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Japanese Grilled Miso Chicken

A grilled chicken dish marinated in soy sauce, sake, mirin, miso, green onions, ginger, garlic, and seven spice powder.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Ginger and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,038 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Japanese Grilled Miso Chicken

Ingredients

Directions

Marinate

  1. Blend soy sauce, sake, mirin, miso, green onions, ginger root and garlic in a baking dish.

  2. Coat chicken with mixture and marinate 1 hour or refrigerate overnight, turning several times.

Grill and serve

  1. Preheat grill.

  2. Shake marinade off chicken and pat dry.

  3. Place skin down on hot grill and grill 5 minutes.

  4. Turn chicken over and grill second side 5 minutes.

  5. When chicken is done sprinkle with sesame seeds and spice mixture.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

304Calories
36 gProtein
5 gFat
20 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Chicken100g cooked165
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Sake1 oz (30ml)39
Miso1 tbsp (18g)34
Soy Sauce1 tbsp (15ml)9
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Miso + garlictop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together128 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  4. Ginger + garlictop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,402 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Sake + misotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together48 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Chicken thighs
Provide the main protein; skin-on thighs stay juicy and crisp on the grill.
Light miso
Adds savory depth and salty umami flavor, and its sugars help the surface brown.
Mirin
Adds sweetness and gloss, and its sugars encourage browning on the grill.
Soy sauce
Contributes salty, savory flavor that seasons the chicken through the marinade.

The step that matters

Shake marinade off chicken and pat dry. Excess wet marinade drips and steams instead of browning on the hot grill. Patting the surface dry lets the sugars in the mirin and miso caramelize, giving better color and flavor.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sauce, sake, miso, onion, ginger, garlic, chicken):

  1. Corianderfits better
  2. Cuminfits better
  3. Turmericfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sauce, sake, miso, onion, ginger, garlic, chicken. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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