Think of this honey miso chicken as General Tso’s less intense younger cousin. With this honey miso chicken, we have that same crispy breaded chicken exterior and instead of tossing in a sweet, rich hoisin based sauce, we instead are tossing in an umami, toasty, salty and slightly sweet Toasty Honey Miso Sauce. That’s what I like to call it and yes, I capitalized it because the sauce deserves that kind of attention. Feel free to make this sauce for anything (I’ve deeply pondered what would happen if I put it on classic roasted potatoes.)
I recognize that white miso isn’t the most widely available ingredient, however, make sure to check the “ethnic” section of the grocery store and ask if your store has it. If not, do not worry, here is a link to get some on Amazon. The great thing about white miso paste is that I’ve had the same tub in my fridge for months and you really only need a little when you use it in cooking. Translation: white miso paste has a great value. I use the Hikari Miso linked below, but there are lots of other white miso options online. You can use red miso for this, but the sauce will come out much more full bodied/intense and less of a light, airy and buttery umami, the flavor profile which this sauce gives us.
I know I’ve been going on and on about this chicken but let’s get to the salad because salads should also be appreciated, especially this one! While it’s kind of the side piece to my chicken, this cabbage salad (or call it slaw if you want to) is such an easy glow up for your cabbage of any color. For this particular recipe, I used red and green. However, just one type of cabbage is fine (preferably red since it’s so pretty and has a more floral flavor to it than green.) I tossed this salad in a classic sesame vinaigrette: soy sauce, sesame oil and rice vinegar. If you don’t have sesame oil, you can even use another type of oil here such as olive oil or coconut. Or, go for an egg yolk to emulsify the dressing and make it super creamy. I tossed this cabbage with some sesame seeds, scallions and shredded carrots and that’s it. That’s the dish and I promise it’s not too good or easy to be true. It’s true, real and ready to be made in your k
Honey Miso Chicken + Sesame Cabbage Salad
Ingredients
Sesame Cabbage Salad
- 2 cups cabbage shredded (I used green and red but use whatever you want)
- 1/2 cup carrots coarsley shredded or cut into matchsticks
- 1/4 cup scallions sliced
- Sesame seeds to taste
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp sesame oil can sub for another oil of your choice. Second best is peanut oil, but you can use whatever you prefer
Honey Miso Chicken
- 2 chicken breasts cut into cubes
- 1/2 cup white rice flour for crispy coating, can sub for 2 tbsp corn starch and 3 large egg whites
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Peanut oil for pan (can sub for any cooking oil of your choice. I also recommend grape seed or avocado oil because of the high smoke point.)
- Sliced scallions for topping (optional)
- Sesame seeds for topping (optional)
Toasty Honey Miso Sauce
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter can sub for fat of your choice, however it will affect the flavor
- 2 1/2 tsp white miso paste can sub for red miso, however it will affect the flavor and make it more full bodied and rich
- 1 tsp honey can sub agave nectar
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tsp rice flour for thickener, can sub for 1 tsp corn starch
- Salt have on hand incase you want to adjust flavor, however I don't use it!
Directions
Sesame Cabbage Salad
- In a large salad bowl, toss the shredded cabbage, scallions, shredded carrots and a sprinkle of sesame seeds together.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the rice vinegar, sesame oil and soy sauce to create your dressing.
- Drizzle the dressing onto the salad and toss until fully coated. Toss the salad with half of the dressing at first, and if you want more, add more. Set the salad aside to absorb flavor while you cook your chicken.
Honey Miso Chicken
- In a bowl, whisk together the miso paste, honey, water and soy sauce. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the salt and rice flour together until the salt is fully combined.
- Add the chicken to the mixture and toss the chicken in the rice flour until each piece is fully coated. They should look like they're coated lightly in snow. If using corn starch, whisk it with egg whites to form a paste, then coat the chicken in the mixture.
- Over medium high heat, generously season a pan with oil. Make sure the entire surface is coated. Once the oil is shimmering, place each piece of chicken onto the surface and make sure they do not overlap. Let them sear for 2-4 minutes, until the side on the pan turns golden grown, or light golden brown. Flip and let the chicken cook for another 4-5 minutes, until the other side is golden brown. Feel free to also cook the other sides of the chicken to develop color, but it's not necessary as long as your chicken meat is fully cooked through (should be white inside).
- While the chicken is cooking, put a sauce pan on medium heat to make your sauce. If you're using flour, add the butter and let it melt. Then, add the flour and whisk, to create a roux. Add 1/4th of the miso water mixture and mix until smooth and paste-like. Then, add the rest of the liquid and continue to whisk until fully incorporated. There should be no clumps! It will also begin to thicken. If you're using corn starch, add the corn starch directly to your miso water mixture and mix until fully combined. By adding the starch to the liquid, you're making a slurry (which is basically a fancy word for corn starch water, but feel free to google if you want to understand this more!) Add the mixture to a sauce pan and cook until thickened, mixing intermittently to ensure that there are no clumps.
- Return back to your chicken and lower the heat of the pan once the chicken is fully cooked. (or just move your chicken to a new pan.) We want to make sure the pan isn't too hot because it could burn our sauce (honey = sugar = burns quickly.)
- Add the sauce mixture to the pan and toss the chicken in the sauce. Turn off the heat.
- Plate the salad and then top with the chicken. Feel free to add more sliced scallions and sesame seeds! Serve immediately or eat the leftovers tomorrow. This tastes great hot, at room temp, or cold.
Rate & Review
WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THIS RECIPE?
This is an super tasty dish and so simple to make. I’ve never eaten a meal so quickly and wanted more. Give it a try! The contrast of textures and hot chicken with cold salad is awesome!
Super tasty and super easy dish! Never eaten a meal so quickly! The contrast in texture and the hot chicken and cold salad is awesome!
This was a delicious meal. I loved combination of the flavors from the honey miso chicken over the fresh cabbage salad. It was easy to make and so tasty that I ate my leftovers in the same night!