular miso, so baking it with the miso on won't make it too salty. Instead, you can directly enjoy the fragrant aroma of the baked miso. Set the toaster oven to 200°C (390°F) and bake for 15 minutes. When the timer rings, do not open the door immediately; let it sit inside for 7 minutes to cook through with residual heat. This resting period is extremely important. Cutting the chicken immediately after baking causes the juices to run out, but letting it rest keeps the juices locked inside, making it incredibly juicy.
Tasting: Juicy & Tender Saikyo Yaki
After resting, transfer the Chicken Saikyo Yaki to a cutting board and slice it into bite-sized pieces. The moment the knife goes in, a burst of rich juices wells up from inside. Adding sugar to the marinade has increased the meat's water-holding capacity, resulting in an incredibly plump and tender texture. Taking a bite, the elegant aroma and flavor of Saikyo miso fill your mouth, with the gentle sweetness of the sugar and the perfect saltiness of the light soy sauce creating an exquisite harmony. Cooking in a skillet often leads to burnt miso before the inside is cooked, but using a toaster oven ensures a fragrant exterior and a perfectly juicy interior. Just marinate it overnight, and the next day you only need to put it in the toaster oven to complete an exquisite main dish, making it perfect for busy weeknights.
About 食事処さくらの料理教室
食事処さくらの料理教室
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